You could hear the bird sing (EP)

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Bio : Tom Sochas is a Franco-American pianist born and raised in Paris, France and Nairobi, Kenya. Tom’s love of lyrical and melodic music, hard hitting post-bop and his passion for non-western music has led him to developping a unique sound, itself materialising into his first two releases. Beyond his own band and trio Tom has also created a label, Khumbu Records, to house and nourish some of the projects he is currently involved in. Tom Sochas’s debut album ‘The Sorcerer’ will be released in December 2021 on Khumbu Records.

About the EP : The music was written during the first UK lockdown, in April 2020, following the Covid-19 pandemic. The anxieties suffered due to the spread of the virus and the hope which emerged from a collective shift in perspective soon blossomed into new music. Once the music was sketched out, Tom got in contact with some of his favorite London based musicians and began to think about if, and how, one could go about recording a jazz record remotely. What followed was a arduous process of back and forth to attempt to recreate an as close to possible in vivo experience. Layering over each other’s perfomances once, and then again after another musican’s ‘reaction performance’, allowed for true interaction and improvisation.

The EP was released on Khumbu Records on Januray 15th 2020. It’s enjoyed some great exposure so far with radio play including Jazz FM, BBC Radio Scotland, Soho Radio, Totally Wired Radio, KZRadio and more. It was also featured in Bandcamp’s 7 Essential Releases column by Marcus J. Moore (The New York Times, NPR, Rolling Stone), who described the EP as “(…) an impressive step for the promising bandleader.”

Musicians :

Tom Sochas - Piano, Philicorda, Synthesizers, Guitar, Percussion

Laurie Carpenter - Trumpet

Sebastian Maniura - Bass

Olly Sarkar - Drums, Percussion

Mixed by Matteo Buccomino and Tom Sochas at Calmer.
Mastered by Jeremy Cooper at Soundtrap

Artwork by Caitlin Biller

Special thanks to Matt at 3sixty Studios and Paul at Renaissance Pianos