NEWS & APPEARANCES

Tom is performing with Kalyan Pathak's Jazzmata in:
Las Guitarras de España w/ Jazz Mata, Gypsy Rhythm Project
The Morse Theater in Chicago
1328 Morse Avenue
Chicago, Illinois
1 block east of the Morse Red Line station

Nov. 22, 8 pm

The Gypsy Trail Series presents:
Kalyan Pathak's Jazz Mata ensemble (featuring a Bharat Natyam Indian dancer from Natya Dance Theater) will perform Indian music and dance.
Steve Gibbon's Gypsy Rhythm Project will provide Gypsy folk music with Balkan dance.
The 90 minute program will also feature Las Guitarras de España performing traditional flamenco music and dance.

"…Kalyan Pathak…fleet finger virtuosity…" says Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune, in a rave review of the Chicago Percussion All Stars concert of 2004.

for tickets: www.themorse.com

Now Available on dvd (for pre-order):
TROUBADOURS
the award-winning film scored by Tom McCarthy

Tom also performs with the Chicago cast of BLUE MAN GROUP.
For tickets, go to blueman.com
The Electric Distat Surfacing by Tom McCarthy The Electric Distant Surfacing
October 2000
Cosmic Vending Machine
CVM001
Tom McCarthy
featuring Bob Moses, George Donchev,
Jamie Edwards,Robb Simring and
Victor McSurely
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Purchase
An amalgam of primary elements and colors, an initial mission statement, an homage to the psychedelic fusion of Lifetime and early Mahavishnu, a chance of a lifetime to work with the legendary Mo-zone -- Tom McCarthy's first album was conceived as all of these things. Recorded on a shoestring with the loving contributions of Tom’s colleagues from the Boston production of Blue Man Group, the centerpiece of the disc is the inspired interaction of McCarthy and drummer Bob Moses, who lends his African-inspired healing vibrations of sound to the project. Spiritual guide, mystic and musical pioneer, Moses continually expands the form and sonic scope of the five compositions from McCarthy, which journey through inner and outer reaches close to the hearts of both musicians -- the incandescent solar fields of mid- to late-Coltrane. The openning track, "Mark of Cain" (a title echoing McCarthy’s own sense of wandering in search of the Source of One-ness), ushers forth with a Coltrane-ish modal melody and a corruscating guitar solo through which Moses conjures ecstatic peaks of sound as McCarthy casts a knowing glance in the direction of Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, and Albert Ayler. Receding from this highly-charged field, the band moves toward the psychedelic, dark ambient territory that is the diurnal, lunar compliment to the solar flares kindled by Moses in the other sections. The sound of Jimi Hendrix, the Hendrix of the Saturnalian blues and sonic journeys of "A Merman I Should Turn to Be", is clearly on McCarthy’s mind, as are the compositional structures and elliptical melodies of Wayne Shorter(in"Dissolving In Orchid") and the visceral white noise and heat of Tony Williams' Lifetime and mid-70’s King Crimson (in "Everything Is"). Diversity of pallette, like a changing of seasonal colors in the soundscape, are provided by the poignant piano and guitar duet "Still Place", which features Jamie Edwards on piano with McCarthy taking up the acoustic guitar, and Eastern-flavored sections of "Noesis", the 20-plus minute track that Guitar Player magazine’s Jude Gold enthused is like a lost treasure from the vinyl age. "Noesis" is a deep journey, leaping off from an oblique yet enchanting modal melody into a reverb-soaked tube-driven guitar solo over a deep, trance-like Moses groove. After a drum solo from Moses, the melody returns and washes away dream-like into a mystical atmosphere of sitar, flute and Tibetan bells. Later, McCarthy and Moses exchange koan-like phrases over a dark, bluesy outro that is finally taken up into the coda -- a slow madrigal procession of cathedral organ.
Spark and Luminance by Tom McCarthy Spark and Luminance
November 2002
Cosmic Vending Machine
CVM002
Tom McCarthy
featuring Jim Gailloreto, Fred Simon, Larry Kohut
and Tom Hipskind
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Originally conceived as a set to be performed live by the as-then unrealised dream of a Luminance Ensemble -- an electric/acoustic ensemble that could assume different quantities of personel as the musical situation requires -- Tom McCarthy’s second album made a step forward in terms of compositional forms. Only one piece was intended to be a mere skeletal vehicle for inspired improvisation, "Coffee from Kashgar". And what improvising! Premier Chicago saxophonist Jim Gailloreto and veteran keyboardist Fred Simon bookend McCarthy's solo here, which borrows from the fiery abandon and flamenco flourishes of early "Mountain in the Clouds"-era John McLaughlin. Elsewhere, McCarthy draws on contrasting rhythmic and chordal motifs, which are exploited by the powerful rhythm section of bassist Larry Kohut and drummer Tom Hipskind with Simon on Fender Rhodes keyboard. The effect sometimes sounds like Lotus-era Carlos Santana sitting in with the Dave Holland Quartet ("Rasa Diri" -- a title which refers to the inner awakening Tom was seeking in his involvement with the mystical Subud Spiritual Brotherhood). At other times the band resumes the spacey, subtle and open explorations of Herbie Hancock’s early 70’s "Mwandishi" band (e.g. "The Quiet Light"). The openning title, "A New Road", receives two treatments -- a full-on, electricly-charged workout on a fierce 7/8 groove deftly propelled by Hipskind, and, later in the programme, a spacey ambient reading with a sublime contribution from Gailoreto on soprano saxophone -- another deep-space painting with shimmering hues contributed by Simon’s synths and McCarthy’s far-away wah-wah pedal guitar, a dream-like evocation of Hendrix.

For booking information call (773) 750-0406 or email cosmicvendingmachine@hotmail.com