Two weeks ago, I met a dear music colleague (and an old friend of mine), Tom Burnett.
In fact, the Philly sax player, Elliot Levin, brought us together. Without knowing that Tom was a mutual friend of ours.
The first time I met him was in 1988, when he lived on 8th Ave, in Times Square. An old girlfriend of mine introduced me to him when I looked for a place to stay for a couple of days. Tom was so kind to let me stay at his flat, which was in the middle of NOISY AND CRAZY TIMES SQUARE.
We had a great time together jamming every day. I am on sax and vocals, Tom on keys, synthesizer, and rhythmbox. Luckily, Tom recorded all the music we did. Luckily, he found two cassettes of recorded music. We listened to one of them, and surprisingly, the tracks sounded great. The music we did was a mix of noise, new wave, downtown music, NO WAVE, and improv.
Since we last met, 37 years ago, Tom has been very active in the NY music scene.
He was at the Children’s Museum of the Arts in Manhattan, where he ran creative programs for many years. Also a member of Coocoohandler in the 90s and Uncle Jimmy’s dirty Basement in the early 2000’s. Also, a current member of the New Agenda through Music Starts from Silence records. Among other projects.
He’s the voice and keys player of New Noise Continuum, an experimental, improvisational band drawing from rock, jazz, classical, electronic, eastern, and intergalactic folk traditions. Expect me to collaborate with Tom soon.
