Tommy Muellner
| Tommy Muellner | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Thomas Michael Muellner |
| Born | January 25, 1953 |
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Associated acts | Arelene Bardelle, Catherine Whitney, Ira Sullivan |
| Website | tommujazz.com |
Thomas Michael "Tommy" Muellner (born January 25, 1953) is an American jazz pianist and composer.
Tommy Muellner was born in Chicago, Illinois. His father, John F. Muellner (1923--2016), was Tommy's first musical influence. In his heyday, Tommy's Dad played the accordion in a dance band, and in his later years, he played organ for senior citizen functions and for pleasure at home. John Muellner's unique personality, humor, and passion for music resonates in Tommy Muellner's brilliant talent and style.
Tommy grew up surrounded by good music. With a variety of instruments from which to choose, he started playing gigs at an early age. Although he has learned to play drums, guitar, bass, and organ, Tommy's natural preference was always the piano. Tommy grew up hearing many great jazz records, but the whole family especially loved the unique jazz piano artistry of Erroll Garner. In his early twenties, Tom discovered Bill Evans "by osmosis," and considers his influence on jazz to be significant. After that important discovery, Muellner "realized when I finally heard the music, that jazz is more than music. It is great art and a philosophy with spiritual ramifications."
In later years, Tommy's musical influences were gleaned from the likes of Evans, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Dexter Gordon. He learned mostly from the great classic jazz recordings. He also learned a great deal from playing with master musicians like Ira Sullivan, as well as other, lesser known musicians that he worked with at a younger age. His favorite pianists include Art Tatum, Hank Jones, Bud Powell, Barry Harris, McCoy Tyner, Monty Alexander, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Steve Kuhn, Denny Zeitlin, Fred Hersch, and his close friend John Campbell.
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