Tom McDermott plays jazz history

The New Orleans pianist brings a lifetime of music to the stage

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Photo credit: Courtesy Tom McDermott
PIANO MAN: Jazz historian and pianist Tom McDermott plays a solo show at the First Existentialist Congregation.

At 60 years old, pianist and composer Tom McDermott is often referred to as a walking encyclopedia. In his case, though, it would be more appropriate to call him an encyclopedia of New Orleans music and the history of jazz.

During live performances, McDermott moves between microphone and keyboard, explicating the development of America’s greatest original art form with a causal fluency and appreciation for anecdotal detail. Drawing connections and influences from across the decades, his vividly rendered musical selections are sometimes closely based on the source while others are more imaginatively interpreted.

McDermott’s music has received national airtime and attention, such as on NPR programs “All Things Considered,” “American Routes” and “The Moth.” He has also composed pieces for theater performances, for example, the Obie award-winning off-Broadway show Nita and Zita, and has appeared in bit movie roles, such as He Said She Said in 1991. In the HBO series “Treme,” McDermott played the role of himself in five episodes, and 10 of his original pieces can be heard throughout the show’s soundtrack. His original music was also used in Cinemax’s “The Knick.”

When he isn’t traveling, visitors to the Crescent City can catch McDermott performing with Aurora Nealand & the Royal Roses on Monday nights at the Maison or in other settings around the French Quarter.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, McDermott earned a master’s degree in music from Washington University and wrote about music for one of the local papers. During the 1960s and ’70s, he was particularly inspired by ragtime and traditional jazz bands, which were flourishing. In 1984, inspired by the music of James Booker, Professor Longhair and Dr. John, McDermott moved to New Orleans.

During the 1990s, McDermott was a member of the famed Dukes of Dixieland, a revival band originally formed in 1948. He traveled the world, performing Dixieland-style music for audiences in Europe, Asia, South America and the United States, including concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. In 1995, after composing a song for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band’s album Jelly, McDermott co-founded the New Orleans Nightcrawlers with sousaphonist Matt Perrine and trumpeter Kevin Clark.

For all his jazz bona fides, McDermott is just as steeped in the Western classical tradition (he says Mozart is a particular favorite) as he is in ragtime, boogie-woogie, swamp funk and the blues. He traces the earliest roots of jazz to the work of mid-19th century New Orleans composer and virtuoso pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk. The son of a Jewish businessman from London and a Creole mother, Gottschalk was strongly influenced by the music of Cuba, the West Indies and Central and South America.

During the past couple of decades, McDermott has traveled extensively in Brazil studying choro, the native instrumental music form. To the ear, choro moves with a fluid dynamism and funky groove associated with Africa and the Caribbean Basin, although its exotic lyricism is woven within a tightly structured framework reminiscent of classic European dance music, such as the polka and waltz.

In his appreciation of choro, McDermott is joined by renowned musicians such as mandolin player Mike Marshall and composer, pianist, singer and iconoclastic lyricist for the Beach Boys’ Smile Van Dyke Parks. Parks produced Bamboula, a 2013 “best of” collection featuring previously released McDermott material.

McDermott’s latest album, Zeppelins Made to Order, is his 17th album as leader, featuring multi-instrumentalist and singer Chloe Feoranzo.

He also recently published a book of limericks some of which may find their way into Friday’s performance. “I’m not exactly sure what the Atlanta setlist will be,” McDermott says via email. “My shows often take the form of a brief history of African-American music from the introduction of the Afro-Cuban tango around 1805 through Gottschalk, Brazilian choro, ragtime and Jelly Roll Morton, ending with the New Orleans R&B pianists, such as Professor Longhair and Fats Domino. I also like to play French musettes and Beatles tunes with a James Booker beat.”

Whatever form the playlist takes, any lover of music, jazz and otherwise, is assured of an enthralling listening and learning experience when Tom McDermott settles in at the piano.

Tom McDermott plays the First Existentialist Congregation on Fri., July 28. $10. 8 p.m. 470 Candler Park Drive. 404-378-5570.