Tom Teasley/Dave Ballou
Lunch Break


	The two potent musical forces heard on this copasetic collaboration literally came together during a Lunch Break at Tom Teasley’s house. While the renowned world music percussionist, clinician and educator had previously met trumpeter Dave Ballou while playing together in a band led by drummer Jeff Cosgrove, they didn’t get to fully explore their chemistry until playing in impromptu fashion in the confines of Teasley’s home studio. “We had a nice hook up on that gig with Jeff,” said Teasley. “We played together several times and frequently during the course of a given set we would get some duet space. So at some point I said to Dave, ‘Hey, man, come over and we’ll just do some free improv and see where it goes.’ He came over to my studio while I was  literally taking a lunch break from filming some educational video. We had a couple of espressos in my home studio, chatted a bit, and then we played. It was just very, very informal.”
	That session yielded some daring improvisational flights, following in the adventurous footsteps of drummer Ed Blackwell and trumpeter Don Cherry (members of the classic Ornette Coleman group of the ‘60s and Old and New Dreams during the ‘70s) on their free-spirited and highly conversational 1982 duet album, El Corazón. Along the way, Teasley tips his hat to iconic drummers Max Roach, Andrew Cyrille and Paul Motian while also revealing his love of West African bembe rhythm, South Indian Carnatic konnokol singing, American funk and swing. And the atmospheric vibe they create together on rubato pieces like “Prayer for the Ancestors” and “Gratitude” adds a meditative flavor to this open-ended first-time encounter. 
	
	The spark of creativity shines brightly throughout this first meeting of the daring duo of Teasley and Ballou. Energy and freedom abound throughout these 11 tracks. — Bill Milkowski

Bill Milkowski is a longtime contributor to Downbeat and author of biographies on Jaco Pastorius, Pat Martino and Michael Brecker. His blog “Musings on Music by The Milkman” can be read on Substack and also on his website: billmilkowski.com

10Riqq Talk

09Prayer For The Ancestors

08Mop Shake & Roll

07Jongno

06Lullaby

05Rush Hour

04For Maxx

03WHEN THE WIND CRIES

02FOUR OR SIX

01Tips In Baghdad


Tom Teasley, described in the Washington Post as “a percussionist in the widest and most exuberant sense of the word,” maintains a unique career as a solo percussionist, composer and collaborator. A 2010 and 2011 Helen Hayes Theater Award recipient for outstanding sound design, Tom tours frequently throughout the world performing and presenting clinics for the instrument companies he endorses including Yamaha, Vic Firth, Sabian, Remo, Latin Percussion and others. A three-time recipient of a Fulbright-Hayes grant for performances in the Middle East, Tom collaborated with indigenous musicians and gave historic performances in Bahrain, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the West Bank and Jerusalem. He has been an artist-in-residence at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and has collaborated with the National Symphony as both a soloist and composer. As an international collaborator he has performed by invitation in Europe and South America. Tom earned the 2006 Artist-of-the-year award from Young Audiences of Virginia for his creative and educational presentations. His seven CDs have been greeted with international airplay and acclaim. He has been the subject of feature articles in both “Modern Drummer” and “Drum!” magazines.

Tom Teasley Music