Evento

Acoustic Moose with Thollem McDonas

Join us on September 13 at 7pm for an intimate in-studio performance by renown pianist, Thollem McDonas.

One of the most captivating pianists working today, (Jazz.pt, Portugal) Thollem McDonas has spent his life skirting and erasing the edges of boundaries musically, culturally and geographically. His work is ever-changing, evolving and responding to the times and his experiences, both as a soloist and in collaboration with hundreds of artists across idioms and disciplines. Thollem is a modern griot who has absorbed sounds from every place he has visited. (William Parker from Conversations II, Rogue Art)

Thollems solo piano performance is a true tour de force of spontaneous music creation; a wonderful example of what happens when immense technique, boundless inspiration and highly focused artistic vision converge. (All About Jazz NY)

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Thollem began playing the piano, composing and improvising as a child, absorbing the sounds of his culturally diverse upbringing. Since 2005, he has played over 1,500 concerts throughout N. America and Europe as a soloist and in collaboration with other musicians, dancers and filmmakers. In that time span, as leader or co-leader, Thollem has released over 60 albums on 21 different vanguard labels - including ESP-Disk, Edgetone, Relative Pitch, Amarani, Leo - to international critical acclaim. The 2nd Thollem/Wimberly/Cline album will be released on ESP-disk this summer. A brief cross section of his many recent collaborators include Pauline Oliveros, Amy Denio, Rob Mazurek, William Parker, André Stjames, Carmina Escobar and Hafez Modirzadeh. Thollem is the founding director of Estamos Ensemble, a Mexican-American cross border ensemble for musical exchange.

Thollem has an innate ability to compose transcendent music using the piano as his expressive voice and to explore the depth and range of the instrument like no one else (Joan Jeanrenaud, Kronos Quartet) He brings wide-ranging expression and invention to everything his restless, nomadic existence comes into contact with. Thollems maverick essence is magically evident. (Nels Cline)

www.thollem.com/solo-piano