Home » Jazz Articles » Pat Thomas
Jazz Articles about Pat Thomas
John Dikeman / Pat Thomas / John Edwards / Steve Noble: Volume2
by Mike Jurkovic
If ever oh ever there was a more ornery conversation between four highly-charged, time-defiant individuals, Volume2 sets the mark. Arguing, as great men do, about all things seen and unseen, secular and sublime, consummate free jazzers saxophonist John Dikeman, pianist Pat Thomas, bassist John Edwards and drummer Steve Noble circle the wagons once again at London's Cafe Otto and chase the demons and angels that co-inhabit each and every one of us. “No," its half-hour plus mad rush mix of biblical ...
Continue ReadingPat Thomas Chris Sharkey Luke Reddin-Williams: Know: Delirium Atom Paths
by Mike Jurkovic
Delirium Atom Paths sounds exactly as one might hope, expect, or suspect the willing abandon of UK master innovator, keyboardist Pat Thomas, guitarist Chris Sharkey, and drummer Luke Reddin-Williams to sound like: a fearless dialogue of ideas without dogma, ambitions without greed, creation without regret. Captured live at Leeds at the big bang moment in March 2020, the trio immediately sets out to render the ambiguous mute. To head off directly into the pandemic future and hold it ...
Continue ReadingPhil Minton / Pat Thomas / Dave Tucker / Roger Turner: Scatter: On A Clear Day Like This
by John Sharpe
Recorded on the first night of a Pat Thomas residency at north London's Cafe Oto, On A Clear Day Like This by the collective Scatter demonstrates the breadth of the pianist's artistry, following as it did an opening set of Duke Ellington tunes. Aside from Thomas, who founded the group in 1992 and performs on piano and electronics, the outfit comprises three further luminaries in Phil Minton on voice (he does so much more than the term vocalist would suggest), ...
Continue ReadingDominic Lash / Pat Thomas: New Oxford Brevity
by John Sharpe
For the potential listener seeing Dominic Lash's name on a record sleeve, there is the conundrum of which of his guises this might signal. While primarily known as a bassist, he pursues his craft across several areas, from straightforward free improv, as heard on Discernment (Spoonhunt, 2021), to composition based left field jazz, with his Quartet on Limulus (Spoonhunt, 2021), to experimental and contemporary music (with the Set Ensemble). But none of those apply here. Reason being, he ...
Continue ReadingPat Thomas: Bagman Live At Cafe Oto
by Mike Jurkovic
Cacophony! Cataclysm! Clamor! Construction! Reconstruction! Deconstruction! These are some of the signposts that lie ahead while listening to the relentless siege of Bagman Live at Cafe Oto. The sonic destroyer, British pianist Pat Thomas—who at age 60 is beginning to cut a wider swath through the free jazz world then ever before— spearheads fellow raconteurs, drummer Raymond Strid and saxophonist Sture Ericson, through a senses-clearing blowout of maximum proportions- Call the music what you will, even call it ...
Continue ReadingSture Ericson / Pat Thomas / Raymond Strid: Bagman Live At Cafe Oto
by John Sharpe
An improvised set from London's Cafe Oto in 2019 by an Anglo/Swedish trio brings together the piano and electronics of Pat Thomas (Derek Bailey's Company, Blacktop, Shifa), the saxophones of Sture Ericson (Position Alpha, The Electrics) and drums of Raymond Strid (Gush, Tarfala Trio, Barry Guy New Orchestra). After years of familiarity they united under the moniker Bagman in 2018, though this is the outfit's debut. As befits the principals' backgrounds in improv, free jazz and slightly more mainstream fare, ...
Continue ReadingDominic Lash / Pat Thomas: New Oxford Brevity
by John Eyles
Although Dominic Lash and Pat Thomas are frequent visitors to London and regularly gig there in a variety of contexts, for each of them Oxford seems a greater attraction than the capital, even though Lash now lives in Bristol rather than Oxford where he studied. The two first played together—Lash on bass guitar, Thomas on piano—on May 15th 2001 in a trio with Alex Ward. After that Thomas on piano and Lash on double bass had regular playing sessions together, ...
Continue Reading
