Willie Thomas

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Willie Thomas (born February 13, 1931 in New York City - † February 16, 2019 ) was an American jazz musician ( trumpet ) who saw himself as a keeper of the bebop tradition.

Live and act

Thomas grew up in Orlando, Florida and began playing the trumpet when he was ten. While doing his military service he was a member of the Third Army Band , in which Wynton Kelly played at the time . He then moved to New York to work as a professional musician. The first recordings were made in 1956 when he was a member of the Al Belletto Sextet. In 1958 he played with Woody Herman and His Orchestra ; In 1959 he worked in Chicago with recordings of the Modern Jazz Trio Plus Three ( MJT + 3 ); other participants were Frank Strozier , Harold Mabern , Bob Cranshaw and Walter Perkins . Recordings with these musicians for Vee Jay Records under his own name remained unpublished.

In addition, Thomas worked during this time with Peggy Lee , the Slide Hampton Octet (with Freddie Hubbard and George Coleman ), Jerry Winters , Bill Barron and Tito Puente . He returned to Florida in the 1960s; Recordings were made for Atlantic Records during these years . In 1987 he played the albums Discover Jazz — Live! At the 1982 NAJE Convention (with Bunky Green ) and In Love Again (1987). In the field of jazz, he was involved in 20 recording sessions between 1956 and 1987.

He moved to Washington State in the early 1990s. During this time he was also active as an author; he wrote the textbook series Jazz Anyone? which was published by Alfred Music. He was a member of the International Association for Jazz Education and was inducted into the International Association of Jazz Educators' Jazz Education Hall of Fame in 1994 . Thomas also ran the website JazzEveryone.com , which he referred to as The Authentic Bebop Guide . Up until old age he played in the Funtime Blues Band and taught on Skype . Thomas lived in his later years on the San Juan Islands belonging Orcas Iceland in northwestern Washington state.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Jeff Tamarkin: Remembering Willie Thomas (1931-2019) - The trumpeter, educator, and tireless proponent of bebop has died at 88. JazzTimes, March 11, 2019, accessed on March 12, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed March 12, 2019)
personal data
SURNAME Thomas, Willie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician (trumpet)
DATE OF BIRTH February 13, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH 16th February 2019