Tom Wolfe

Tom has been performing for over 30 years - playing in 'garage bands,' school bands, and in church. He first began performing professionally at the age of 17.

Shortly after, Wolfe was accepted into the Jazz Studies Program at Capital University. There he studied guitar with Stan Smith and Tom Carroll. Soon after his enrollment in the program, his teachers began to recommend him for gigs when they were unavailable to play. In a very short time, Wolfe had begun to perform with artists such as Bob Hope, Englebert Humperdink, Chita Rivera, Jerry Van Dyke, Rosemary Clooney and touring shows such as Grease, Annie, etc.

Wolfe attended the Eastman School of Music for his graduate studies. There he had the opportunity to work with Rayburn Wright, Bill Dobbins and Gene Bertoncini. Challenged by their intense love of the music and the competitive drive of his classmates, Wolfe quickly realized the potential for growth and learning in this program.

While at Eastman, Wolfe studied jazz arranging and composition with Rayburn Wright and Bill Dobbins and guitar with Gene Bertoncini. He also had the opportunity to perform and work with many jazz greats: Manny Albam, Rufus Ried, Lew Soloff, John LaBarbera, etc. These opportunities set the framework for Wolfe\\\'s future as a performer and educator.

Having completed his studies at the Eastman School of Music, Wolfe moved back Columbus, Ohio and taught part-time for Otterbein College and Kenyon College and later moved to Lafayette, Louisiana to serve on the faculty at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). In 1994, Wolfe took a position at the University of Alabama School of Music as director of the Jazz Studies Program.