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     Tom Sancton grew up in New Orleans and attended local public schools. After studies at Harvard and Oxford, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar, he began a 22-year career as a writer, editor, and foreign correspondent for Time Magazine, serving most recently as Paris Bureau Chief, where his reporting earned him an Overseas Press Club Award.      Sancton is also a well-known jazz clarinetist and a former student of the late, great George Lewis—an apprenticeship he lovingly chronicled in Song for My Fathers. Featured on more than a dozen CD’s, Tom Sancton (a.k.a. Tommy) has toured widely in Europe and the U.S., and has played at major international jazz festivals, including numerous appearances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He also appeared alongside Woody Allen in the 1998 film Wild Man Blues. Since his return to New Orleans in 2007, Sancton has played regularly at such legendary jazz venues as Preservation Hall, the Palm Court Jazz Cafe, and Snug Harbor. A stage version of Song For My Fathers, featuring the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, was presented at Tulane University’s Dixon Hall in 2010, the Chat Noir theater in 2011, and the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival in 2012. In January 2012, Sancton was featured at a gala 50th anniversary Preservation Hall Jazz Band concert at Carnegie Hall.  In 2013, the French government named him a Knight (Chevalier) in the Order of Arts and Letters.       An experienced lecturer, Sancton is much in demand as a speaker for convention groups, literary festivals, educational institutions, and other diverse organizations Sancton is currently working on The Bettencourt Affair, a book about the ongoing scandal that has rocked Paris in recent years. The Bettencourt Affair will be published by Dutton in Summer 2017. .

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     Tom Sancton grew up in New Orleans and attended local public schools. After studies at Harvard and Oxford, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar, he began a 22-year career as a writer, editor, and foreign correspondent for Time Magazine, serving most recently as Paris Bureau Chief, where his reporting earned him an Overseas Press Club Award.      Sancton is also a well-known jazz clarinetist and a former student of the late, great George Lewis—an apprenticeship he lovingly chronicled in Song for My Fathers. Featured on more than a dozen CD’s, Tom Sancton (a.k.a. Tommy) has toured widely in Europe and the U.S., and has played at major international jazz festivals, including numerous appearances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He also appeared alongside Woody Allen in the 1998 film Wild Man Blues. Since his return to New Orleans in 2007, Sancton has played regularly at such legendary jazz venues as Preservation Hall, the Palm Court Jazz Cafe, and Snug Harbor. A stage version of Song For My Fathers, featuring the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, was presented at Tulane University’s Dixon Hall in 2010, the Chat Noir theater in 2011, and the Tennessee Wiliams Literary Festival in 2012. In January 2012, Sancton was featured at a gala 50th anniversary Preservation Hall Jazz Band concert at Carnegie Hall. In 2013, the French government named him a Knight (Chevalier) in the Order of Arts and Letters.            An experienced lecturer, Sancton is much in demand as a speaker for convention groups, literary festivals, educational institutions, and other diverse organizations. Sancton is currently working on The Bettencourt Affair, a book about the ongoing scandal that has rocked Paris in recent years. The Bettencourt Affair will be published by Dutton in Summer 2017.

TBA

Preservation Hall, 2011.Shannon Powell, Clive Wilson, Jesse Boyd, Tommy Sancton.Photo by Sylvaine Sancton

With Olympia Band at George Lewis’s funeral, January 1969Emanuael Paul, Andy Anderson, Paul Crawford, Andrew Jefferson, Tommy Sancton, Henry “Booker T” Glass, Louis Nelson, Matthew “Fats” Houston. Photo by Leo Touchet

“Treme” filming at Preservation Hall, 2012.Wendell Brunious, Tommy Sancton, Don Vappie, Thaddeus RichardPhotographer unknown

With George Lewis at his father’s old house in Mandeville, 1962. Photo by Tom Sancton Sr.

The New Orleans Legacy Band in Great Falls, Montana, 2011.Richard Moten, Clive Wilson, Tommy Sancton, Lars Edegran, Jason Marsalis, Ronell Johnson. Unknown photographer

With Olympia Brass Band at funeral of Avery Kid Howard, March 1966. Tommy Sancton, Milton Battiste. Photo by Jules Cahn

Lesson with Punch Miller at Preservation Hall, 1966Photo by Dan Lehrer

First sit-in at Preservation Hall, January 1963George Lewis, Tommy Sancton, Joe Watkins, Papa John Joseph, Dolly Adams. Photo by Tom Sancton Sr

Jam session at Preservation Hall, 1966Cie Frazier, Kid Thomas Valentine, Clive Wilson, Slow Drag Pavageau, Dede Pierce, Lars Edegran, George Lewis, Tommy Sancton, Narvin Kimball. Alcide "Slow Drag" Pavageau.Photo by Frederick Ramsey Jr.

Carnegie Hall, January 2012.Preservation Hall 50th anniversary concert Tommy Sancton, George WeinPhoto by Michael Jurick

Norwegian Seamen’s Church, New Orleans, 2011.Lionel Ferbos, Tommy Sancton, Kerry Lewis, Lars Edegran, Seva VenetPhotographer unknown

RIVIERA REUNION (FLEUR-DE-LYS FDLCD-99) Tommy Sancton, clt; David Paquette, pno; Stéphane Roger, dms; Gilles Chevaucherie, bass I Can’t Believe that You’re in Love With Me; The Glory of Love; I Surrender Dear; Baby Face; The Preacher; True; Porter’s Love Song; At Sundown; Gypsy Love Song; Allez les Bleus; Talk of the Town; I Want Somebody to Love; A Dream is a Wish your Heart

TOGETHER! LIVE IN SWITZERLAND (FDLCD – 94) Tommy Sancton, clt; Geoff Bull, tpt; Philippe De Smet, tbn; Jon Marks, pno; Bob Culverhouse, bass; Norman Emberson, dms Tuck me to Sleep in My Old ‘Tucky Home; Hold Me; Together; In a Sentimental Mood; S’il Vous Plaît; Tin Roof Blues; Willie the Weeper; Love; All I Do is Dream of You

LOUISIANA FAIRYTALE (G.H.B. BCD-360)TOMMY SANCTON’S NEW ORLEANS SERENADERS Tommy Sancton, clt; Charlie Fardella, tpt; Mike Owen, tbn; Jeff Hamilton, pno; Chris Tyle, dms; Bernie Attridge, bass Lover Come Back, Louisiana Fairytale; Smiles; Someday; Angry; Melancholy; Riverboat Shuffle; Do What Ory Say; Willie the Weeper; Old Rugged Cross; Love Letters; Milneberg Joys; What Can I Say?; I’m Alone Because I Love You; Slowboat to China Order online:http://jazzology.com/item_detail.php?id=BCD-360

THE CLASSIC JAZZ TRIO(RANKOMATIC – RMCD 110) John Rankin, guitar and vocals; Tom Sancton, clt; Tom Fischer, clt Some of These Days; Si Tu Vois Ma Mère; I’ll See You in My Dreams; Porter’s Loe Song; Do What Ory Say; Tom Tom Blues; Bye and Bye; Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good to You; Clarinet Marmalade; Mardi Gras Mambo; Save the Bones for Mister Jones; Burgundy Street Blues; Just a Little While to Stay Here; If I Had You. Order online:http://www.johnrankin.net

CITY OF A MILLION DREAMSNEW ORLEANS LEGACY BAND (G.H.B. BCD-527) Tommy Sancton, clt; Clive Wilson, tpt; Ronell Johnson, tbn; Lars Edegran, pno; Kerry Lewis, bass; Jason Marsalis, dms City of a Million Dreams; High Society; There Goes My Heart; Un Hombre Fiel; Just You Just Me; I Want a Little Girl; Somebody Stole My Gal; You Tell Me Your Dream; Love Me or Leave Me; Pallet on the Floor; Yearning; Strike Up the Band Order online:http://jazzology.com/item_detail.php?id=BCD-527

HYMNS & SPIRITUALSTOMMY SANCTON NEW ORLEANS QUARTET (NOL-CD-99) Tommy Sancton, clt; Lars Edegran, pno; Seva Venet, gtr/bjo; Tom Saunders, bass; Nobu Ozaki, bass What a Friend We Have in Jesus; Streets of the City; How Great Thou Art; In the Garden; Lead Me Savior; Lord We Stand Before Thee Now; Sing on; Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen; When Jesus Comes; At the Cross; He Will Understand and Say Well Done Order online:http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tommysanctonlarsedegrann

TOMMY SANCTON’S BLACK EAGLE JAZZ BAND – 1971 (NBEJB BE-SIX) Tommy Sancton, clt; Tony Pringle, cornet; Jim Klippert, tbn’ Peter Bullis, bjo; Eli Newberger, pno; Pam Pameijer, dms; Chester Zardis, bass. Shake it & Break it; Perdido Street Blues; Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody; New Rag; Dippermouth; Snake Rag; Dallas Blues; Ice Cream; Red Man Blues; Lord, Lord, Lord; God Bless the Child; St. Louis Blues; Bogalousa Strut Order online:http://blackeagles.com/store.html

NEW ORLEANS REUNION (G.H.B. BCD-283) Tommy Sancton, clt; David Paquette, pno; Pam Pameijer, dms Hold Me; Burgundy Street Blues; Girl of My Dreams; Tishomingo; Rose Room; Crying My Eyes Out Over You; Out in the Cold Again; Shake it and Break it; When I Come to the End of My Journey; New Orleans; Yearning; Whenever You’re Lonesome; Gee Gee Blues; Lull at Dawn Order online:http://jazzology.com/item_detail.php?id=BCD-283

SONG FOR MY FATHERS: A NEW ORLEANS STORY IN BLACK AND WHITEBy Tom Sancton (Other Press, 2006) A highly acclaimed coming-of-age memoir about a middle class white boy’s loving apprenticeship with a group of ageing black jazz musicians in the twilight years of the Jim Crow era.   “A former bureau chief for Time and a certified jazz freak from adolescence onward tells his sweet coming-of-age story in pre-Katrina New Orleans when ‘the mens’ (as the black jazz masters called one another) played the music that won his heart… A clear, simple melody played, surprisingly, with very little improvisation or ornamentation, but with enormous respect and affection.” —Kirkus Reviews. [Complete starred review available at:https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-sancton/song-for-my-fathers/ “Song for My Fathers struts with the energy of youth, tempered a bit by the wisdom of middle age, and the bittersweet certainty that change is inevitable. Every page of this newly minted classic of life in New Orleans is filled with grace and gratitude, a debt paid in full to the men who showed Tom Sancton the way.”—New Orleans Times-Picayune, Best Book of 2006 “This is an important inside look into an under-investigated period of New Orleans music. It tells a story with an insider’s heart, a reporter’s eye, and the pure feeling of a New Orleans musician. Enjoyable, informative and engaging.”—Wynton Marsalis “Finally a book about New Orleans music from a totally fresh perspective. Tom Sancton was fortunate to have had a very colorful upbringing in the cradle of jazz and we're fortunate that he wrote about it so rivetingly.”—Woody Allen A stage adaptation of Song for My Fathers featuring the Preservation Hall Jazz Band debuted at Tulane University in 2010 and has since been presented before numerous audiences. Excerpts of the show were performed at the Tyrone Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis in 2011 and at Carnegie Hall in 2012. See trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_si5OXylZs

THE ARMAGEDDON PROJECTA novel by Tom Sancton (Other Press, 2007) “A riveting cautionary tale which resonates forcefully with contemporary political events. A bombing in a Paris church lands American journalist Sam Preston in the story of a lifetime—if only he can survive. The attack leads Sam to a group of Assyrian Christians. Their colorful leader-in-exile, Rafat Ganjibar, aims to form a breakaway Assyrian Republic in the oil-rich lands of northwestern Iraq, with the help of some powerful supporters—the American Evangelical community, the Israelis, and even U.S. President Jack Ritter. Sam suspects the President and his allies are acting secretly—and illegally—to advance and fund this movement….” From Amazon description: http://tinyurl.com/pjfsaq9

     As a journalist and author, Tom Sancton has written extensively for such publications as TIME, Vanity Fair, Fortune, Reader’s Digest, L’Express, Le Point, Le Monde, Le Figaro, et al. During his 22-year stint as a writer, editor, and foreign correspondent for TIME, including 10 years as Paris Bureau Chief and Senior European Correspondent, Sancton wrote or reported more than 600 articles and 60 cover stories on subjects ranging from Pope John Paul II and the collapse of the Soviet Union, to jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, the endangered planet Earth, and the future of French haute cuisine. He has also authored or co-authored five books of fiction and non-fiction. His second novel, Off the Cliff, set in occupied France during World War II, is currently on the market. 

ARTICLES BY TOM SANCTON

BOOKS BY TOM SANCTON

SONG FOR MY FATHERS: A NEW ORLEANS STORY IN BLACK AND WHITEBy Tom Sancton. Revised paperback edition (Other Press, 2010) A 40-page epilogue brings the original story up to date with the author’s return to live in post-Katrina New Orleans after spending four decades abroad.  To order online: Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/mwmvxpw Other Press: http://www.otherpress.com/books/song-for-my-fathers/ Octavia Books: http://www.octaviabooks.com/book/9781590513767

A complete checklist of Sancton’s  TIME articles is available online: http://search.time.com/results.html?Ntt=sancton&N=0&Nty=1&p=0&cmd=tags&x=0&y=0“The Diana Investigation Revisited,”  Vanity Fair, September 2004 “A Breadmaker Inherits Some Serious Dough,” Fortune, January 19, 2007http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/01/22/8397991/index.htm “West End Odyssey: In Katrina’s wake, a returning native cherishes his memories while his wife’s lens captures the tragic beauty of a timeless place,” Louisiana Cultural Vistas, Spring 2010http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/leh/lcv-spring10/index.php?startid=56  “The Bettencourt Affair: Dangerous Liaisons,” Vanity Fair, November 2010http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2010/11/bettencourt-201011 “Winners and Losers in the Bettencourt Settlement,” Vanity Fair, December 10, 2010http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/12/after-three-years-of-litigation “Hall that Jazz: The Venerable, Musical History of Preservation Hall in New Orleans” Vanity Fair, January 2012 Vanity Fair, January 2012The Venerable, Musical History of Preservation Hall in New Orleans,” http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/01/preservation-hall-201201 “Amid Conjecture That He Was Framed, What is Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s Political Future?” Vanity Fair, December 2, 2012http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/12/Amid-Conjecture-That-He-Was-Framed-Could-Dominique-Strauss-Kahn-Be-Poised-for-a-Political-Comeback

DEATH OF A PRINCESS: THE INVESTIGATIONBy Tom Sancton and Scott McCleod (St. Martins, 1998; pbk 1999) A bestselling investigation into the 1997 death of Princess Diana by two Paris-based TIME correspondents.   “The truth about Dodi and Diana —their brief life together and how they died. The authors have investigated the question that have been continually asked, but not previously been satisfactorily answered: were the couple planning to marry? was Diana pregnant? Is there a grain of truth in the theories, rampant in the middle-east, that they were victims of a British intelligence plot? This is the first book to tell the truth.” —Amazonhttp://tinyurl.com/kptn3vy

DEAR JACQUES, CHER BILL: AU COEUR DE L’ELYSEE ET DE LA MAISON BLANCHEBy Tom Sancton and Gilles Delafon (Plon, 1998) Two Paris-based journalists take an inside look at Franco-American relations in the 1990s, focusing on the special relationship between U.S. President Bill Clinton and French President Jacques Chirac. (In French)

SONG FOR MY FATHERSBy Tom Sancton (Other Press/Orson&Co.) An enhanced e-book application featuring the full text, audio narration by the author, some 150 photos, more than 20 musical performances, archival video footage and interviews with the jazzmen at the heart of the story. Scheduled for release in March 2014.

tomsancton@yahoo.com

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