Music Salon: Tom Skinner with his own program

Tom Skinner, drummer of the acclaimed bands Sons of Kemet and The Smile, presents his own musical program for the first time. With a career spanning over two decades, he has shaped London’s jazz and improvisational scene as a drummer, composer, and producer. His style blends jazz, electronic music, dub, experimental rock, and free improvisation into a unique sonic cosmos.

On his album Kaleidoscopic Visions, Skinner places his work as a composer at the forefront. Many of the pieces were initially composed on the guitar—a less familiar instrument for him—and were later developed through improvisation with his band. Joining him are Tom Herbert (bass), Kareem Dayes (cello), Chelsea Carmichael and Robert Stillman (woodwinds), as well as Jonathan Geyevu (vocals, piano, synthesizer). The music unfolds in intricately woven melodies and open rhythmic structures that oscillate between meditative depth and almost trance-like sounds. Skinner himself views rhythm as a dynamic part of a larger sonic space.

The album is also a personal reflection: pieces like "Margaret Anne" pay tribute to his mother, a classically trained pianist, while "Auster" is a nod to the writer Paul Auster. In the second half of the album, guest musicians such as Meshell Ndegeocello expand the sonic spectrum, adding further depth to the compositions.