Gary Thomas

[Simon Weil]

7 hours ago, bertrand said:

On the plus side, they brought in New faculty, including a number of Baltimore natives such as Tim Green, Warren Wolf, Kris Funn and Quincy Phillips.

Make sure local people aren't up in arms by employing some. Gets rid of the problem of national names, who use their status to stand up to wider University control (which is probably what this is all about: Academic politics). Reduces the attractiveness of the Jazz programme (per the article).

[bertrand]

They may be Baltimore natives, but all four are active on the International Jazz Scene. Kris plays with Christian Scott and Quincy with Roy Hargrove. Warren is with the SF Jazz Collective. All four retain roots in the DMV area and love playing for their hometown audiences, and we love hearing them.

I have booked all four for gigs at the Smithsonian and the DC Library, and they were class acts all the way.

You want international superstar? Sean Jones is the new head of the program.

[Rooster_Ties]

Here's quite a bit of footage (30 minutes, 3-4 tunes) of Gary Thomas way back in 1982 (in someone else's band) -- a full 5 years before his first major-label sideman appearance (with Wallace Roney, for Muse) -- and his own first leader-date too (both in 1987).

 

Edited October 12, 2022 by Rooster_Ties

[kh1958]

Here's an upcoming Gary Thomas sideman appearance at Smoke, available for streaming.

Thu - Sun, November 10 - 13Nicholas Payton & Blue FiveThu & Sun at 7:00 & 9:00pm
Fri & Sat at 7:00, 9:00 & 10:30pm

Nicholas Payton [trumpet]
Gary Thomas [saxophone]
Mike Moreno [guitar]
Alexander Claffy [bass]
Bill Stewart [drums]

Tickets & Streaming Passes