Born in New Jersey, Tom Lippincott grew up in Oklahoma where he started playing trombone in his school band at age 11. After an introduction to The Beatles at age 12, courtesy of his older sister’s record collection, he was immediately struck by a desire to become a musician, and after a year of pleading with his parents, he finally received his first guitar when he was 13.Besides The Beatles, Tom drew inspiration from artists like Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rush, and Van Halen and eventually Miles Davis and John Coltrane. During Tom’s senior year, he began taking lessons with Tulsa-based guitarist Randy Wimer who introduced him to Joe Pass, Johnny Smith, Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall, Pat Metheny, and John McLaughlin.
Tom attended the University of North Texas from 1984 to 1988 where he studied under Jack Petersen, Rick Peckham, Philip Hii, and Dan Haerle. He then moved to Florida for a teaching assistantship at the University of Miami where he earned a master’s degree in 1990 under the guidance of Randall Dollahon, Whit Sidener, Ron Miller, Matt Bonelli, and Steve Rucker.
Over the years since, Tom has recorded and collaborated with Miller, Bonelli, Rucker, and other South Florida musicians and bands including Rodolfo Zuniga, David Fernandez, The 14 Jazz Orchestra, Gary Campbell, Miami Jazz Consort, The Chassidic Jazz Project, Nicole Henry, and many others.Tom Lippincott has played throughout the world in many different configurations as both sideman and leader and has performed or recorded with John Stowell, Jonathan Kreisberg, Ben Monder, Dave Liebman, Don Friedman, and Ed Schuller.
Having formerly taught at Miami Dade College, Broward College, and New World School of the Arts, Tom currently stays busy teaching at Florida International University, playing shows on the condo circuit with artists like Zoë Tyler, Jayne Curry, and Suzanne O, performing stream-of-consciousness medleys in a duo with percussionist Steve Kornicks, revisiting his rock guitar origins with Brass Evolution, and playing jazz in fancy hotels with vocalist and violinist Yamit Lemoine.
Tom also teaches lessons online via Zoom, conducts clinics and workshops, and has jazz guitar classes available online through Mike’s Master Classes. He maintains a YouTube channel with videos of performances, teaching materials, and a series called Modern Jazz Noise that explores the use of effects pedals in a modern jazz setting.Tom has been featured as a performer and composer on several releases from David Fernandez including Land, Motet, Bates Motet, Fragments, At the Palace, and One Man Banned, among others. Tom’s newest release with Fernandez is Blue of Sky, featuring their arrangements of tunes by Neil Young, The Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Richard Wagner, and Radiohead, as well as original music. An upcoming release with Rodolfo Zuniga’s Surfaces with Strings will also feature Tom’s compositions.
Tom’s albums, available on his website, include his 2000 release Painting the Slow Train Brown. His composition “Semolina Pilchard” from his 2020 album Twenty Years Later received second place in the 2022 Jazz Times Top Track competition.
For more detailed information about Tom’s background, influences, and transition to fingerstyle playing, please see his 2012 interview by Clinton Carnegie of The Guitar Column.
More information about Tom’s extended range guitar can be found on the 8-string page of his website, in an interview by Ged Brockie of the Guitar and Music Institute, and in a YouTube video.
Tom’s free three-part series Rhythm is Everything is available on Jazz Guitar Today’s YouTube channel: part 1, part 2, and part 3.
A thorough account of Tom’s lesson with Mick Goodrick and Tom’s free tutorial on understanding and applying Mick’s Voice-Leading Almanacs have been previously posted on this website.
Tom’s free four-part series Guitar Harmony Basics is also available on this website.
Check Out the new Tom Lippincott Pedal Board Below.
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