Now in an expanded second edition, this collection of alert, witty, and world-wise limericks by the great New Orleans jazz pianist and composer Tom McDermott, illustrated with his own drawings, is a snapshot of a restlessly creative mind and heart at play. These "personal nursery rhymes" demonstrate that simplicity of means need not be incompatible with sophistication of ends. In all their various modes -- the frivolously comic, the self-deprecating, the wistful, the gently mocking, the philosophical -- a very individual elegance and generosity of spirit are always to be found.
Tom McDermott is one of New Orleans' premier piano players and composers. He grew up in St. Louis, where he earned a Masters' Degree in Music, wrote music journalism for the morning paper, and soaked up the sounds of ragtime and traditional jazz that flourished there in the 1960s and 70s. In 1984, spurred by his love of James Booker, Professor Longhair and Dr. John, he moved to New Orleans. He has since established a remarkable performing career there and around the world, and has released 15 CDs, written for the theater, acted in movies, and played himself in three seasons of the New Orleans-based HBO series Treme.
