Gallant spirit lives on through memorial scholarship
While the world of jazz in the Seacoast Region plays on, the loss of
one of its spirtual leaders continues to be profoundly felt by the large
circle of musicians, students, and fans who were central to his existence.
For decades, jazz pianist Tommy Gallant served as a leading exemplar and
advocate for the fine art of jazz. He died of cancer in 1998 at the age
of 63. Now, his family has established a scholarship fund at the University
of New Hampshire that will help struggling jazz musicians through school
while keeping his memory alive.
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| Matthew Fogg, the first recipient of the Tommy Gallant Scholarship. |
The Tommy Gallant Scholarship Fund, supported by gifts from family, friends,
colleagues, and admirers, will be awarded each year to students with financial
need who "have the potential to reach a high level of achievement
as performers, and who demonstrate the values of jazz feeling, imagination,
historical awareness, and commitment which were exemplified by Tommy Gallant."
The first recipient, Matthew Fogg, a junior music education major from
Biddeford, Maine, has a special connection to Gallant. When Fogg was a
freshman in high school, Gallant visited the school to play for students.
"He was absolutely the first jazz pianist I ever heard play; he was
amazing. I was so impressed that I dropped the trombone, which I was lousy
at anyway, and started taking piano lessons," Fogg says.
Today Fogg is an accomplished jazz pianist who would like to teach or
go on to graduate school for music. He says the scholarship enables him
to "work less and practice (the piano) more.
"I feel very honored to receive the scholarship. Not only was Tom
a great piano player, he was a great guy and very open and receptive to
helping students," Fogg says. "I’m especially honored because
I’m the first recipient, and I knew Tom."
Gallant’s friends and fellow musicians increased scholarship funding
through a benefit concert last spring, which attracted dozens of New England’s
finest jazz artists. "It was a spectacular success, and we raised
much more than we ever expected, which is a testament to how Tommy’s
music affected people, " says Paul Verrette, a professor emeritus
of music at UNH and a fellow jazz pianist.
"He was always genuine. His music had a natural sense of swing,
and that appealed to people," he continued. "His technique,
his harmonic sense, and his imagination all had a way of keeping the jazz
language fresh and alive."
Gallant had a passion for perpetuating the language of jazz. A great
believer in the small jazz club, the Tommy Gallant Trio and the Tommy
Gallant All-Stars were regular performers at the Press Room and the Metro
in Portsmouth, and at Saunder’s in Rye Harbor. Gallant also entertained
at private parties in the Seacoast and donated time to play for nursing
home residents and school children.
"He was completely unselfish. He played in any venue, and his music
moved the average person as much as the jazz aficionado," says David
Seiler, director of the UNH Jazz Band.
When the Portsmouth Jazz Festival floundered in 1996, Gallant and Seiler
revived the tradition by establishing the summer Seacoast Jazz Festival
in Prescott Park attracting New England’s finest jazz artists. This
past summer, world-renowned trumpet player Bobby Shew appeared at the
festival. The two also founded the annual Harry W. Jones Jr. Memorial
Scholarship Fund, which raises money for music students.
The less visible but equally vibrant legacy of Tommy Gallant continues
in the music of his many students, who remember him as an inspiring, gifted
teacher who was generous with his time and talent. Gallant taught at the
Berklee College of Music, at Phillips Exeter Academy, and at the University
of New Hampshire, through courses, workshops, and informal musical events.
In the lives of young musicians like Matthew Fogg, and in the vibrant Seacoast jazz scene, the legacy of Tommy Gallant plays on.
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