Tom Skinner

London-based drummer, composer, and producer Tom Skinner is directly associated with several genre-defying and boundary-pushing projects, regularly contributes to recording and live dates for significant artists, and releases records of his own where he leads his band down uncharted paths of exploratory jazz and other further-out sounds. Skinner plays alongside members of Radiohead in the Smile, was one of two drummers in London supergroup Sons of Kemet, and traverses both meditative grooves and spiritual expression on 2022's Voices of Bishara, his first album of material released under his own name, followed by the double length Voices of Bishara Live at "Mu" in 2024.

Skinner got his start playing in London's experimental jazz scene in the mid-2000s. In the 2010s, along with drumming for punk-minded jazz group Melt Yourself Down, Skinner also began playing with eruptive avant-garde group Sons of Kemet and releasing solo music of his own under the alias Hello Skinny. Hello Skinny put out a few singles and two albums, 2012's self-titled debut and 2017's Watermelon Sun as Skinner continued working with his groups as well as with artists like Floating Points, Graham Coxon, Grace Jones, Zero 7, and many others across various genre lines. He left Melt Yourself Down in 2021 and signed on with Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood to form experimental rock group the Smile. The band released their debut album A Light for Attracting Attention in 2022. The year also saw Sons of Kemet go on indefinite hiatus around the same time Skinner was readying his first leader album. Released on the International Anthem label in November of 2022, that album, Voices of Bishara, found Skinner leading cellist Kareem Dayes, bassist Tom Herbert, storied saxophonist and flutist Nubya Garcia, and Sons of Kemet bandmate and tenor sax/bass clarinet player Shabaka Hutchings through his adventurous tunes.

The saxophonists, both busy bandleaders and session players, were unable to play the album support tour. He enlisted first-call saxophonists Chelsea Carmichael (also a fine bandleader) and Robert Stillman to join the quintet and take the music on tour. In concert, Skinner encouraged the musicians to stretch out and improvise on the material and in conversation with one another. In 2024, Voices of Bishara Live at "Mu" appeared. The double-length set showcased the second edition of Skinner's band, performing often greatly extended versions of tunes from the studio album as well as covers of "Oasis," "Camille," and "Happiness," by jazz cellist Abdul Wadud. The musician, who died in 2022, was a primary influence on Skinner as both a composer and improviser. Wadud released the solo cello set By Myself on his own Bisharra Records label in 1978. The titles of Skinner's albums, as well as his choice of cover versions, are direct homages to the cellist. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi