About Todd
Todd Bishop has been performing and teaching professionally in Portland and the US west coast since 1985. He has led jazz, avant-garde and indie rock groups and produced 5 CDs of his original music for Seattle's Origin Records and for independent release. In the fall of 2010 he will complete his second European tour with his group Todd Bishop's Pop Art 4.
He studied classical percussion with Charles Dowd at the University of Oregon and, under scholarship, jazz studies at the University of Southern California. At USC, his instructors included Gregg Field (Count Basie, Frank Sinatra) and John Thomas (Chick Corea, Woody Herman).
From 1981-85 he marched with the Argonauts Drum & Bugle Corps (Salem, OR) and in 1986 he marched with the Santa Clara Vanguard, which finished second nationally that year. His instructors included drum corps legends Ralph Hardimon, George Tuthill, and Fred Sanford.
He is also an abstract painter and photographer, and has exhibited and sold work throughout the Pacific Northwest.
References:
Tyson Sterne - band director, Ft. Vancouver High School (Vancouver, WA)
Tyler Benedict - band director, Heritage High School (Vancouver, WA)
Cynthia Plank - band director, Beaumont Middle School (Portland, OR)
Molly Scholz - music director, Riverdale Elementary School (Portland, OR)
Mary-Sue Tobin - music instructor (Portland, OR)
Fred S. - student (Portland, OR)
Denise G. - parent of student (Lake Oswego, OR)
Felicia R. - parent of student (Beaverton, OR)
External links to Todd's musical projects:
www.popart4.com
www.myspace.com/69anneeerotique
www.cruiseshipdrummer.com/audio_archive.html
Todd Bishop on Origin Records.
Todd playing live with his group Pop Art 4:
More videos on Todd's YouTube Channel.
"Fun" facts about Todd:
- He is the younger brother of veteran Seattle drummer John Bishop, a major force in jazz in the Pacific Northwest through his Origin Records label (Jazz Week's 2009 Label of the Year) and semi-annual event the Ballard Jazz Festival.
- He is a nut about the city and history of Rome. In the late 90's he did a series of paintings based on Roman portrait sculptures. He has a small collection of Roman artifacts, including coins of Claudius and Nero, and an off-color amulet. Since 1999 he has made four trips to the Eternal City.
- Earliest musical influence: Frank Zappa's Apostrophe.
- Started his marching career in the 7th grade carrying a 50-pound marching vibraphone.
- His designs are apparently a big hit on the island of Japan, where his adorable "Skulli" sticker is selling by thousands.
- Cooks a mean pozole, sourdough waffle, and UP Michigan pastie.
- Had curly blond Peter Frampton hair in the 10th grade.
- At the insistence of drum corps legend Ralph Hardimon, destroyed a $2000+ gong and several mallets playing the finale of Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition during the Santa Clara Vanguard's 1986 season. See the video here.