News

The Tony Thompson Trio is performing this Friday, Oct. 21st at Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, NC. Fayetteville has been the home of much jazz in recent years. Tony performed there in the Second Annual NC Jazz and Wine Festival with featured trumpeter Cindy Bradley only last year. The performance on Oct. 21st is sponsored by WFSU
90.9 FM, one of our area's best jazz radio station. The program begins at 7:00 o'clock. The Tony Thompson Trio will honor the great Ray Coddrington in this concert. Many of the selections will be traditional jazz and also showcase some of the original works and arrangements of Tony. Call the station for more details about tickets.

Tony Thompson on Keys and
Ernie Donnadelle on bass. This duo is called the Solstice Project.
We begin playing at Chatham Street Cafe around 6:00 PM. The music will be contemporary jazz. This is a great cafe with an intimate atmosphere very nicely appointed. Terrific menu. The goat cheese there is from Celebrity Dairy in Chatham County. It is the best! Please join us for a laid back evening of
grooving music.

The Calvin Edwards Trio is coming to Yanceys on April Fools Day. This is the classic jazz organ trio with Calvin
back from Japan on guitar. On organ
Tony Thompson, and on drums Motown veteran Chuck Leornard.
Calvin Edwards is a music writer whose roots go back to his stint with
the Five Blind Boys Of Alabama. This is blues and jazz where they meet. Mark your calendar. You want to see this if at all possible.

Tony Thompson is playing solo piano tonight at Artspace downtown Raleigh. Artspace is a big gallery and workspace for many area visual artists. It is located at 200 North Davie St., Raleigh. Artspace opens its doors tonight as part of Raleigh's
Gallery Walk which occurs on the first Friday of each month. Admission is free and it is open to the public. People of all ages stroll through the gallery space and studios to view the art installations. Jazz music will accompany this scene tonight. There is a grand piano on the second floor of the building at the top of the stair case. Music is carried aloft by this loft like space . Tonight a wide variety of jazz and jazz blues, ballads and original compositions by Tony Thompson will come from that piano. Music will feature some blues forms, some modal jazz, and
some arrangements of time tested
ballads. Much of the music is inspired by the jazz piano tradition of the 50s and 60s. Many of the tunes would fall withing the category of what musicologist
Alec Wilder termed American Popular Song which means they were penned between 1920 and 1950.

This has been an amazing year. It was my honor to appear on local TV a couple of times serving as keyboard player for Moments Notice of Raleigh. We were also featured on a PBS broadcast which can be found on the official website for Yancy's Jazz Club in Raleigh. Cindy Bradley performed
at the North Carolina Wine and Jazz Festival and later in the year at a FSU home coming party; I was pleased play keyboard for these performances also. It was great also to backup jazz recording artist Doc Phillip Martin as he promoted his latest CD. And straight from Tokyo Calvin Edwards
had me join him for many many
festivals and jazz spots all over the southeast. I have many new friends as of the end of this year and I look with pleasure on an unprecedented 2011 if it is anything like 2010!!!

Cindy Bradley won Best New Artist
award in the Jazz Hall of Fame Awards in Chicago over the weekend!
Cindy plays from time to time with
Pieces of A Dream. Her band played just recently on Oct. 22nd at Club Ambiance in Fayetteville. It featured 3 local musicians: Ernie Donnadelle on bass, Fred Bittle on guitar and Tony Thompson on keys.
Fayetteville.

We had a great show with Cindy Bradley on Oct. 22 at Ambience Club
in Fayetteville. The group was made up of 3 musicians from North Carolina and 3 from New York. The program featured songs from Cindy's first CD entitled 'Bloom'. In addition there were a couple of selections performed live that will be on her upcoming CD. Instruments covered included guitar, bass, drums, sax, keys and or course Cindy on Trumpet. Cindy's solos were strong and exciting. Cindy was nominated for the Jazz Hall of Fame. Awards will be announced later this month at the ceremony in Chicago. Look for more form Cindy Bradley and from this group. Her
CD Bloom can be purchased from
Amazon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2e0nM2t5C8

check out above Youtube clip
featuring Tony with
Sam Hunter and Aaron Turner

UNC TV recently interviewed me for an upcoming episode of North Carolina weekend. This was in connection with an appearance at
Yancy's sharing the stage with
Raleigh's own Moments Notice.
Bobby Moody, leader of Moments Notice is also in the interview plus some footage our performance there.

Today on WRAL TV's Spiritual Awakenings the Jazz Mass Quintet
is performing a half hour of jazz and otherwise inspirational music. I am playing keyboards in this group. Also
featured is Sam Hunter on percussion, Bobby Moody on Sax,
Ernie Donadelle on bass, Cedric Hardin on drums and Lou Padro on guitar.

Last Friday I had the wonderful opportunity to play with Cindy Bradley, jazz trumpeter. The show
featured music from her latest compact disc entitled 'Bloom'. It was a part of the Intimate Sessions series at the Metroplitan Roomn in Fayetteville, NC. For more info about Cindy : www.cindybradley.com

Sam Hunter, Aaron Turner and
Tony Thompson play at Java Divine
September 12th from 7 until 9 pm.
Java Divine features coffees, wine,
gelato, and pannini. WE played to a packed room there last Saturday. It turned into what jazzers call a
'listening room'....The instruments are keyboards, drums, bass and some percussion.

It is my honor to join Cindy Bradley
in concert at the Metropolitan Room in Fayetteville, Friday, August 28, 09
This is an Intimate Sessions Event
This concert will feature music from
Cindy's most recent CD entitled
'Bloom'... The band will be comprised of keyboards, bass, drums, guitar, and sax. Info re. tickets: 910-867-8779.

The Jazz Mass Quintet was taped for
an episode of Spiritual Awakenings which will air soon on TV. The shoot
for the show took place this past
Monday at WRAL studios. Date of broadcast TBA

Recently I was notified with a royalty check that my original music has been selected and placed in a television series called 'Fringe'.....
To hear the song click on Music in the menu.

Sam Turner and Tony Thompson will perform at Artspace in duo on Friday July 3rd, 2009. This time we will be joined yet another percussionist,
Aaron Turner. There is no cover charge and the event is therefore free and open to the public. Contemporary jazz music from a variety of keyboards and multilayered percussion grooves will fill the halls of Artspace once more. Please check it out.

The Jazz Mass Quintet laments the loss of our guitarist Juzon Flemming who died suddenly of a heart attack this week. The quartet performs
weekly during the academic year at St. Ambrose Episcopal Church.
Juzon is and shall be missed. JMQ will play at the funeral service this Sunday in Littleton, NC

It is my pleasure to be joining Moments Notice, a contemporary jazz group based in Raleigh. We are performing at the Page Walker Hotel on the grounds in an outdoor concert setting. The time of the performance is around 6:30 pm. Saxaphonist Bobby Moody is the leader of Moments Notice.

Sam and I are returning to the
Artspace in Raleigh for another
engagement on First Friday Gallery Walk in July. It is the first Friday in July, July 3rd. The public is invited and there is no cover charge. It is a great way to catch some jazz music
and view the art installations at Artspace.

It was my pleasure to perform with
Tom Browne (Jamaican Funk) just a little while ago. He asked me to join him for an organ trio one night and
to play in a quintet the following in which we paid tribute to the late great Freddie Hubbard. The shows were at the Prime Smoke House in Garner, NC. Great gigs!