Tina Raymond "Divinations" Release Tour

Sun, Oct 15

Tina Raymond, Drums Andrew Renfroe, Guitar Richard Lloyd Giddens, Jr. Bass Tina Raymond is an accomplished drummer, composer, bandleader, and educator based in Los Angeles, CA. A unique voice in the contemporary improvised music scene, Raymond blends traditional jazz vocabulary with African polyrhythm and classical percussion technique. She has toured the US, Europe and Asia as a leader and sideman. Tina Raymond’s Imani Records debut, titled Divinations, showcases the first-call Los Angeles drummer in a groove-centric, melody-drenched context that may surprise admirers of the more abstract tonal personality she’s documented with SoCal avant luminaries like Eric Revis, Bobby Bradford, Vinny Golia, and Dan Rosenboom, or, for that matter, on two recent albums by the acclaimed eclectic, all-female Esthesis Quartet. The album comprises six original songs, all composed during the summer of 2022, when Raymond, having given herself “the opportunity to to work on what I wanted to do for the first time in many years,” began playing with two virtuoso neighbors — endlessly interactive, “unpredictable” guitarist Andrew Renfroe, who’s recently been touring the world with Keyon Harrold, and supportive, risk-taking bassist Karl McComas-Reichl, currently with Jane Monheit’s trio. The title references Raymond’s responses to “the whimsical, magical perspective of the artwork and written snippets” on tarot cards from a traditional rider deck, a Prairie Nature deck illustrated by Lesley Ann Wheeler, and the Gentle Goddess deck created and illustrated by Mariza Ryce Aparicio-Tovar (an Alaska resident of part-Mexican, part American Indigenous descent) of Mari in the Sky (thegentletarot.com). “I was so taken with the imagery of Mariza’s cards,” Raymond says. “They’re very feminine. The colors are really bright, and her language on them is beautiful.” Raymond is the director of Jazz Studies at California State University Northridge, she received a DownBeat Educator Achievement Award (2020), and is president-elect of California Alliance for Jazz. Raymond has presented globally and her teaching credits include Los Angeles City College, The Herbie Hancock Institute, University of Michigan, Bard College, and Idyllwild Arts. She received an M.F.A in Jazz (drum set) from CalArts in 2010, and a B.M. in double performance, classical percussion and jazz studies, from University of Cincinnati’s CCM in 2008. She is an endorsed educator with Remo and Sabian. "Raymond displays ferocious chops and a remarkable sense of balance, supporting the overall group sound as much as she asserts her individual voice." - Brian Zimmerman, Downbeat Magazine "...Raymond stands out. Her frequent focus on the toms evokes past masters such as Art Blakey, Max Roach and Ed Blackwell without being imitative, and her approach to time is absolutely contemporary." - Jeff Schwartz, AAJ