Leon Thomas

For the actor, see Leon Thomas III.

Amos Leon Thomas, Jr. (October 4, 1937 – May 8, 1999) was an American avant-garde jazz singer from East St. Louis, Illinois.

Biography

Thomas studied music at Tennessee State University. In the 1960s he was a vocalist for Count Basie, among others.

In 1969, he released his first solo album for Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman label. However he made an earlier album that remains unreleased. Thomas is best known for his work with Pharoah Sanders, particularly the 1969 song "The Creator Has a Master Plan" from Sanders' Karma album. Thomas's most distinctive device was that he often broke out into yodeling in the middle of a vocal. This style has influenced singers James Moody, Tim Buckley and Bobby McFerrin, among others. He said in an interview that he developed this style after he fell and broke his teeth before an important show.

Thomas toured and recorded as a member of the band Santana in 1973. He changed his name to Leone in 1974 because of an interest he had in numerology at the time. He did not legally change his name and he reverted to Leon shortly thereafter.

Thomas died of heart failure on May 8, 1999. He was largely forgotten until a resurgence of interest in soul jazz. Several of his tracks have been sampled in hip-hop and downtempo records.

Discography

As leader

• Spirits Known And Unknown (Flying Dutchman, 1969)
• The Leon Thomas Album (Flying Dutchman, 1970)
• Super Black Blues Vol. 2 (BluesTime, 1970 — with Big Joe Turner, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, and T-Bone Walker)
• Blues and the Soulful Truth (Flying Dutchman, 1972)
• Full Circle (Flying Dutchman, 1973)
• Gold Sunrise on Magic Mountain (live) (Flying Dutchman, 1971)
• Live In Berlin wlive in berlinith Oliver Nelson (Flying Dutchman, 1971)
• The Leon Thomas Blues Band (Portrait, 1988)
• Facets (compilation) (Flying Dutchman)
• Anthology (compilation) (Soul Brother Records)
• A Piece Of Cake (Palcoscenico Records)
• The Creator 1969-1973: The Best Of The Flying Dutchman (compilation) (Flying Dutchman, 2013)

As sideman

With Count Basie

• Pop Goes the Basie (Reprise, 1965)

With Pharoah Sanders

• Karma (Impulse!, 1969)
• Izipho Zam (My Gifts) (Strata-East, 1969 [1973])
• Jewels of Thought (Impulse!, 1969)
• Shukuru (Theresa, 1981 [1985])
• Oh Lord, Let Me Do No Wrong (1987)

With Cedar Walton

• Soundscapes (Columbia, 1980)

With David Liebman

• Light'n Up, Please! (A&M Records / Horizon Records & Tapes SP-721, 1977)

With Santana

• Welcome (1973)
• Lotus (1974)

With Archie Shepp

• Kwanza (Impulse!, 1974)

Leon Thomas also recorded on an album called Pop Goes the Basie, Count Basie and his Orchestra. He sang Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman", track #3. Reprise, R-6153.

External links

• Leon Thomas on JazzSupreme
• Yahoo Bio
• Another bio