Biography
Short Version | Extended Version
Born in 1983 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Thomas Nordlund grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, where he studied with Roger Brotherhood and Jaime Guiscafre. In 1998, he received a scholarship from the Madison Jazz Society and studied with Bob Sneider at the Birch Creek Music Performance Center. Nordlund holds a Bachelor of Arts in guitar performance from the University of Minnesota Morris. As an undergraduate, he studied with Tim Sparks and performed in a professional dance band in regional venues. He spent a semester abroad in Auckland, New Zealand where he studied with leading Australasian saxophonist Roger Manins. In addition to teaching at the St. Paul Guitar Studio and Bauer Dance and Gymnastics, Nordlund is currently working as a solo jazz guitarist in regional venues and freelancing in a variety of styles.
Short Version | Extended Version
An improviser of understated melodic ingenuity with a graceful and delicate touch, guitarist Thomas Nordlund is freelancing in a variety of styles and performing original interpretations of standard jazz repertoire, and arrangements by acknowledged masters, in regional venues.
Born in 1983 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Nordlund grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, and began playing guitar at the age of twelve. "I played the Beatles for a year. Then a childhood friend, and aspiring drummer, showed me his father’s basement full of jazz records." Enthralled by the intensity and intricacy of jazz improvisation, Nordlund gravitated toward the jazz guitar and immersed himself in lessons with regional veteran Roger Brotherhood.
After receiving a scholarship from the Madison Jazz Society, Nordlund studied with guitarist Bob Sneider at the Birch Creek Music Performance Center in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin. "Bob was the first jazz guitarist I knew who used his fingers to play. He also helped me go beyond technique to see the overall architecture of an arrangement or improvised solo as a story with a beginning, middle, and end." Inspired by the contrapuntal possibilities of fingerstyle guitar and fascinated with the logic of arranging, Nordlulnd started lessons with classical guitarist Jaime Guiscafre.
After graduating from high school in 2002, Nordlund attended the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) where he began his professional career, performing with a dance band in regional venues and a small jazz ensemble at the 2004 Grand Marais Jazz Festival. He also continued his exploration of classical and jazz repertoire with UMM Guitar Professor, Tim Sparks.
In 2005, Nordlund attended the University of Auckland in New Zealand where he studied with leading Australasian saxophonist Roger Manins and performed with singer-songwriter Karen Hunter. The following year Nordlund received the Keith Carlson Memorial Jazz Award and graduated from UMM with a Bachelor of Arts in guitar performance after presenting a full length recital of original compositions for small jazz ensemble.
In the summer of 2006, Nordlund performed with Tim Sparks at the 10,000 Lakes Festival in Detroit Lakes, MN. After a year back in Madison, Wisconsin, performing as a solo guitarist and with the Madison Jazz Orchestra, he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. In addition to teaching privately at the St. Paul Guitar Studio and Bauer Dance and Gymnastics, Nordlund is currently freelancing in a variety of styles and performing a solo guitar repertoire comprised of: music from Latin America by artists such as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Baden Powell, and Luiz Bonfa; American popular music; original arrangements of jazz standards; and music by major jazz guitarists such as Barry Galbraith, Joe Pass, and George Van Eps.