Tom McDermott is a master of the rich musical heritage of New Orleans, fluent in ragtime, traditional jazz, and rhythm and blues. However, as a review in the New York Times makes clear, “Mr. McDermott is not simply a follower of tradition or a repository of old tunes. He composes within his wide-ranging idiom with a knowledgeable feeling for his sources and a sense of humor.” Mr. McDermott – no, let’s call him Tom – grew up in St. Louis, earned a master’s in music, and, spurred by his love of James Booker, Professor Longhair, and Dr. John, moved in the early 1980s to New Orleans, where he played with the Dukes of Dixieland for several years and went on to co-found the New Orleans Nightcrawlers, becoming such a popular local fixture that in HBO’s Treme he plays himself.

“To single out one New Orleans jazz musician for being talented and likeable is absurd,” writes Dan Baum on NewYorker.com. And yet, Baum goes on about Tom, “he can do anything. We’ve heard him play ragtime, ‘trad jazz,’ swing, choros from Brazil, musettes from France, and any number of other genres. He doesn’t just play tunes, either. He writes his own. How many other American musicians are writing musettes, for heaven’s sake?” Tom has toured Europe, Asia, and South America. He knows how to get to Carnegie Hall. He’s recorded ten albums, written music for the theater, and is often sampled by NPR. In addition to being a virtuoso of the piano, Tom is a traveler. He’s visited all 50 states and six continents, but it’s fair to say that his heart belongs to New Orleans and Brazil. If a piece of your heart resides anywhere near those places, you won’t want to miss his show at the Freight.

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