TOR SNYDER & Irrepressible Spirit

About Me

Hi Friends and Music Fans, I'm a NYC based Free-Blues guitarist. My band is Irrepressible Spirit and my website is www.torsnyder.com I grew up a huge fan of Jimi Hendrix, electric blues (Albert King, Muddy Waters..) acoustic (Lightning Hopkins). I would up at Bennington College in the early 80's and was introduced to free-jazz innovators Bill Dixon and Milford Graves. This led to my discovery of guitarist Sonny Sharrock as well as my on-going musical partnership with drummer Dennis Warren and the Full Metal Revolutionary Jazz Ensemble (www.fmrje.com). My style has evolved to incorporate my background in the blues, my years of free-jazz, and a growing proclivity for African and World rhythms and musical conceptions. My ultimate goal is to channel all of my positivity and ambition into a passionate and cosmic spiritual expression. Irrepressible Spirit was created as an on-going means of bringing together a myriad of gifted musicians (and other artistic disciplines) for an open and highly charged conversation. I have just released a cd which features the amazing talents of drummer Ra-Kalam Bob Moses, the late trumpeter Raphe Malik, Tenor Sax and reed player Raqib Hassan, Sax, and wind player Daniel Carter, Double-Bassist Don Pate, and myself on guitar. For the past two years the current members of Irrepressible Spirit have included drummer Ravish Momin, Violinist Eric Salazar and bassist/multi-instrumentalist Zak Sherzad. THere's much more music at www.torsnyder.com including samples of the Dark Matter the legendary Boston band featuring bass innovator David Warren.Over the years, I've been fortunate to perform with such inspiring musicians as Sabir Mateen, Glenn Spearman, Roy Campbell Jr., Kenwood Dennard, T.M. Stevens, Delmar Brown, John Medeski, Josh Roseman, David Fiuczynski, Ras Moshe, David Pleasant, Jackson Krall, Glenn Branca...

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 8/30/2006
Band Website: torsnyder.com
Band Members: Tor Snyder - Guitars Eric Salazar - Violins, Viola Zak Sherzak - Reeds, Strings, Bass, Percussion, Poetry Ravish Momin - Drums, PercussionCD LINE UP: Ra-Kalam Bob Moses - Drums, Percussion Raphe Malik - Trumpet Raqib Hassan - Saxophones, Reeds Don Pate - Double Bass Daniel Carter - Sax, Tpt., Clarinet, Flute
Influences: (Inspirations) Jimi Hendrix, Sonny Sharrock, Tisziji Munoz, Pete Cosey, Ali Farka Toure, Albert King, Lightning Hopkins, Coltrane, Miles, Ra-Kalam Bob Moses, Larry Coryell, Bill Dixon, Dennis Warren, Stephanie Pitsis, David Torn, Joe Morris, Cecil Taylor, the list goes on...
Sounds Like:
Record Label: inde
Type of Label: None

My Blog

What have I been up to?

Hello Everybody (Anybody?) Hope you're well... Just for the record, I've been working hard these past few months on my "double-guitar neck." I have been fascinated with alternate tunings a...
Posted by TOR SNYDER & Irrepressible Spirit on Sun, 25 May 2008 10:16:00 PST

Feeling fantastic and looking toward 12/17/07

Hey Friends and Music Fans, I'm very slow to update my web profile but I have big plans looming. Recently I've made some breakthroughs with my guitar playing and I am excited about the return of...
Posted by TOR SNYDER & Irrepressible Spirit on Sat, 10 Nov 2007 08:26:00 PST

Africa and Sonny Sharrock....

Hey! An actual update. Yes, I've neglected my myspace page. I'm hoping to update the music clips and offer downloard within the month. Well, for the record, I'm doing well.&nbs...
Posted by TOR SNYDER & Irrepressible Spirit on Wed, 29 Aug 2007 09:48:00 PST

New Years and Beyond

Hello and Happy 2007 I kicked of the year with a hit at the Brecht Forum: Ras Moshe's Music Now. I was reunited with the great Jackson Krall on drums and my old Boston partner Albey Balgo...
Posted by TOR SNYDER & Irrepressible Spirit on Sat, 06 Jan 2007 07:31:00 PST

The tracks above and "The Talker"

These four tracks are culled from six shows recorded live at the old Knitting Factory. They all feature Ra-Kalam Bob Moses on percussion and the amazing Don Pate on double bass. ...
Posted by TOR SNYDER & Irrepressible Spirit on Tue, 17 Oct 2006 10:54:00 PST

Marc Edwards & Slipstream Time Travel - 2 shows

This past Friday night I had another opportunity to perform with Marc Edwards. Marc is a composer and improviser with a rare abiltiy to harness a phenomenal amount of energy and infuse it with n...
Posted by TOR SNYDER & Irrepressible Spirit on Tue, 03 Oct 2006 11:24:00 PST

Cd released!

cd available - finally.... The new Irrepressible Spirit cd is being sold in New York City at Downtown Music Gallery (www.downtownmusic.net) and Tower Records Lincoln Center. For other means of ...
Posted by TOR SNYDER & Irrepressible Spirit on Sat, 02 Sep 2006 10:44:00 PST

welcome

Hello Friends and Music Fans.. Here is my latest attempt at my space. Thanks for visiting and checking out the music. My website- torsnyder.com has additional information and audio that yo...
Posted by TOR SNYDER & Irrepressible Spirit on Sat, 02 Sep 2006 10:53:00 PST

cd reviewed

new review for c.d! TOR SNYDER'S IRREPRESSIBLE SPIRIT - Irrepressible Spirit (self-released; USA) Tor Snyder's Irrepressible Spirit features Tor on guitar, Raphe Malik on trumpet, Daniel Carter &...
Posted by TOR SNYDER & Irrepressible Spirit on Sat, 02 Sep 2006 10:49:00 PST