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20 Seattle Jazz Musicians You Should Know: Jay Thomas
"I just remember like it was yesterday, asking everybody how they did things, and I would get a lot of different answers. All of them were correct"
—Jay Thomas
Ray Charles
piano and vocals1930 - 2004
Quincy Jones
arranger1933 - 2024
Ernestine Anderson
vocals1928 - 2016
Jelly Roll Morton
piano1890 - 1941
Joe Venuti
violin1903 - 1978
Larry Coryell
guitar1943 - 2017
Julian Priester
tromboneb.1935
With this series of features, I will introduce you to twenty jazz musicians currently living and working in Seattle. It is not to be seen as any sort of ranking, it has no positional value in that regard. It is simply an effort to introduce the jazz world at large to the vibrance and innovative nature of the jazz scene in and around the jewel city of Seattle, Washington.
10. Jay Thomas
Legacy is a fleeting notion. It is incomprehensible in real time when a career hits high points, when certain doors open to quantitative opportunity.
Jay Thomas
saxophone, tenorb.1949
Now approaching 71 years of age, Thomas is one of the rare musicians that can play both trumpet and saxophone with virtuosity. It is not uncommon for him to play a melody in on tenor, switch to flugelhorn for a solo, perhaps probing the tune on alto as well for good measure. These are decisions to be made in the moment for Thomas, part of his creative process as an improviser.
He recently united with German composer/arranger
Oliver Groenewald
trumpetThomas grew up in the middle of the fertile jazz scene of the sixties in Seattle. While still in high school, he was subbing for Seattle trumpet and saxophone legend Floyd Standifer at the famous Black and Tan nightclub at the corner of 12th Avenue and Jackson Street.
"I used to go to sessions at the Black and Tan. Jim Walters and those guys were down there. They became Ball and Jack, which became War. They never checked my ID. They had sessions on the weekends, on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Those sessions were when I first understood the changes that were being played. Ronnie Buford (organ) was playing. Pops Buford was kind of the man, he not only a great saxophonist, but he sold dope also. Bernard Blackman was on guitar, Tommy Henderson played drums. It was really cool. It was kind of out of the way, because it was a bottle club, they just sold setups," remembers Thomas.
Still a high school junior, Thomas began to gain a reputation as a formidable player, with a deep connection to the blues expressed through a style often described as melodic and lyrical. His probing style on trumpet began to reflect the progressive changes in jazz largely due to saxophonists like
John Coltrane
saxophone1926 - 1967
Jazz in the late sixties was firmly in the throes of post-bop, and entering into the era of fusion, with hard bop beginning to phase out. In many ways, it was the very end of a connection to dance music, and a full on consolidation of the form in its status as a performance art. In Seattle, people danced to bebop, and still in its later hard bop incarnation. Recalls Thomas, "When jazz became just this listening thing, and that's great, it kind of diluted the blood quite a bit where it's not attracting a new audience other than people who have been indoctrinated in jazz. In those days, jazz was like boogaloo. A lot of bands would be picking up on jazz things. They'd be playing things by Cannonball Adderly, or
Bobby Timmons
piano1935 - 1974
Horace Silver
piano1928 - 2014
Thomas' teenage years were accentuated by recognition from Downbeat Magazine and Leonard Feather, resulting in a year of study in Boston at the Berklee School of Music. In 1968, he moved to New York, landing a notable gig in Machito's Latin Band, and recorded with James Moody as well. He studied trumpet with Carmine Caruso, and in 1971, discovered the flute and tenor saxophone. Inspired by Standifer, Thomas expanded his musical interests to saxophone, something he oddly found quite natural. For reasons in terms of embouchure and technique, there are few that venture into this realm.
""For me it was pretty natural. Especially in those days when I would go the way that water would naturally flow," he recalls.
Thomas was living the jazz life in New York City, along the way dodging, and at times, falling into the many social distractions along the way. Still, while living in the now iconic Albert Hotel, he discovered the tenor saxophone, and in the process, his musical and creative identity. While Thomas' history is full of colorful tales, this one in particular is career defining on one hand, and as well foretelling of struggles he would encounter going forward for at least another decade. He was just twenty years old, and now had one of his original compositions on a major jazz release. Moody recorded "The New Spirit" on his 1970 release, The Teachers (Perception, 1970).
"When I was living in New York, I was living in the Albert Hotel. It was like the sister of the Chelsea Hotel. It was in the village, pretty close to Bradley's. A lot of musicians stayed at the hotel, in and out. So I'm in the Albert Hotel, and my neighbor always had a big bag of speed, always. I was with saxophonist Joe Brazil, and he wanted to try my trumpet-he was playing my trumpet and making no headway at all. I was holding his saxophone, and I put all the keys down and started to play it. In about five minutes I was basically playing the sax. I didn't do anything, like Jerry Bergonzi who teaches the no embouchure system," recalls Thomas.
Thomas moved back to Seattle in 1978, and began to frequent Parnell's Jazz Club in the Pioneer Square neighborhood. Thomas' dad had bought the intimate jazz spot from Roy Parnell, and between the two, began to book artists more from the hard bop/ post bop lineage. The room had magnificent sound, and the Thomas' fitted the venue with tables, stuffed chairs and couches, a real living room type of feel.
Thomas performed at Parnell's with such notables as
George Cables
pianob.1944
Bill Mays
pianob.1944
Harold Land
saxophone, tenor1928 - 2001
Slim Gaillard
vocals1916 - 1991
Sal Nistico
saxophone1948 - 1991
"I was a complete numbskull," says Thomas. "I was playing a lot, but was also a full time junkie since the age of nineteen. So while everything is going on, I have this thing running in the background creating a lot of turmoil, eating up all my time and resources. I was fighting several wars at once on several fronts. My dad thought the key to me kicking my habit was to be busy. It's kind of a joke now," he says.
In 1982, Thomas returned to Seattle for good, to address his illness which had by this time completely dominated his life. His fate seemed to be tied to that which had taken so many of the greats that preceded him. He knew the stability of family, and familiar surroundings were important factors in finally staring his addiction down, and placing it firmly in his past.
"That was the end of the line where I went into a treatment facility, to get that part of my life handled," he recalls with a sigh. He would spend the next three years fighting this battle, until completely free of drugs in 1985. November 1, 1985 to be exact.
He found himself focused and energetic, anxious to move forward with a career that in a real sense, had been severely curtailed for some fifteen years. "I was this walking ball of energy, and didn't know which way to go. I was an emotional wreck, but busy trying to be employed all the time. At that point, things really changed," says Thomas. His dad Marvin arranged an opportunity to perform with
Cedar Walton
piano1934 - 2013
Chuck Israels
bass, acousticb.1936
Billy Higgins
drums1936 - 2001
Thomas was featured in a full page article in the Wall Street Journal by Nat Hentoff in April of 2000. It appeared that finally the jazz world would become fully cognizant of this master of the realm, sequestered in the great northwest. Still, despite being sober for fifteen years, Thomas' musical prowess did not translate to a keen business sense, and he flatly did not take advantage of the huge opening career wise the Hentoff article provided. States Thomas, "Huge! I had no snap in follow up."
Today Thomas is a member of one of Japan's leading big bands, CUG (Continued in the Underground Jazz Orchestra), and co-leads a sextet with Kohama Yasuhiro and Atsushi Ikeda. He records and performs in Japan several times a year. His efforts have built a bridge between Seattle and the fertile and enthusiastic jazz scene there,
Most jazz talent arises from academia these days, with most young players graduating from schools like Berklee and the Manhattan School of Music. Thomas provides mentorship in the oral tradition much like his experiences as a teenage phenom in Seattle. He has held an adjunct professorship at Cornish College of the Arts, and works individually with students at the nationally renowned program at Garfield High School in Seattle. But those fortunate enough to study privately with him are treated to an individual approach that places an emphasis on ear training. Thomas has never forgotten the sage advice he received from his elders on the Seattle scene.
"I just remember like it was yesterday, asking everybody how they did things, and I would get a lot of different answers. All of them were correct," he recalls.
Thomas chose Origin Records to release this latest work, and for good reason. With trust being a huge factor in any creative endeavor, or for that matter, in any business transaction, Thomas' relationship with Origin principal
John Bishop
drumsb.1959
Photo Credit: Daniel Sheehan
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Jay Thomas
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United States
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Ray Charles
Quincy Jones
Ernestine Anderson
Jelly Roll Morton
Joe Venuti
Larry Coryell
Julian Priester
Randy Brecker
Oliver Groenewald
John Coltrane
Bobby Timmons
Horace Silver
James Moody
George Cables
Bill Mays
Harold Land
Slim Gaillard
Sal Nistico
Cedar Walton
Chuck Israels
Billy Higgins
John Bishop
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Jay Thomas Concerts
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Steve Messick’s Holiday Jazz Showcase
Egan's Ballard Jam HouseSeattle, WA
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Steve Messick’s Holiday Jazz Showcase (Second Show)
Egan's Ballard Jam HouseSeattle, WA
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