Justin Thompson

Justin Thompson combines cool jazz vocals with hot swing guitar and timeless song writing. His smoky voice has been compared to Harry Connick Jr. and Sting, while his guitar playing echoes the virtuoso passion of Django Reinhardt and the swinging lyricism of Wes Montgomery. As a songwriter, he crafts beautiful ballads and clever up-tempo swing numbers that sound as if they were written fifty years earlier. But, Justin is more than a traditionalist. His latest compositions point to a new direction for jazz in popular music. He also has a sense of humor which is evident by the only cover song on his CD -- the Britney Spears mega hit -- "Baby One More Time", however, Justin is quick to add that he is NOT the "Weird Al" of jazz.

There is no doubt that the critics take Justin seriously. He won Nashville's "Starving Artist Award" for best male artist of 2002 and 2003 and Nashville's Rage Magazine named Tasty Puddin' as one of the top ten CDs of 2002. It also received a five star review from DiscoveringArtists.com.

Although Tasty Puddin' is his debut as a solo artist, Justin is well known as one of Nashville's top guitarists; performing with John Hartford, Riders in the Sky, David Grier, Mandy Barnett, Kathy Chiavola, Greg Garing, The Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, Annie Sellick and the Gypsy Hombres. As an Hombre, he was voted "Best Jazz Musician of Nashville (2001)", performed nine concerts with The Nashville Chamber Orchestra and had two best selling CDs (Cafe Strut and Django Bells) at Tower Records. In 2002, Django Bells was picked up by Merless International Records and received critical acclaim from around the country including four stars from Down Beat magazine. It was also chosen as the season's top pick by The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and NPR's "All Songs Considered".

Recently, Justin has been touring the southeast appeasing both the college kids and the jazz purists with his dynamic stage presence and a band that swings so hard, they rock. The younger crowd enjoys the high energy level that recaptures the original rebellious spirit of jazz, while the traditionalists appreciate the high level of musicality. Whether he's playing a festival such as South by Southwest, a dinner party for the Prime Minister of Canada or some smoky jazz club, all audiences agree, that is some tasty puddin'.

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