Tom Blancarte
BIO
email: tblancarte@gmail.com
Bassist/composer Tom Blancarte grew up in Austin, Texas and later attended the University of North Texas in Denton. He was first inspired to play music by listening to bands like Slayer and Black Sabbath, then discovered musicians like Evan Parker and Anthony Braxton later on. He moved to New York City in 2004, where he lives with his wife, saxophonist and composer Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen.
He has performed with Peter Evans, Kevin Shea, Sylvie Courvoisier, Peter Brotzmann, Adam Linson, Brandon Seabrook, Mary Halvorson, Jim Black, Okkyung Lee, Mike Pride, Brian Osborne, Bruce Eisenbeil, Joel Ryan, Ricardo Gallo, Weasel Walter, Jessica Pavone, Nate Wooley, Sam Pluta, Dan Peck, John Butcher, Andrew Drury, Jeremiah Cymerman and Han Bennink, among others, and has performed in Europe and the United States at a multitude of venues and festivals such as the Moers Festival 2008, Ring Ring Festival (Belgrade) 2008, Žedno uho 9 (Zagreb) 2008, the New Languages Festival 2008, the New Languages Festival 2007, the Festival of New Trumpet 2006, Ulrichsberg Kaleidophon 2009, Jazz em Agosto (Lisbon) 2009, Donaueschingen New Music Festival 2010, Europa Jazz (Le Mans, France) 2011, Cerkno Jazz 2011 and the Avantgarde Festival (Schiphorst) 2011.
His first album was the eponymously titled Sparks, released in 2007, which features a duo with trumpeter Peter Evans that still performs today. The trio Totem released an album, Solar Forge, on ESP-Disk in 2008, receiving excellent reviews. With Sparks and Totem, he has toured throughout Europe, and continues to perform throughout the United States and Europe with these and other ensembles. Tom also has an interest in composition; he has written for the Sparks Orchestra, a large ensemble co-led with Peter Evans, which attempts to bring the dense vocabulary of Sparks to a larger scale, for his own ensemble, Liquid Surprise and for a new ensemble featuring Louise D.E. Jensen, Brandon Seabrook, Dan Peck and Weasel Walter. Upcoming releases and projects include the debut album by The Home of Easy Credit on Northern Spy Records and separate releases by The Gate (formerly the Dan Peck Trio) on Carrier Records and Heat Retention Records.
Tom has led his own quartet, Liquid Surprise, which features the rare instrumentation of double-bass and three drummers. He also co-leads several bands, including Sparks and its larger incarnations with Peter Evans, a duo with wife Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen called The Home of Easy Credit, the trio Totem with guitarist Bruce Eisenbeil and drummer Andrew Drury, and a trio with Louise Dam Eckardt Jensen and drummer John Bernard Wagner. He is a side-man for many groups, among them the Peter Evans Quartet, Brandon Seabrook’s Seabrook Power Plant, Kevin Shea's Lonely Goldmine of Symbiotic Subterfuge and The Gate (formerly Dan Peck Trio). He is also in demand as a performer of new music, performing the premiere of Jessica Pavone’s work string quartet, Songs of Synastry and Solitude, Jeremiah Cymerman’s Under a Blue, Grey Sky and recording all eight parts for Igor Ballereau’s bass octet, Noctis Labyrinthus.
All photographs by Peter Gannuskin, Downtownmusic.net, unless otherwise noted
Website design and format stolen from Kevin Shea's homepage
R E C O R D I N G S
2012
New Recordings from The Gate (formerly Dan Peck Trio) on Carrier Records and Heat Retention Records, Totem (looking for label) and The Home of Easy Credit (Northern Spy) all due out this year!
The Gate
Destruction of Darkness CD, Carrier Records, 2012
Dan Peck (tuba), Tom Blancarte (upright bass), Brian Osborne (drums)
2011
Peter Evans Quintet
Ghosts CD, More is More Records, 2011
Peter Evans (trumpet), Sam Pluta (electronics), Carlos Homs (piano), Tom Blancarte (upright bass), Jim Black (drums)
Seabrook Power Plant
Seabrook Power Plant II, LP and CD Loyal Label, 2011
Brandon Seabrook (banjo, guitar, compositions), Tom Blancarte (upright bass), Jared Seabrook (drums)
Jeremiah Cymerman
Fire Sign,Tzadik Records, 2011
Jeremiah Cymerman (electronics, composition), Peter Evans (trumpet), Nate Wooley (trumpet), Christopher Hoffman (cello), Brian Chase (drums), Sam Kulik (trombone), Harris Eisenstadt (drums)
Tom Blancarte
Joulupukki, Carrier Records' The Best is Noise series
Tom Blancarte (bass, composition)
2010
Peter Evans Quartet
Live in Lisbon CD, Clean Feed Records, 2010
Peter Evans (trumpet, compositions), Ricardo Gallo (piano), Tom Blancarte (upright bass), Kevin Shea (drums)
Dan Peck Trio
Acid Soil LP, Heat Retention Records, 2010
Dan Peck (tuba, compositions), Tom Blancarte (upright bass), Brian Osborne (drums)
Jeremiah Cymerman
Under a Blue Grey Sky, Porter Records, 2010
Jeremiah Cymerman (electronics, compositions), Olivia De Prato (violin), Jessica Pavone (viola), Christopher Hoffman (cello), Tom Blancarte (bass)
2009
Seabrook Power Plant
Seabrook Power Plant CD, Loyal Label, 2009
Brandon Seabrook (banjo, guitar, compositions), Tom Blancarte (upright bass), Jared Seabrook (drums)
Noctis Labyrinthus web-only release, Shsk'h, 2009
Igor Ballereau (composition), Tom Blancarte (upright bass)
2008
Adam Caine Trio
Thousandfold CD, No Business Records 2008
Adam Caine (guitar), Tom Blancarte (upright bass), John Bernard Wagner (drums)
Marc Edwards / Weasel Walter Group
Mysteries Beneath the Planet (digital download only), ugExplode Records 2008
2007
Peter Evans Quartet
!!!!! CD, Firehouse 12 Records 2007
Peter Evans (trumpet, compositions), Brandon Seabrook (guitar, electronics), Tom Blancarte (upright bass), Kevin Shea (drums)
Totem
Solar Forge CD, ESP-Disk 2007
Bruce Eisenbeil (guitar), Tom Blancarte (upright bass), Andrew Drury (drums)
2006
Sparks
Sparks CD, Creative Sources Records, 2006
Peter Evans (piccolo trumpet), Tom Blancarte (upright bass)
Past Shows
APRIL 2012
4/4
The Gate + Nate Wooley
Death By Audio
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Also featuring Peter Evans Solo and Weasel Walter / Marc Edwards Group!!!
4/18
Trio with Jon Irabagon & Kevin Shea
Legion
790 Metropolitan Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
+ Silver Ash
+ Ben Hall
+ Grasshopper
http://www.legionbrooklyn.com/
4/21
The Gate
SMOG @ Bard College, NY
4/24
The Gate
Freddy's Bar & Backroom
Brooklyn, New York
MARCH 2012
3/3 - 3/14
Peter Evans Quintet European Tour!
03.03.12 Pannonica, NANTES/France
04.03.12 La Casa Encendida, MADRID/Spain
05.03.12 Eremitage, SCHWAZ/Austria
06.03.12 WELS/Austria
Alter Schlachthof Wels
07.03.12 WIEN/Austria
Porgy & Bess Jazz Music Club
08.03.12 Wist, GRAZ/Austria
09.03.12 SAALFELDEN/Germany
Zentrum Zeitgenössischer Musik - Kunsthaus Nexus
10.03.12 Institut Francais de Berlin, BERLIN/Germany
11.03.12 Kommunikationszentrum Dieselstrasse, ESSLINGEN/Germany
13.03.12 Grand Auditorium de Caen, CAEN/France
3/15 - 3-30
The Home of Easy Credit Scandinavian Tour!
16.03.12 Mayhem, København, Denmark
22.03.12 Brötz, Göteborg, Sweden
25.03.12 Jupi, Hamburg, Germany
FEBRUARY 2012
2/6
Seabrook Power Plant
+ Behold!!! the Arctopus & Normal Love!!!
Death By Audio
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
2/8
The Gate (formerly Dan Peck Trio)
+ Pulverize the Sound + Timosaurus
9:30pm (we play first)
Zebulon
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
2/10
American Idols: Installation Performance led by Sam Pluta
New York, NY
2/16
Totem
The Stone
New York, NY
JANUARY 2012
1/5
Seabrook Power Plant
The Rock Shop
Brooklyn, NY
1/17
Peter Evans Quartet
Cornelia Street Cafe
New York, NY
8:30pm
1/22
The Gate (formerly Dan Peck Trio)
Goodbye Blue Monday
Bushwick, Brooklyn
DECEMBER 2011
12/4
Electronics trio with Damon Holzborn & Louise D.E. Jensen
Downtown Music Gallery
Monroe St
Manhattan, New York
6pm
12/5
Dan Peck Trio
Death By Audio
49 South 2nd St,
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
9pm
With Weasel Walter Trio & Mick Barr/Marc Edwards Duo!
12/11
Totem + Louise D.E. Jensen Solo
The Fire Museum
Philadelphia, PA
12/16-12/18
Seabrook Power Plant
Baltimore, MD
NOVEMBER 2011
11/4
Peter Evans Quintet
Roulette
Brooklyn, NY
11/6
Peter Evans Quartet
Cornelia Street Cafe
8:30pm
one set as quartet, the second will feature English saxophonist John Butcher!
11/17
Louise D.E. Jensen Ensemble
Douglass Street Music Collective
295 Douglass Street, Brooklyn, NY
OCTOBER 2011
10/8 - 10/17
Louise D. E. Jensen & Tom Blancarte
Duo Tour Texas!!!
10/10 - They Who Sound @ Avantgarden
411 Westheimer
Houston, TX
www.avantgardenhouston.com
7pm
10/14 - Emergent Media Lab, presented by Tex Gallery
328 Normal Street
Denton, TX
doors at 8pm, we play at 11pm
Lily Taylor also plays!
10/15 - The Pastime
1503 S. Ervay
Dallas, TX
w/ Yells At Eels & Paul Slavens!
10/19
Storyship
Northeast Kingdom
Bushwick, Brooklyn
10/20
Dan Peck Trio
House Show
JULY 2011
8/9
Seabrook Power Plant
T.T. the Bear's Place
Boston, MA
7/26
Seabrook Power Plant
Cameo Gallery @
Lovin' Cup Cafe
93 N 6th St
Brooklyn, NY
7/28
Josh Sinton "Company" Improv
Douglass Street Music Collective
8pm
Brooklyn, NY
June
6/3 - Herbert Eckardt @ Scheld'Apen
Antwerp, Belgium
6/4 - Herbert Eckardt @ Cul de Sac
Tilburg, Netherlands
6/6 - Herbert Eckardt @ TrashVortex
Paris, France
6/9 - Herbert Eckardt @ Overtoom 301
Amsterdam, Netherlands
6/10 - Ab Baars, Louise D.E. Jensen, Jasper Stadthouders, Mark Morse, Wilbert de Joode, Tom Blancarte, Tollef Østvang & Luca Marini @ Occii
Amsterdam, Netherlands
6/11 - Herbert Eckardt @
Bruxelles, Belgium
6/12 - Trio with Simone Weissenfels + Louise D.E. Jensen
Leipzig, Germany
6/25 - Duo with Louise D.E. Jensen @ AvantGarde Festival
Schiphorst, Germany
May
5/12-21 Peter Evans Quartet Tour
5/13 - PARIS/France
La Dynamo de Banlieues Bleues
5/15 - Europa Jazz Festival
LE MANS/France
5/16 - Kulturspeicher
LEER/Germany
5/18 - Bimhuis
AMSTERDAM/Netherlands
5/19 - Porgy & Bess Jazz Music Club
WIEN/Austria
5/20 - Jazz Cerkno Festival
CERKNO/Slovenia
5/21 - RIJEKA/Croatia
April
With Peter Evans Quartet & Quintet
April 7th, 2011 Littlefield, Brooklyn, NY
With Louise D.E. Jensen, Sam Pluta & Damon Holzborn
April 14th, 2011 Brooklyn Firehouse, Bushwick, NY
With Peter Evans Quartet
April 15th & 16th, 2011 IBeam, Brooklyn, NY
With Seabrook Powerplant
April 19th, 2011 Littlefield, Brooklyn, NY
April 20th, 2011 Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA
April 23rd, 2011 Orion Studios, Baltimore, MD