Tommy Crane is a NYC and Montreal based musician. Crane has recorded and performed with Ambrose Akinmusire, Melissa Aldana, Briars of North America, The Mingus Big Band, Linda Oh, Thus Owls, Aaron Parks, Richard Reed Parry, Logan Richardson, Bing and Ruth, Becca Stevens, Half Waif, Port St Willow, and Wood River.
In 2017 Crane was commissioned by the Lincoln Center, NY, to create a multimedia piece titled “Preservation” in collaboration with filmmaker Tracy Maurice. Crane’s composition was performed live and released as a full-length album in 2019. In addition to Crane, the recording features performances by Colin Killalea (Albert Hammond Jr.), Eliot Krimsky (Here we go magic), and Greg Chudzik (Steve Reich).
In 2017/2018, Crane toured extensively with Melissa Aldana and recorded the Grammy Nominated album “Visions” with the band. Crane is also a core member of Aaron Parks’s “Little Big” (whom he met and befriended at a jazz camp in NYC when they were both 15 years old). Crane also taught improvisational ensembles at the Accademia Nazionale del Jazz – Siena Jazz in Italy (2019-2020). He contributes original compositions to various WNYC and NPR podcasts and is also a Sunhouse artist.
In this episode, Tommy talks about:
- The process of recording his album, almost entirely on his own at home
- How he uses Sunhouse products
- His early days in New York attending the New School and immersing himself in jazz
- Playing with the Mingus Big Band
- Getting burned out by life in New York, musically and otherwise
- Prioritizing projects, bands, and his own music over the “hired gun” life
