Jazz doesn’t always come easy growing up in the dusty plains of west Texas, but that’s where it all began for Tom Braxton. Lubbock, Texas is an unlikely environment for a boy to dream of being a jazz musician. However, Tom was fortunate enough to have a direct link to this creative art form.“I have to credit my dad with connecting me to jazz at an early age. He put the alto sax in my hands in the 6th grade, after I had been playing piano for two years.”
After graduating valedictorian from high school, Tom attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX on a track and music scholarship.
After graduating summa cum laude from college, Tom soon became a solo artist, and he hooked up with former NBA great, Wayman Tisdale, who is also a smooth jazz national recording artist. Tom has toured with Tisdale for over a decade as a saxophonist and musical director.
Tom has shared the stage with fellow jazz artists that share his faith in Christ such as Kirk Whalum, George Duke, Jonathan Butler, and Philip Bailey.
Over the past several years, Tom has produced six CDs on his own that have been very successful. The latest one is Imagine This, which was released nationally by Pacific Coast Jazz.
Tom became a Christian in Austin through Maranatha Ministries and he and his wife have been very active members of Covenant Church in Carrollton, Texas for almost 20 years. They have operated in leadership in the music and arts ministries, and life team and young adult ministries at the church and Tom is currently the fine arts director at American Heritage Academy, which is the school that was birthed from Covenant.
Tom and Sharon have also traveled to different churches to share their music and dance ministry. They have two children named Ian and Julian and reside in Highland Village, Texas. For more information, please see www.tombraxton.com.