Tom Moon

Tom Moon has been writing about pop, rock, jazz, blues, hip-hop and world music for more than three decades. From 1988 to 2004, he was the music critic at the Philadelphia Inquirer, and his writings appeared in hundreds of daily newspapers and magazines. He has contributed to NPR's All Things Considered since 1996 and written reviews and feature stories for publications such as Rolling Stone, GQ, Blender, Spin, and Vibe. Moon is the author of the New York Times bestseller 1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die (Workman Publishing, 2008) and a two-time winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for Excellence in Music Journalism. He began his career as a professional saxophonist, backing singers such as Tony Bennett and Ben Vereen and performing on cruise ships and with the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra. His music, published by Moontoonage Music (ASCAP), can be heard on two CDs: Into the Ojalá (2011) and Sentiments by Rote (1988).

Moon visited The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage in 2008 to discuss 1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die. He also conducted a live panel discussion with the members of the Wayne Shorter Quartet at the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Art After 5 series, prior to the world premiere of their new work, Lotus, which was commissioned by the museum with support from the Center.