Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Mike Thompson: 6th Avenue

Mike Thompson: 6th Avenue

By Jack Bowers
May 30, 2025
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Composer and arranger

Mike Thompson

drums
b.1949

" data-original-title="" title="">Mike Thompson was in his mid-twenties when 6th Avenue, his debut album as leader of a big band, was recorded (in the mid-2020s) at Q Division Studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts, enlisting for the most part veteran Boston-area musicians whom Thompson had met and befriended while studying at the Berklee School of Music, from which he was graduated in 2021.

Although Thompson names

Bob Brookmeyer

trombone
1929 - 2011

" data-original-title="" title="">Bob Brookmeyer,

Maria Schneider

composer / conductor

" data-original-title="" title="">Maria Schneider and Igor Stravinsky as role models, you would be hard-pressed to discern their leverage in his compositions and charts, which are about as forthright and linear as big-band works can be. This is as true of Thompson's four original compositions as it is of the half-dozen well-chosen standards that together comprise 6th Avenue's diverse and flavorful menu.

Cole Porter

composer / conductor
1891 - 1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Cole Porter is there (twice), as are Rodgers and Hammerstein, Mack Gordon, Harry Warren and

Antonio Carlos Jobim

piano
1927 - 1994

" data-original-title="" title="">Antonio Carlos Jobim. That is pretty fast company, even for a veteran composer, but Thompson gives it his best shot, showing on the one hand that he is a rising talent, and on the other that when it comes to writing timeless melodies he has a long road ahead—but ample time to understand and appreciate where he is going.

Thompson hits the right note quickly here, opening with one of the loveliest and most heartfelt paeans ever written, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's "All the Things You Are," and follows that with a Porter classic (and the album's lone vocal, by the assertive

Charlize Vermaak

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlize Vermaak), "Let's Do It." Thompson's first piece, the mid-tempo "Durango Drive," and his second, "Parisian Deception," are sandwiched around the sunny standard "There Will Never Be Another You" and lead to a second Porter mainstay, the satirical "Anything Goes."

The album's easygoing title song precedes Jobim's buoyant "Chega de Saudade," an upbeat reading of "Someday My Prince Will Come" and the meditative finale, Thompson's "May." A word must be said about the soloists, and that word is "stellar." Pianist

Mark Shilansky

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Mark Shilansky is showcased on four numbers, trumpeter

Bijon Watson

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Bijon Watson and tenor saxophonist

Mike Caudill

saxophone
b.1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Mike Caudill on three apiece, with other engaging statements by trumpeter

Jeff Claassen

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Jeff Claassen, soprano

Ian Buss

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Ian Buss, trombonist

Randy Pingrey

trombone

" data-original-title="" title="">Randy Pingrey and tenor

Dan Rosenthal

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Dan Rosenthal, plus a marvelous flute solo by guest artist

Sarpay Özça?atay

flute
b.1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Sarpay ?z?a?atay on "Someday My Prince Will Come." As for the ensemble, despite having had only one rehearsal before entering the studio, it rises to the occasion and nails every number. Drummer

Mark Walker

drums
b.1961

" data-original-title="" title="">Mark Walker is especially strong, emboldening his rhythmic colleagues—Shilansky, guitarist

Sal DiFusco

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Sal DiFusco and bassist

Greg Loughman

bass, acoustic
b.1973

" data-original-title="" title="">Greg Loughman.

As debut albums go, 6th Avenue is well above par. The band is tight, the soloists creative, the charts impressive if not indelible, and the choice of material excellent, leading to the premise that Thompson should produce even more pleasurable music in the years to come.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

All the Things You Are; Let��s Do It; Durango Drive; There Will Never Be Another You; Parisian Deception; Anything Goes; 6th Avenue; Chega de Saudade; Someday My Prince Will Come; May.

Personnel

Mike Thompson - Composer

arranger

Bijon Watson

trumpet

Jeff Claassen

trumpet

Sean Lee

guitar

Dan Rosenthal

trumpet

Ian Buss

saxophone

Kyle Leonard

saxophone, alto

Mike Caudill

saxophone

Mark Earley

saxophone, tenor

Melanie Howell-Brooks

saxophone, baritone

Randy Pingrey

trombone

Bob Pilkington

trombone

Brian Martin

composer / conductor

Leslie Havens

trombone

Charlize Vermaak

vocals

Sal DiFusco

guitar

Mark Shilansky

piano

Greg Loughman

bass, acoustic

Mark Walker

drums

Album information

Title: 6th Avenue | Year Released: 2025 | Record Label: Self Produced

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