Tom Varner

There were few French horn soloists in jazz but, even when there have been dozens, it?s likely that that Tom Varner would rank close to the top. He began on piano at age group eight along with a season later turned to French horn, finding his forerunner Julius Watkins’ recordings when he was 17. He graduated from the brand new Britain Conservatory and, in 1979, shifted to NY. Since that time, Varner has documented many albums (mainly for Soul Take note) being a head, and spent some time working with such players as Dave Liebman, Bobby Watson, George Gruntz (along with his Concert Jazz Music group), John Zorn, Steve Lacy, Lee Konitz, and Bobby Previte. Varner nearly single-handedly produced the challenging French horn a practical modern jazz device.