René Thomas

René Thomas was born 25 February 1927 in Liege, Belgium. Although considered as one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the sixties, he has remained rather unknown to the general public. After the second world war he played with the "Bop Shots", Belgium's first Be-bop outfit with Jacques Pelzer and Bobby Jaspar. Between these three men a real musical osmosis arose. In the early fifties René Thomas moved to Paris where he connects with the modern jazz scene. In 1954 he recorded his first album under his own name. His reputation as a virtuoso gitarist and inventive musician spreads rapidly in the small jazz world. In 1956 he moves to Canada. He plays regularly for the Montreal jazz society and meets American musicians, a.o. Sonny Rollins, who becomes impressed enough to invite him for a concert in Philadelphia and for the recording, in 1958, of his "Sonny Rollins & The Big Brass" album. In the United States René plays with the best jazz musicians of that era: Stan Getz, Miles Davis, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Jackie McLean... In 1960 he records the album "Guitar Groove". Returning to Europe in 1962 he tours and records with Chet Baker, Bobby Jaspar, Kenny Clarke, Eddy Louiss, Ingfried Hoffman, Stan Getz, Lucky Thompson, Sonny Criss, Jacques Pelzer and Lou Bennet. He died on 3 January 1975 in Spain, while touring with Lou Bennet. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.