NATURE AND MUSIC

Thomas was born on Dharawal country, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.  Since a child all his music has been a reflection of his birth place and mother nature.

Seeking a deeper understanding of nature to compose new works, he sought the teachings of Aboriginal Culture by Traditional Custodians where the need to posses and have power over others was non existent, and has allowed them to live for over 50000 years in harmony with nature.

In 2021 Thomas was the recipient of a Creative Arts Grant from the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.  Works derived from such include his collaboration with the Gunai Kurnai Custodian Storyteller Wayne Thorpe, a 40 minute musical suite based upon the Creation story of Waratah Bay in East Gippsland, Victoria Australia.

In 2022 he collaborates with the Dharawal Custodian Storyteller Dr Jodi Edwards as part of her Fellowship through RMIT University to compose and develop music for her project, The Melodies of Language with the focus on Dharawal Lore. Works derived from such include Madjari Yandha Gadhu Geera Nhama-ya and Minnamurra.

Thomas Lorenzo is a world renowned and award-winning guitarist, composer and music educator.

ARTIST AND PERFORMER

Thomas has released five solo instrumental albums in contemporary Jazz, Blues and Flamenco styles. His latest release Spanish Breeze debuted at #36 on the Top 50 JazzWeek World Music Album Charts in 2010 and was #32 on the College Music Journal Jazz Chart. The album features Grammy nominee Alphonso Johnson (Weather Report, Grateful Dead) on Bass, Dave Garfield (George Benson) on Keys, and Walfredo Reyes (Santana) on Drums, and was produced by Grammy nominee Bruce Sugar (Ringo Starr).

MUSIC PRODUCTION

Thomas learnt his production skills at Berklee College of Music alongside producers as Don Puluse ( Miles Davis, Sly Stone). He has combined industry expertise and knowledge with commercial acumen to produce numerous CDs, manage the promotion and marketing for online sales as well as providing tour management and promotion for live concert sales including securing public funding for live tours.

MUSIC EDUCATOR

Thomas has a prolific musical education background. In the early nineties he graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA  under the supervision of Grammy award winner Robert Freedman. He has taught and lectured in a number or significant musical institutions including Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and  “L’ Aula de Musica Moderna i Jazz” of The Barcelona Liceo Conservatory.

In 1995 Thomas Lorenzo was commissioned by the Spanish Society of Authors to write the first Spanish text book on arranging and orchestration. The text book “El Arreglo, Un Puzzle de Expresión musical” is now in its third edition and extensively used throughout the world in Spanish language music schools, universities and conservatories.

In 2018 Thomas established his online Creative Guitar Academy specialised in applied arranging skills to the guitar in songwriting and composition.

• Flamenco Street Projects (Street Life Music, 1995)
• El Deseo (Ottomani, 2000)
• Espacio, (Ottomani, 2001)
• Juego de Almas (Ottomani, 2003)
• Spanish Breeze (Barcelona Music, 2009) with Alphonso Johnson on bass, Walfredo Reyes, Jr. on drums, Dave Garfield on piano, and engineered by Bruce Sugar.
• Triste (TL Productions, 2016)
• Yesterday (TL Productions, 2016)
• Tico Tico no Fubá (TL Productions, 2016)
• Dos Gardenias (TL Productions, 2017)
• Australia Flamenjazz Guitar (TL Productions, 2017)
• Libertad (TL Productions, 2018)
• Nostalgia (TL Productions, 2018)
• Friends (TL Productions, 2018)
• Caminando (TL Productions, 2019)
• A Gentle Touch (TL Productions, 2020)
• The Balance of Nature (TL Productions 2021)
• La Vidala (TL Productions 2021)
• Just the Two of Us (TL Productions 2022)
• Lamento ( TL Productions 2023)
• The Lyrebird ( TL Productions 2023)
• Madjari Yandha Gadhu ( TL Productions 2023)
• Geera Nhama-ya ( TL Productions 2023)
• Minnamurra (TL Productions 2023)
• My Happy Place ( TL Productions 2023)
• The Love of Life (TL Productions 2023)

Hermanos Conde

Lorenzo plays an Hermanos Conde Media Luna as his choice of nylon string guitar. He commented “I love this sound because of its sharp attack and extreme sweetness in all registers. He plays this guitar on tracks as * Ducura con Rabia (Barcelona Music, 2009)^[4] from his album Spanish Breeze (Barcelona Music, 2009).^[

Stratocaster SRV

Lorenzo plays the Stratocaster SRV model as his choice of electric guitar sound. He plays this guitar on the track You’re Cute (Barcelona Music, 2009), recorded in Westlake Recording Studios, in Los Angeles in 2009 with Bruce Sugar as sound engineer for the album Spanish Breeze (Barcelona Music, 2009).

Paul Reed Smith 1989

Thomas commented “Whenever I need a sustained electric guitar sound I choose my Paul Reed Smith 1989 single coil model”. He plays this guitar on the tracks Blue Secrets (Barcelona Music, 2009) from his album Spanish Breeze (Barcelona Music, 2009).

Early years and education

He is the son of Spanish immigrants that left behind fascism in the 1950s to start a new life in Australian democracy. He started playing the classical guitar at the age of ten in a musical environment based on traditional Spanish music and the Australian rock and pop scene of the 1970s. Lorenzo’s interest in guitar increased around 1970 when he saw the Beatles perform on TV. When Francisco Franco, the Spanish dictator, died and democracy was reinstalled in Spain, the family returned to Barcelona.

For his 18th birthday, his parents allowed him to buy his first electric guitar, which was a Ibanez AS 200. In Barcelona he studied at the L’Aula de Musica del Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu. As a composer he has received the commission by the UK national arts lottery in 1997 to compose the suite called The Immigrant, which premiered at the Paul McCartney Auditorium in Liverpool, England.^[1]

Lorenzo’s life changed after hearing the album Wired (Jeff Beck album), Blue Benson by George Benson, Four & More by Miles Davis. Soon after, he was captivated by Wes Montgomery’s album Smokin’ at the Half Note which was released in 1965 and by Paco de Lucia´s Entre dos aguas (album). He cites Jeff Beck, George Benson, the Beatles, Miles Davis, and Wes Montgomery, Paco De Lucia as having the biggest impact on his music.

When he was 18 he was selected as National Jazz Solista Finalist: Ibiza Jazz Festival (1989). He then decided to further pursue his studies and went to Boston, USA. In 1992 he graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston, having studied commercial arranging under the supervision of Grammy Award winner Robert Freedman.