Thomas Borton: Biography, Music Career, Albums, and Life Story

Most people have heard Tom Borton's music without ever learning his name.

If you watched Friends, The Sopranos or Lost, or sat through the local forecast on The Weather Channel in the early nineties, there is a fair chance his saxophone was somewhere in the background. That was the nature of his work. He built a career in the parts of the music business that audiences rarely think about, and he built it well.

Thomas William Borton, known professionally as Tom Borton, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, songwriter, producer and engineer. He founded and ran Los Angeles Post Music, a production music library that supplied music to television networks, film studios and advertisers. Alongside that business, he released two albums during his lifetime and a third after his death, played alto, tenor, baritone and soprano saxophone, and performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

He died in 2011 at 55. This is his story: where he came from, who he played with, what he made, and what he left behind.

Who Was Thomas Borton?

Thomas William Borton was an American musician who worked under the name Tom Borton. He was a jazz saxophonist first and foremost, but his working life stretched well past performance. He composed, wrote songs, produced records, mixed and engineered them, and created music for screen.

His playing sat in the contemporary jazz space, the melodic, groove-driven style that filled jazz radio through the late eighties and nineties. He also had a strong classical grounding from his school and university training, which gave him a broader technical base than many players in that scene.

What set him apart was the second half of his career. Rather than chasing a touring life, he built a production music company. That is an unglamorous corner of the industry, but it is the engine behind a huge share of what viewers hear on television and in advertising. Running it made him a supplier to some of the biggest shows and brands of his era.

Thomas Borton at a Glance

Thomas Borton's Early Life and Family

Where Was Thomas Borton Born?

Tom Borton was born on January 4, 195,6 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, to Robert G. Borton and Phyllis M. Borton, née Phelps.

The family later moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, and that is where he grew up. Indiana shaped him far more than Pennsylvania did. It is where he learned to play, where he formed his first bands, where he studied music, and where his funeral was eventually held.

One small note on sources: accounts differ slightly on where the saxophone entered the picture. His family obituary says he picked it up in fourth grade while still in Norristown. Other accounts place the start at age seven, after the move to Indiana. Either way, he was very young, and he never stopped.

Thomas Borton's Family Background

He was close to his family throughout his life. His parents, Robert and Phyllis, outlived him. He had two sisters, Rebecca Ann "Becky" Erdel of Indianapolis and Janis Elaine Borton of Denver, Colorado.

He also had two nephews, Brad and Blake Erdel, and two great-nieces, Chloe and Audrey. Friends who wrote after his death described a man who cooked for people, hosted them, and stayed in touch with people he had known since school.

Indianapolis remained his emotional home base even after three decades in California. He kept his Indiana friendships, kept working with Indiana musicians, and was buried in an Indianapolis chapel.

Thomas Borton's Education

North Central High School

Borton graduated from North Central High School in Indianapolis in 1974.

Those years mattered. He was already deep into classical saxophone study while simultaneously running bands on the side, and the school's music programme gave him a place to do both. North Central still lists him among its notable alumni.

Indiana University Bloomington

After high school, he attended the School of Music at Indiana University Bloomington, one of the most respected music schools in the United States.

The training there gave him the technical range he would rely on later. A player who can move between alto, tenor, baritone and soprano saxophone, then sit down and write, arrange and engineer a session, is a player who trained seriously. Bloomington is also where he met the musicians who pushed him toward a professional career rather than a teaching one.

How Thomas Borton Started His Music Career

Discovering the Saxophone

The saxophone arrived early and stayed. By his own family's account, once he picked it up, he never put it down.

He went on to specialise in alto, tenor, baritone and soprano saxophone, and he played percussion as well. That breadth is unusual. Most saxophonists pick a primary horn and stay there. Borton treated the whole family of instruments as his working toolkit, which later made him far more useful as a session player and composer.

Eastwood Junior High School Band

He played in the band at Eastwood Junior High School in Indianapolis.

His first real recognition came in eighth grade, when he won a talent show award at a summer music camp run by Purdue University. It is a small thing on paper. In practice, it was the first outside confirmation that a kid from an Indiana school band could compete.

Tarnished Silver

In high schoo,l he played in an R&B and funk band called Tarnished Silver. The line-up is remarkable in hindsight.

It included singer and songwriter Kenneth Edmonds, who would become internationally famous as Babyface, one of the most successful songwriter-producers in modern pop and R&B. It also included Daryl Simmons, later a Grammy-winning producer and a frequent Babyface collaborator, and drummer Rayford Griffin, who went on to a long career with major jazz and fusion artists.

Four teenagers in an Indianapolis high school band, three of whom built serious industry careers. Borton was in that room.

According to a tribute published by A-Train Entertainment, he also performed during this period at Clowes Hall in Indianapolis with an orchestra, and was featured on a live radio broadcast playing soprano saxophone.

Streamwinner

At Indiana University, ty he joined a Bloomington-based fusion band called Streamwinner.

That group featured guitarist David Grissom, who later played with John Mellencamp, Joe Ely and the Dixie Chicks, and drummer Kenny Aronoff, one of the most recorded session drummers in American music.

There is a pattern here worth pausing on. Borton was repeatedly in bands with players who went on to major careers, at two different schools, years apart. Musicians of that calibre do not generally keep showing up in your band by accident. It tells you something about the standard he was playing at long before anyone outside Indiana knew his name.

Thomas Borton's Professional Music Career

In 1981, Borton moved to Los Angeles. He was 25.

He worked his way into the session player scene, which at that point was fiercely competitive, and began finding work as a composer. His first recording deal as a solo artist followed, and performances at national jazz festivals and clubs came with it.

But the move to composition changed the shape of his career. Playing sax on other people's records pays by the session. Writing, producing and owning music that gets licensed pays for decades. Borton figured that out early and built accordingly.

By the end, his working credits covered saxophone performance, composition, songwriting, production, mixing, engineering and sound design. He was, in practice, a one-man production house long before he formally became one.

What Instruments Did Thomas Borton Play?

• Alto saxophone — his primary instrument and the one he played lead on with The Big Picture
• Tenor saxophone
• Baritone saxophone
• Soprano saxophone — the horn he was featured on in an early live radio broadcast
• Percussion instruments — he is described as playing the full range

Thomas Borton and The Big Picture

In the summer of 1987, Borton joined the band The Big Picture as a composer and lead alto saxophonist. The group also featured singer and songwriter Joanna St. Claire.

The band played across the Los Angeles live circuit, working the clubs and music venues that mattered locally at the time.

For a musician six years into a Los Angeles career, this was the visible half of the job. The band gave him a public platform, a steady writing outlet and a set of working relationships with other LA players, at the same moment his screen-composing work was starting to take off. Those two things fed each other for the rest of his career.

Los Angeles Post Music and Thomas Borton

What Was Los Angeles Post Music?

Los Angeles Post Music, Inc. was a production music library founded by Tom Borton, who served as its CEO. It operated out of Playa Del Rey, California.

A production music library is worth explaining plainly, because it is the least understood part of the industry. Instead of writing one score for one film, a library creates large catalogues of original music, organised by mood, style and length, and licenses tracks to producers who need music fast. Television needs an enormous amount of this. So do adverts, trailers, promos and documentaries.

Borton's company supplied exactly that: production music, composition and sound design for visual media across commercials, television and film.

Major Clients and Productions

An important distinction before the list. The names below are clients of Los Angeles Post Music as a company. Borton founded and ran the business, and he composed for it, but a library's catalogue is built by multiple composers over many years. These are not all personal Tom Borton scoring credits, and any page that presents them that way is misrepresenting how the industry works.

Television clients associated with Los Angeles Post Music include:

• LOST
• The Mentalist
• Sex and the City
• The Sopranos
• King of the Hill
• Friends

Advertising and corporate clients included Canon, Verizon, NBC, CBS, Warner Brothers, Banana Republic, Columbia Pictures, Fox Sports, ABC, Toyota, GMC and Baskin-Robbins.

Separately, Borton has documented personal credits as a composer on television shows including Friends, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Lost and King of the Hill.

Thomas Borton's Albums and Discography

Dancing with Tigers (1990)

Dancing with Tigers was Borton's debut album, released in 1990 on Mesa/Bluemoon Recordings.

He was deeply involved in every stage of it. His family's obituary states that he wrote, produced, mixed and engineered the record. He co-produced it with jazz keyboardist and producer Vel Lewis.

On the chart claim: his obituary states that music from Dancing with Tigers hit number one on the Billboard charts. Two other sources — his Discogs artist profile and a tribute from A-Train Entertainment — describe the debut as reaching number one in national radio airplay, without naming Billboard. These are related but not identical achievements, and the distinction is worth preserving rather than flattening into a bolder claim.

What is not in dispute is the album's reach. Two tracks from it, "Wherever You Are" and "Looking for a Way," were used in The Weather Channel's Local on the 8s forecast segments, which is one of the most quietly ubiquitous music placements in American television.

The Lost World (1992)

His second album, The Lost World, arrived in 1992, again on Mesa/Bluemoon Recordings and again co-produced with Vel Lewis.

It continued the contemporary jazz direction of the debut. The track "Swingopolis" was later picked up for the compilation The Best New Jazz in America: Volume 3, released the same year.

Simply One (2012)

Simply One was Borton's third and final album, released after his death.

He had been working on it as a straight-ahead jazz project, with Steve Allee on piano, James Genus on acoustic bass and Will Kennedy on drums. It was scheduled for release in autumn 2011. He died that July. The record came out in 2012.

It is a different kind of album from the first two. Stripped back, built around a working quartet of serious players, and pointed at jazz listeners rather than radio. It reads as the record he made because he wanted to, and it is the last thing he left.

Thomas Borton's Film and Television Music Career

Borton's screen work began with a documentary and never really stopped.

His first television scoring job was a Smithsonian documentary, and according to A-Train Entertainment, ent it was that project which opened the door to television and commercial composing. Los Angeles Post Music followed from there.

His documented screen credits include:

• The Jitters (1989), film
• Titanic: Secrets Revealed (1998), television documentary
• Amy's Orgasm (2001), film

Alongside these, his production music work placed his compositions across an enormous range of programming, much of it uncredited in the way library music usually is.

The Smithsonian: America's Time Machine

In 1987, Borton received honours for Creative Technical Crafts for The Smithsonian: America's Time Machine, at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' 40th annual Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards.

This was the turning point. A regional Emmy honour is a credential producers recognise, and it arrived at exactly the moment he was moving from session work into composing. The A-Train tribute credits this Smithsonian documentary with opening the doors that led to everything after it.

Other Television and Film Work

Beyond the named credits above, the bulk of his screen output ran through Los Angeles Post Music as production music, composition and sound design. He is reported to have composed, arranged and produced more than 150 CDs across his career while continuing to perform with Los Angeles musicians.

Thomas Borton's Awards and Career Achievements

• Creative Technical Crafts honours for The Smithsonian: America's Time Machine, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, 40th annual Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards, 1987
• Chart success with Dancing with Tigers — reported as a Billboard number one by his family, and as a national radio airplay number one by other sources
• Two tracks placed in The Weather Channel's Local on the 8s segments
• Founder and CEO of Los Angeles Post Music, supplying music to major networks, studios and advertisers
• Montreux Jazz Festival performances, 2002 and reportedly on a second occasion
• Producer credits on Steve Allee's albums The Magic Hour (1995) and Mirage (2003)
• Over 150 CDs composed, arranged or produced across his career
• The Tom Borton Scholarship Fund, established through the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation after his death

Thomas Borton at the Montreux Jazz Festival

In 2002, Borton performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland alongside pianist and composer Steve Allee, a long-time collaborator whose albums he had produced. A-Train Entertainment reports that the two performed at Montreux twice.

Montreux matters. It is one of the handful of jazz festivals with genuine international standing, and playing it puts a musician in front of an audience and a press corps that stretches well beyond the United States.

For Borton, the appearance sat neatly at the centre of his two careers. He was by then a successful business owner supplying music to television, and here he was on a European festival stage with a jazz quartet. He never gave up the playing side, even when the company could have absorbed all his time.

Thomas Borton's Personal Life

His Hobbies and Interests

He was a keen photographer and a wine enthusiast, and he loved to cook.

Entertaining was a real part of who he was. Family and friends describe a man who fed people, hosted them and enjoyed the company. He also hiked regularly.

The pattern across his interests is consistent: photography, wine, cooking, music. All of them reward patience and attention to detail, and all of them are better shared than done alone.

His Connection to Nashville, Indiana

Borton owned a home in Nashville, Indiana, for three years. Nashville sits in Brown County, in the wooded hills of southern Indiana, near Bloomington where he had studied.

He hiked there. After three decades in Los Angeles, he bought a place back in the state where he grew up, in the part of it with the best walking country. It is a small detail, but it says plenty about where he felt at home.

When Did Thomas Borton Die?

Thomas Borton died on July 26, 2011, at his home in Los Angeles, California. He was 55.

His death was unexpected. The family obituary describes it as sudden, and no cause has been publicly documented in the sources available. Out of respect for a family that chose not to state one, this article will not speculate.

He was mid-career. Simply One was finished and scheduled for release that autumn. Los Angeles Post Music was operating. He was still performing. There was no winding down.

Thomas Borton's Family and Funeral

Family He Left Behind

He was survived by:

• His parents, Robert G. and Phyllis M. Borton
• His sisters, Rebecca Ann "Becky" Erdel of Indianapolis and Janis Elaine Borton of Denver
• His nephews, Brad and Blake Erdel
• His great-nieces, Chloe and Audrey Erdel

Funeral and Celebration of Life

Funeral services were held on Sunday, August 7, 2011, at Leppert Mortuary's Nora Chapel in Indianapolis. The family requested no visitation or receiving line beforehand.

Immediately after the service, a celebration of his life was held at the Indianapolis Jazz Kitchen, with a tribute performed by his fellow musicians. Given how he lived, that is a fitting way to close a service: a room full of players, doing the thing he did.

In place of flowers, the family asked for memorial gifts to the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation, Tom Borton Scholarship Fund.

The guest book filled with messages from people he had gone to school with forty years earlier: bandmates from Tarnished Silver, friends from North Central, musicians who had crossed paths with him in Indiana clubs in the seventies. One friend described him as being at the centre of a large group of friends. Another noted that if not for the CDs, the music would have gone with him.

Thomas Borton's Legacy

Tom Borton's legacy runs along two tracks, and they are easy to miss if you only look at one.

The first is the visible one. Three albums under his own name, a saxophone voice that found a national audience through Dancing with Tigers, festival appearances including Montreux, and production credits on records by Steve Allee and others. That is a recognisable jazz career.

The second is larger and almost entirely invisible. Through Los Angeles Post Music,c he helped build the music infrastructure behind television and advertising. Library music does not get applause. It gets used, constantly, by people who need three minutes of the right mood by Thursday. Borton understood the value in that and built a company around it, which is a rarer instinct among working musicians than it should be.

There is a third thread too: the people. Babyface, Daryl Simmons, Rayford Griffin, David Grissom, Kenny Aronoff. He came up alongside an unusual concentration of talent and kept those relationships going.

Simply One was released in 2012, a year after his death. It is the closest thing to a final statement he left, and it is a quiet one — a jazz quartet record, no production gloss, just the playing. That is a good place for his catalogue to end.

CONCLUSION

Tom Borton spent thirty years making music that most listeners heard without knowing it, and a smaller but real body of work under his own name that they did.

He was a serious saxophonist who trained at one of America's best music schools, came up in bands with future stars, and then made the unglamorous, smart decision to build a business rather than chase fame. Both halves of that career deserve to be remembered.

If you want to hear him properly, start with Dancing with Tigers for the album that put him on the radio, then go to Simply One for the record he was still working on when he died.

Frequently Asked Questions About Thomas Borton

Who was Thomas Borton?

Thomas William Borton, known as Tom Borton, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, songwriter and producer. He founded and led Los Angeles Post Music, a production music library serving television, film and advertising clients.

Was Thomas Borton a saxophonist?

Yes. The saxophone was his primary instrument from childhood. He played alto, tenor, baritone and soprano saxophone, and also played percussion.

What was Tom Borton famous for?

He is best known as the founder and CEO of Los Angeles Post Music and for his debut album Dancing with Tigers, two tracks from which were used in The Weather Channel's Local on the 8s segments.

When was Thomas Borton born?

January 4, 1956. One version of his obituary lists January 2, but most sources, including Wikipedia and his Los Angeles Times obituary listing, give January 4.

Where was Thomas Borton born?

Norristown, Pennsylvania. His family later moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he grew up.

What instruments did Tom Borton play?

Alto, tenor, baritone and soprano saxophone, plus percussion instruments.

What albums did Tom Borton release?

Three: Dancing with Tigers (1990), The Lost World (1992), and Simply One (2012, released after his death).

What is Dancing with Tigers by Tom Borton?

His 1990 debut album on Mesa/Bluemoon Recordings, co-produced with Vel Lewis. His family reported that music from it reached number one on Billboard; other sources describe it topping national radio airplay.

Did Thomas Borton work in television and film?

Yes. His credits include Titanic: Secrets Revealed (1998), The Jitters (1989) and Amy's Orgasm (2001), plus composing work for shows including Friends, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Lost and King of the Hill.

What was Los Angeles Post Music?

A production music library founded by Tom Borton, based in Playa Del Rey, California. It supplied original music and sound design to television networks, film studios and advertisers.

Did Tom Borton win an Emmy?

He received Creative Technical Crafts honours for The Smithsonian: America's Time Machine at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' 40th annual Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards in 1987.

When did Thomas Borton die?

July 26, 2011, at his home in Los Angeles, California. His death was sudden, and no cause has been publicly documented.

How old was Tom Borton when he died?

He was 55.

Did Tom Borton perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival?

Yes. He performed at Montreux in Switzerland in 2002 with pianist Steve Allee, and A-Train Entertainment reports the pair played the festival twice.