| Jazz |
Tom Teasley: Two Albums Released in 2024
By Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, May 1st 2025
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If you’re just discovering Tom Teasley, there’s no better place to begin than with his impressively rich biography. Described by The Washington Post as “a percussionist in the most expansive and exuberant sense of the word,” Teasley moves seamlessly between symphony orchestras, jazz ensembles, and solo percussion performances around the globe. He gives over 100 performances a year of The Drum: Ancient Traditions Today, a one-man multimedia show that traces the cultural and spiritual history of hand drums, traditional percussion, and modern electronic rhythms.
The Washington Post remains, in my view, an almost universal benchmark of journalistic credibility. So when I moved to the U.S. and found myself hearing Teasley—whom I had only known by reputation in Europe—I began a journey of one extraordinary discovery after another.
Wisdom: Tom Teasley Remembers Charles Williams
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More on Tom Teasley
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Close your eyes and you’ll be instantly transported to Africa. Bold, inventive, and full of surprises, this album radiates intelligence. Griot and long-time collaborator Charles Williams lends a resonant voice to this heartfelt homage, enriching the poetic force of the music with powerful arrangements. The result is a radiant, transcultural experience, music upon which the sun shines out of pure love for art.
Mysticism is the thread weaving the album’s soul: a complete journey through jazz, blues, and improvisational music. It’s clear that only a deeply cultured musician, one who has traveled widely and listened profoundly, could so vividly capture the spirit of Charles Williams’ world.
Like a contemporary theater director, Tom Teasley crafts an intellectual work that enthralls both the heart and the mind. Listen to how the music interacts with the spoken word: mesmerizing rhythms, layered atmospheres, and a voice that journeys track to track like a modern griot—part actor, part narrator, part poet. It’s rare to encounter an album that so closely resembles a theatrical masterpiece.
The recording and production quality elevate it even further. This is not just an album—it’s nourishment for the soul and the intellect.
Musicians:
Tom Teasley – All Percussion, Melodica, Rav Drum
Charles Williams – Vocals
Track List:
Funga Alafia/ African Proverbs/ Tambourines To Glory/ The Blues/ Tale Of Two Wolves/ Motto, Acceptance, Evil/ I Still Believe/ Wade In The Water/ Mother To Son/ I Dream A World/ Oh Freedom/ Haikus For The Seasons
Lunch Break
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Tom Teasley
Dave Ballou
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Imagine, for a moment, Miles Davis in his bebop prime, suddenly hurled into the 21st century and choosing to speak only through African rhythms. Lunch Break is just that audacious, and that brilliant.
Though I had only known these two musicians by reputation, their names always commanded attention. So when I finally listened to this album, I found myself overwhelmed, in the best way. I didn’t know where to place my ears. Dave Ballou has worked with a constellation of names that have long populated my personal pantheon: Rabih Abou-Khalil, Steely Dan, Michael Formanek, Woody Herman, Andrew Hill, John Hollenbeck’s Large Ensemble, Sheila Jordan, Oliver Lake, Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, Dewey Redman, and Maria Schneider. He also collaborated closely with the late Gunther Schuller, both as soloist and in major orchestral performances, including Journey into Jazz and the Broadway revival of 42nd Street.
With Tom Teasley at his side, this album becomes a statement as bold and essential as anything from Wadada Leo Smith. The musical dialogue here is different, of course, but no less profound. In this stripped-down duo of drums/ percussion and trumpet, Teasley’s brilliance shines: he plays not just with rhythm, but with melodic sensitivity and thematic finesse, as precise and relentless as a Swiss timepiece.
What’s most astonishing is how both musicians maintain their cultural integrity while fusing into something utterly original. Certain moments are so arresting, so texturally rich, that I found myself replaying them just to ensure I hadn’t missed anything.
My only regret? That I didn’t receive these two albums last year. Beyond the pleasure of discovery, I was struck with rare admiration. Tom Teasley’s art moves me in the same way Paul Auster’s Lulu on the Bridge once did, or the awe I felt the first time I saw Dali’s Melting Clocks at Beaubourg.
Musicians:
Tom Teasley – Drums, Percussion
Dave Ballou – Trumpet
Track List:
Tips In Baghdad/ Four Or Six/ When The Wind Cries/ For Max/ Rush Hour/ Lullaby/ Jongno/ Mop Shaje & Roll/ Prayer For The Ancestors/ Riqq Talk
For more on Tom Teasley’s artistic journey, including a biography excerpt from the Kennedy Center:
Tom Teasley – Kennedy Center Biography
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By Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, May 1st 2025
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