User:Tpile/sandbox

Running Dog Music “running dog music” is the musical identity of Tom Pile, a New York-based musician and producer. The name is a tongue-in-cheek play on multiple meanings: “Capitalist running dogs”, or “imperialist running dogs” were terms of contempt, employed by Mao Tze Tung and others to deride Western culture’s relentless chase after the almighty dollar. Not exactly descriptive of my approach to making music or living life.

“Running Dogs” is also used to describe a lackey or unquestioning follower – Tom is on nobody’s leash. Last but not least – dogs running freely at speed are a beautiful thing to see. Every dog needs to run sometimes.

Tom is a consummate improviser [improvisation: to create and perform (music, drama, or verse) spontaneously or without preparation; produce or make something from whatever is available] whose improvisational skills were honed accompanying thousands of dance classes and performing in every kind of venue from jazz clubs to concert halls to preschool classrooms. In addition to learning on the job, Tom studied composition and harmony at the Jazz Institute of Chicago.