Fumi Tomita

Bassist, composer, and educator Fumi Tomita was active in the New York jazz scene for over fifteen years.  His 2019 recording, The Elephant Vanishes: Jazz Interpretations of the Short Stories of Haruki Murakami, was released to critical acclaim by Origin Arts records and was listed in the top ten records of 2019 by Jazziz.  He also appears as a member of HGTS on their debut release And Then They Played… released in April 2020 by Summit Records.  Celebrating Bird: A Tribute to Charlie Parker, a collaboration with saxophonist David Detweiler, was released in September 2020 by Next Level Music.

He has presented his research at the International Society of Bassists Conference, Issues in Contemporary Jazz, Jazz Education Network, International Society for Improvised Music, BassEurope, Massachusetts Music Educators Association, and the National Association for Music Education.  His book The Jazz Rhythm Section was published by Rowman & Littlefield in conjunction with NAfME in 2019.  Additionally, he has published articles in Bass world, Jazz Perspectives, and the Massachusetts Music Educators’ Journal.  He is currently Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.