BIOGRAPHY
Tom Cora (September 14, 1953 - April 9, 1998)
born Thomas Henry Corra
was a United States cellist and composer,
best known for his improvisational performances in the field of experimental jazz and rock.
Tom was born in Yancey Mills, Virginia, United States.
He made his musical debut as drummer on a local television program and in the mid-1970s he played guitar for a Washington, D.C. jazz club house band. He took up the cello while an undergraduate at the University of Virginia and studied with cellist Pablo Casals' student Luis Garcia-Renart and later with vibraphonist Karl Berger.
During this time he formed his own group, The Moose Skowron Tuned Metal Ensemble and began constructing instruments for it.
Tom used to play a great variety of instruments: bass guitar, drums, accordions, objects, tapes, electronic effects & naturally his voice.
In 1979 he moved to New York City where he worked with Shockabilly guitarist Eugene Chadbourne, introducing the cello to the honky tonk circuits of North America. He performed at improvising clubs and venues in New York with John Zorn, Fred Frith, Andrea Centazzo, Butch Morris, Wayne Horvitz, David Moss, Toshinori Kondo and others.
Tom has also collaborated with George Cartwright and Bill Laswell which led to the formation of the art rock band Curlew in 1979 . He remained with Curlew for over ten years and appeared on five of their albums.
In 1982 Tom Cora and Fred Frith formed Skeleton Crew, an improvising rock and jazz band best known for their live performances where they played various instruments simultaneously.
Tom and Fred were each one-man bands on stage and for their act, Tom constructed musical contraptions he could play with his feet.
The band existed for five years during which time they toured Europe, North America and Japan extensively. They made two studio albums, Learn to Talk (1984) and The Country of Blinds (1986), the latter with Zeena Parkins who had joined the band in 1984, also Dave Newhouse joined for a while playing saxophone in 1982.
Tom was also a member of the improvising trio Third Person, formed in 1990 as a live collaboration with percussionist Samm Bennett and a "third person" who changed from concert to concert.
Two CDs of some of their performances were released, The Bends in 1991 (with "third persons" Don Byron, George Cartwright, Chris Cochrane, Nic Collins, Catherine Jauniaux, Myra Melford, Zeena Parkins, and Marc Ribot) and Luck Water in 1995 (with "third person" Kazutoki Umezu).
He performed with a number of other bands, including Nimal with Momo Rossel and post-rock quartet Roof with the singer Phil Minton.
In 1990, he played two concerts with Dutch anarcho-punk band, The Ex, and the success of this collaboration resulted in Tom performing hundreds more concerts and collabored on two albums with the band.
In 1995 in The Netherlands, Cora and Frith collaborated on Etymology, a CD-ROM sound sample library of sonic sounds and wire manipulations.
Tom Cora died of malignant melanoma (cancer) in 1998 at the age of 44 in a hospital in the south of France, where he lived with his wife, singer
Catherine Jauniaux , and their son, Elia Corra.
He's playing was characterised by meticulous precision and a subtle sense of proportion. It was entirely characteristic of him to send an e-mail to all his closest friends, wishing them good bye on the eve of his death.
A month after Cora's death, a benefit concert in aid of his family was held at the Knitting Factory with appearances by Catherine Jauniaux, Fred Frith, George Cartwright, Zeena Parkins and others.
A CD of this concert, It's a Brand New Day - Live at the Knitting Factory, produced by John Zorn, was released on Knitting Factory Records in 2000.
But the good intentions of all concerned were never realised when Knitting Factory Records was bought out and Jauniaux received no royalties from the sale of the CD.
John Zorn also compiled Hallelujah, Anyway - Remembering Tom Cora, a two CD set featuring a selection of recordings by Cora and some of the groups he recorded with, and also tribute music made by his friends.
Hallelujah, Anyway -
Remembering Tom Cora
This special 2-CD set memorial features poignant tributes by many of Tom’s most distinguished collaborators, new recordings of Tom’s most memorable compositions, and some of Tom’s most important recordings, creating an exciting and vivid portrait of one of the most original musicians in new music.
All profits from this set will go directly to Tom Cora's surviving family.
(Tzadik -1999)
* cilck on album cover for more informations and purchasing link
Selective
DISCOGRAPHY
Solo
1987 - Tom Cora: Live at the Western Front (No Man's Land)
1991 - Tom Cora: Gumption in Limbo (Sound Aspects)
as Co-Leader
1983 - Tom Cora & David Moss: Cargo Cult Revival (Rift)
1983 - Tom Cora, Fred Frith, John Zorn: live at WKCR-FM 1983 (bootleg)
1988 - Tom Cora & Kazutoki Umezu: Abandon (Umisushi Rec)
1991 - The Ex + Tom Cora: Scrabbling At The Lock (RecRec/Ex Rec)
1993 - The Ex + Tom Cora: And the Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders (RecRec/Ex Rec)
1997 - Fred Frith & Tom Cora: Etymology (samples library) (Rarefaction)
2007 - Ken Jacobs, Catherine Jauniaux, Tom Cora: New York Ghetto Fishmarket 1903 (DVD Tzadik)
Skeleton Crew Fred Frith - Tom Cora - Zeena Parkins
1984 - Skeleton Crew: Learn To Talk (Rift/RecRec)
1986 - Skeleton Crew: The Country Of Blinds (No Man's Land/Rift/RecRec)
Curlew George Cartwright - Tom Cora - Davey Williams - Ann Rupel - Pippin Barnett
1981 - Curlew: Curlew (Landslide Rec)
1985 - Curlew: North America (Moers Music)
1988 - Curlew: Live In Berlin (Cuneiform Rec)
1991 - Curlew: Bee (Cuneiform Rec)
1993 - Curlew: A Beautiful Western Saddle (Cuneiform Rec)
2008 - Curlew: 1st Album + Live At CBGB 1980 (DMG/ARC)
Third Person Samm Bennett - Tom Cora - a third person
1991 - Third Person: The Bends (Knitting Factory)
1995 - Third Person: Lucky Water (Knitting Factory)
Nimal Momo Rossel - Pippin Barnett - Bratko Bibic - Jean-Vin Huguenin - Tom Cora
1987 - Nimal: Nimal (RecRec)
1990 - Nimal: Voix De Surface (Rec Rec)
Roof Phil Minton - Tom Cora - Luc Ex - Michael Vatcher
1996 - Roof: The Untaceable Cigar (Red Note)
1999 - Roof: Trace (Red Note)
The Hat Shoes Catherine Jauniaux - Bill Gilonis - Tom Cora - Charles Hayward
1991 - The Hat Shoes: Differently Desperate (RecRec)
Collaborations
1979 - Andrea Centazzo: Environement For Sextet (Ictus)
1979 - Andrea Centazzo: USA Concerts (Ictus)
1979 - Eugene Chadbourne: 2000 Statues And The English Channel (Parachute Rec)
1980 - Karl Berger Woodstock Workshop Orchestra: New Moon (Palcoscenico)
1980 - Karl Berger Woodstock Workshop Orchestra: Live At The Donaueschingen Music Festival (MPS Records)
1980 - Eugene Chadbourne: Ther'll Be No Tears Tonight (Parachute Rec)
1982 - John Zorn: Archery (Parachute/Tzadik)
1983 - Catherine Jauniaux & Tom Hodgkinson: Fluvial (Woof Rec)
1984 - Ferdinand Richard: Ferdinand En Avant, Huit Chansons en Huit Langues (Recommended Rec)
1984 - Officer!: Ossification (Ayaa)
1985 - David Moss: Dense Band (Moers Music)
1986 - Butch Morris: Current Trends In Racism In Modern America (Sound Aspects)
1986 - Michael Lytle, George Cartwright, David Moss Meltable Snapts It, Points Blank (No Man's Land)
1987 - Das Pferd: Das Pferd (ITM)
1987 - Eugene Chadbourne: LSDC&W - The History Of The Chadbournes In America (Fundamental)
1987 - Tenko: Slope Gradual Disappearance (RecRec/Kinniko Bijo)
1987 - Zeena Parkins: Something Out There (No Man's Land)
1987 - Rebby Sharp: Against No Wall (Artifacts)
1988 - David Moss Dense Band: Live In Europe (Ear-Rational)
1988 - Amy Denio: More Spoot + Salvatore (More Music)
1989 - Nicolas Collins: 100 Of The World's Most Beautiful Melodies (Trace Elements)
1989 - Sato Michihiro: Rodan (Hat Hut)
1989 - Angel Carver: Live in Milwaukee and Chicago: Hans Reichel & Tom Cora (FMP)
1989 - René Lussier: Le Trésor De La Langue (Ambiances Magnetiques)
1989 - Perfect Trouble (Moers Music)
1989 - Christian Marclay: More Encores (No Man's Land)
1989 - Rebby Sharp: In One Mouth And Out The Other (Shimmy Disc)
1990 - Nicolas Humbert & Werner Pen: Step Across the Border (VHS RecRec/DVD Winter & Winter)
1990 - Takashi Kazamaki & Kalle Laar: Return To Street Level (Ear-Rational)
1990 - Martin Schutz & Hans Koch: Approximations (Intakt Records)
1990 - Fred Frith: Step Across The Border (RecRec)
1990 - H.P. Zinker: Beyond It All (Roughneck Rec)
1990 - Rebby Sharp: In One Mouth and Out the Other (Shimmy-Disc)
1991 - Guy Klucevsek: Flying Vegetables of the Apocalypse (E.I.F.)
1991 - Guy Klucevsek: Polka Dots & Laser Beams (Eva)
1991 - Peter Kowald: Duos: Europa - America - Japan (FMP)
1991 - Third Person: Trick Moon (Tsuki No Uso Rec)
1991 - Fred Frith: Gravity (Rec Rec)
199? - Chris Cochrane (unreleased)
1992 - Nicolas Collins: It Was a Dark Stormy Night (Trace Elements)
1992 - Catherine Jauniaux & Ikue Mori: Vibraslaps (only Producer & Engineer) (RecRec Music)
1993 - Bobvan: Waterdragon (Crammed Discs)
1994 - Cycomotogoat: Alkaline (Sector 2)
1994 - Richard Teitelbaum: Cyberband (Moers Music)
1994 - Fredy Studer & Christy Doran: Half A Lifetime (Unit Rec)
1995 - Under Cover Collection Band: Hor-Fest (Knitting Factory)
1995 - Lawrence "Butch" Morris: Testament - A Conduction Collection (New World/CounterCurrents)
1995 - Umezu Kazutoki: First Deserter (Off Note /Knitting Factory)
1996 - Fred Frith: Allies (RecRec)
1996 - Lussier, Derome, Cutler: Trois Douces Morceaux Three Pieces Suite (RecRec)
1997 - Haco: Haco (ReR Megacorp)
1997 - Les Sculpteurs de Vinyl: Memory & Money (Stupeur et Trompette!)
1997 - Iva Bittova & Vladimir Vaclavek: Bile Inferno (Indies Rec)
1999 - Polly Bradfield, Andrea Centazzo, Eugene Chadbourne, Tom Cora, Toshinori Kondo, LaDonna Smith, Davey Williams, Jack Wright, John Zorn: USA Concerts East (Robi Droli)
2000 - Hakim Hamadouche: Oriental Fusion (Buda Musique)
2001 - Meltable Snaps It: Points Blank (No Man's Land)
2004 - The Ex: Beautiful Frenzy (DVD Blowpipe)
2004 - Art Bears: The Art Box (ReR Megacorp)
* for complete discography visit this link
Video
Solo performance in La Spezia on May 21th, 1993
click here for full view
Curlew "Saint Dog" from "The Hardwood"
(VHS/Cuneiform Records)
click here for full view
Skeleton Crew - Live at Dunois, Paris 15/05/1983
part 1
click here for full view
part 2
click here for full view