Tom R. Karl MD

Home city: Truckee, CA, USA

Vocation outside music: Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon (humanitarian initiatives in Latin America with Gift of Life International)

Role in BBSC: Guitar, bass, saxophone, composing, arranging, audio recording and editing. Co-founder of BBSC (2008).

First performance with BBSC: New Orleans 2008

Major musical influences: John Coltrane, Joe Pass, Martin Taylor, JacoPastorius, all great musicians past and present   

Favorite musical genres: Jazz, R and B, blues, world music, classical guitar

My most prized instrument: 1954 King Super 20 alto, 1964 Gibson ES-175 guitar, 1965 Fender P-bass

Musical projects outside BBSC: Studying jazz theory and technique, composing and recording. Projects outside BBSC include playing bass, guitar, and sax in various bands in Buffalo, Stonybrook, Melbourne, Brisbane (with Dejan and Melanie), San Francisco (with Lisa)

Favorite non-musical pursuits: alpine skiing, distance cycling, building road bikes 

What I love about BBSC: Enthusiastic group of like-minded people willing to realize original compositions across multiple genres. Opportunity to play with some talented and interesting musicians.