Tomas Latorre

Tomás Latorre is a bassist and composer from Argentina. Born in 1990 in the Bay Area in California, Tomas moved to Argentina at the age of 6 and started playing drums at the age of 12. By the time he was 13 he was learning guitar and later at 15 he was playing electric bass, performing in rock, pop, folk and fusion groups in Buenos Aires. In 2008 he studied at EMBA (Buenos Aires Music School) and was performing in events such as the Pepsi Music Festival with bands such as Caminante and Iemanyá. In 2009 he moved to San Francisco, California, and took bass lessons with Kai Eckhart. Later in 2011 he was awarded a scholarship to study at Berklee College of music in Boston, graduating in 2014 with all the honors in Contemporary Writing and Production.

In 2014, he performed and arranged “Maria Lando” and “Volver” for Susana Baca’s concert at the Berklee Performance Center. In May 2015, he arranged “Sombra en el Espejo” by John Zorn/Sofía Rei, for the Panamerican Orchestra of Washington DC.

Mentored by Oscar Stagnaro, Fernando Huergo, Lincoln Goines and Matthew Nicholl, Tomas focuses his work on bass performance, composing, arranging and teaching. In December 2015 he released his debut solo album titled “Vidala Espera”, combining elements of argentine folklore with jazz and songwriting; with rhythm section, string and woodwind ensembles.

Recently relocated in New York City, Tomas finds himself collaborating with a wide array of international artists, teaching private students and doing arrangements across the continent.

Since the age of 17, I have been teaching guitar and bass to students of all ages. I find teaching as a milestone of being a musician. My teaching methods are focused on identifying the student’s strengths and weaknesses, in order to work towards personal goals. Music is very personal to each individual, so teaching is a pendulum between personal experience and the more technical side of music such as instrument technique and music theory.

When it comes to guitar as an instrument it presents a wide array of possibilities such as playing popular songs, instrumental pieces and improvisation.

Bass can be seen more concrete; tone and timing; groove and feel. Having open ears in music is paramount, it's important to listen to new music and get out of one’s comfort zone.

This past summer I was on tour in the Dominican Republic and had the opportunity to give a clinic about arranging and songwriting, at the Santo Domingo Conservatory. I showed the class one of my latest compositions “Chefchaouen” and we analyzed the arrangement. My main focus was not to give any new information to the students, but to have them share their experience listening to the song and after that share their own experience when playing, writing and listening. I was really impressed with how different each student’s experience is with music, and all being incredibly talented and capable.

Everyone has a unique relationship with music and it is my priority to respect that. Humans are very habit driven. I believe more in having daily short periods of practicing versus practicing many hours once a week. I want my students to find out why they love music, and help them stay in love.