The Oldest College Newspaper in Pennsylvania

The Lafayette

The Oldest College Newspaper in Pennsylvania

The Lafayette

The Oldest College Newspaper in Pennsylvania

The Lafayette

DiCarlo jazzes up campus: Lafayette instructor-musician to play Williams Center

Visiting+instructors+Tom+DiCarlo+playing+in+Vladivostok%2C+Russia.+%28U.S.+Consulate+Vladivostok%29
Visiting instructors Tom DiCarlo playing in Vladivostok, Russia. (U.S. Consulate Vladivostok)

This Sunday, jazz is coming to the Williams Center.

Tom DiCarlo, a jazz musician and visiting part-time instructor at Lafayette will bring his quintet to perform jazz tunes this Sunday afternoon at Williams Center for the Arts.

According to an article in the Star-Ledger, like many musicians, DiCarlo’s introduction to music began when he was eight years old on piano, but he would later switch to the bass, his main instrument. His infatuation with the instrument started after seeing the bassist of rock band Primus perform at Lollapalooza.

“I stood next to the stage, right in front of Les Claypool, and the bass was so loud and pumping, the notes were so low, it made things shake… the bass was the center of the band, and you could hear and feel that,” he told the Star-Ledger. “I realized that bass could be really powerful.”

According to his website, DiCarlo went on to receive a Bachelor of Music Education degree along with a Master of Music degree from Rutgers University. He has since performed with a variety of skilled musicians including Ralph Bowen, Tim Horner, Jerry Weldon, Tia Fuller and many others. DiCarlo has performed in festivals all around the world such as The Morges Music festival, the Rochester International Jazz Festival and the Billy Strayhorn Jazz Festival.

Aside from performing, DiCarlo has also had a long career in teaching and has taught at the collegiate level for more than 10 years at Lafayette, instructing students in theory and acoustic and electric bass. In 2010, DiCarlo as part of the Mark Sherman/Time Horner Quartet, was chosen by the U.S. State Department as jazz ambassadors. This entailed giving master classes at universities in Russia, South Korea, the Philippines and China.

The concert is planned for 3 – 4 p.m. in the Williams Center for the Arts. Admission is free, though one must get a ticket through the box office beforehand.

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