Tom Herbert

Bassist Tom Herbert is a long-standing member of London’s thriving jazz and alternative music scene, performing and recording with a diverse range of artists and groups

Born in London, Tom studied Jazz and Classical double bass at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He has been a mainstay of London’s diverse and exciting music scene for many years, most notably in Mercury Music Prize nominated bands The Invisible and Polar Bear. He co-leads the Okumu Herbert Skinner Trio and regularly collaborates with many of London’s notable players including Shabaka Hutchings, Mark Lockheart, Dave Okumu, James Allsopp, John Parricelli, Robert Stillman, Seb Rochford, Chelsea Carmichael and Liam Noble. He also performs solo improvised double bass concerts under his own name and in 2023 released the album Nightports with Tom Herbert.

Tom has performed and recorded with a wide range of musicians including André 3000, Grace Jones, Paolo Nutini, Frank Ocean, Adele, Thom Yorke, The Smile, Tom Skinner’s Voices of Bishara, Mulatu Astatke, Charles Tolliver, Paul Motian, David Gilmour, Beth Orton, Beth Gibbons, Tony Allen, Ganavya, Hugh Masekela, King Sunny Ade, Floating Points, Chemical Brothers, Damo Suzuki, Lianne La Havas, Soccer96, Alabaster DePlume, Beck, James Ellis Ford, St Vincent, Cibo Matto, Yoko Ono and on the theme and soundtrack to the cult BBC comedy League of Gentleman.

Image: Joe Collinson