Tommy Z’s Colombian Blues Story Comes Full Circle on New Live Album
Tommy Z’s path to Teatro Santander began well before anyone considered releasing a recording from the venue. A connection through a friend at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá led to an invitation from a Colombian festival director, introducing the Buffalo musician to an audience that would eventually become central to his first live album.
He traveled through the country as a cultural ambassador, teaching blues masterclasses during the day and performing at universities, theaters and festivals in the evenings. The arrangement placed education and performance side by side, giving audiences access to both the blues’ musical language and its history.
Those early experiences led to return visits in 2019 and 2023. The third tour brought Tommy and his band to Bucaramanga’s Teatro Santander, where the venue’s engineers agreed to capture the show following a request made during soundcheck.
The recording will arrive October 23, 2026 as Tommy Z Is Live in Colombia through South Blossom Records. Across 14 tracks, the album follows the concert through opening numbers, spoken introductions, an encore and a final collective bow.
Its latest single, “Dónde Está La Fiesta,” brings the relationship between performer and audience into direct focus. Tommy poses the title’s question, and the Bucaramanga audience responds by naming its city. The exchange places hundreds of local voices inside the song itself.
The track also includes a guitar solo performed behind Tommy’s head, drawing another audible reaction from the theater. That combination of crowd participation and visual stagecraft helps explain why this particular show stayed with him after the tour ended.
The full album reaches across Tommy’s catalog. “Tommy Guns,” written with Tom Hambridge and Richard Fleming, brings blues and funk together, while “The Blues Has Got to Come Home” revives a song conceived decades earlier. Other selections include “My Eyes (Keep Me in Trouble),” “Gangster of Love” and “The Boogie (In Bucaramanga).”
Tommy’s work beyond the stage helped him prepare the recording for release. His years composing and producing music for film and television gave him the experience needed to mix the album himself. He also teaches guitar and operates WBLZ, Blizzard of Blues Radio, a 24-hour station dedicated to the genre.
With “Dónde Está La Fiesta” available now, Tommy Z Is Live in Colombia can be pre-saved and pre-ordered ahead of October 23. Further information is available at www.tommyzband.com.
