Tom Hume II secretly hoped that his 7 year old son might take up the drums, as he once had. He brought home a Ludwig kit finished in White Marine Pearl. Tommy took the bait. Tom showed him a few basic beats which his son picked up on the spot. Tom said he would show Tommy the hardest beat he knew, a funk beat with a syncopated rhythm, and if he could one day master it, the drum set would be his. He cautioned that it would take time and not to get discouraged. It did take time—over an hour.

Tommy, sporting a mullet, played heavy metal through high school on a wall of drums, and alternative rock in college. After marrying his school sweetie Nicole Schneider in 1994, friends asked Tommy to play one country gig with them, as a favor, country being his least favorite style next to what they play at the dentist office. The favor dragged on for two years and countless shows included opening for Deena Carter and Blackhawk. Today he likes country better than muzak... but only just.

When he was thirty four, his dad encouraged him to take up jazz and sit in at the regular Thursday night jam sessions. Again Tommy took the bait, studying jazz with a talented local drummer, Mark Ivester. He hasn’t missed a Thursday night since. This has allowed father and son to connect in a new way, communicating in the exhilarating, inimitable language of jazz.

 

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