Tom Schuman

Tom Schuman was born in Buffalo, NY. His father, Wally, was a jazz bassist and his mother, Marion, was a jazz singer when they met. Greatly influenced by this family of musicians, Tom began playing piano by ear at age six. His parents were reluctant to give him lessons because of their own struggles with the music business. But when they heard him playing jazz chords, improvising and writing tunes at age seven, they felt compelled to provide him with all of the musical support a child could possibly have.

These days, it’s hard for many to disassociate the name of Tom Schuman from Spyro Gyra, but Schuman has come full circle into the light...a jazz pianist, creating beauty and preserving the past.

“There comes a time, perhaps after years of trying to fit into a particular groove or walk a particular walk, when something magical happens. The artist crosses over into a realm where beautiful music pours forth like it had been imprisoned somewhere in the dark recesses of his soul. Delivering yet another outstanding CD on his own label, JazzBridge Music LLC, Tom Schuman proves he’s definitely come into his own.” Suzi Price - JazzReview.com

While Tom has a long and critically acclaimed career composing and performing fusion and smooth jazz, he is also an extraordinarily gifted classic jazz composer and performer. As he moves forward with the expansion of his solo career, his focus is on acoustic trio and quartet performances of classic jazz and standards.

Tom Schuman has been the keyboardist for Spyro Gyra since he was 17 years old (before the release of their very first album). He has performed on all of Spyro Gyra's albums to date and has written or co-written over fifty Spyro Gyra compositions since "Catching the Sun". He released his first solo record, "Extremities", in 1990 and has plans to continue his solo career along with his Spyro Gyra commitments. His dream is to someday be able to balance his solo career with guest appearances on albums of other artists as well as Spyro Gyra and find the time to score a movie or two. Who knows, with music as a vehicle, there will be no limits to Tom's creative influences on the sounds of the future.

His first solo release on JazzBridge, the critically acclaimed "Into Your Heart", was the beginning of his growing focus on more traditional jazz music, especially piano trios. Just a couple years after, Tom released an all acoustic jazz CD, "Schuman Nature", in March, 2003. Schuman Nature rose to number 27 on the Jazzweek charts. He then released the fresh and soulful "Deep Chill", in 2005. In 2010, Tom released “Reflections Over Time”. This CD had a more diverse flavor to it giving homage to the late Joe Zawinul and Jimi Hendrix as well as some political giants of American history.

Tom continues to contribute contemporary jazz compositions as well as do more producing for his label, JazzBridge Music. He produced Steve Oliver’s third CD, "3D", as well as two tracks, including the title track, on Steve’s subsequent release, "Radiant". He also appears on Steve’s latest releases, "Global Kiss" and "World Citizen". Tom also found time to produced singer/trumpeter Skip Martin’s "Formal Dining". Both Steve and Skip appear on Tom’s latest release, "Designated Planets" available everywhere Feb 5th, 2013.

Check out jazzbridge.com and distribution13.com for more information.