Tom McIntosh obit

Jazz Composer TOM MCINTOSH Has Died

He was not on the list.

Tom McIntosh, 90, a trombonist, composer, arranger and conductor, died on July 26, 2017. He had been a member of Local 802 since 1956. Mr. McIntosh studied at the Peabody Conservatory before serving in the 427th Army Band, the first unit to be integrated (under President Harry S. Truman). He later moved to NYC, where he studied at Juilliard and began a long career that included collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Milt Jackson, the Art Farmer/Benny Golson Jazztet, the New York Jazz Sextet, Herbie Hancock, J.J. Johnson, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, George Benson, Hubert Laws, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Tommy Flanagan, Roland Hanna, Richard Davis, Oliver Nelson, Art Blakey, Illinois Jacquet, Bobby Timmons, Shirley Scott, Jimmy Smith, John Lewis, Jack McDuff, Eddie Harris, Jimmy Heath, Lee Morgan, Roland Kirk, Earl Coleman, Paquito D’Rivera, Frank Perowsky, Jimmy Owens, John Handy and Howard McGhee, among others. In 1969, Mr. McIntosh moved to L.A. and found success writing for movies and TV, but he returned to the East Coast in the 1990s and began a teaching career, which included a position as director of the Thelonious Monk Institute at the New England Conservatory of Music. In 2003, at the age of 76, Mr. McIntosh released his first album as a leader, “With Malice Towards None.” In 2008, at the height of his powers, Mr. McIntosh was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. That same year, Mr. McIntosh recorded an extensive interview for the Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program, which is available online. Mr. McIntosh’s faith as a Jehovah’s Witness was very important to him. Mr. McIntosh is survived by his brother Henry, nephew Ralph and many other nieces and nephews. (Obituary information from Mr. McIntosh’s nephew, friends, Wikipedia and the NEA Jazz Masters site.)