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Biography
For|the actor|Leon Thomas III Amos Leon Thomas Jr (October 4, 1937 – May 8, 1999) was an United States|American avant garde jazz singer from East St. Louis, Illinois .
Thomas studied music at Tennessee State University . In the 1960s he was a vocalist for Count Basie and others.
In 1969, he released his first solo album for the prestigious Flying Dutchman label. However he made an earlier album which is still unreleased even now.
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.
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 back to Leon shortly thereafter.
Thomas is best known for his work with Pharoah Sanders , particularly the 1969 song "The Creator Has a Master Plan" from Sanders' Karma (Pharoah Sanders album)|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 (saxophonist)|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 (band)|Santana in 1973. http://www.jazzsupreme.com/leon.thomas/santana.html Jazzsupreme
Thomas died of heart failure on May 8, 1999.
Discography
Expand section|date=December 2008
As leader
Spirits Known And Unknown (Flying Dutchman, 1969)
The Leon Thomas Album (Flying Dutchman, 1970)
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 with Oliver Nelson (Flying Dutchman, 1971)
http://www.jazzsupreme.com/leon.thomas/index.html Leon Thomas on JazzSupreme
http://music.yahoo.com/ar-266774-bio--Leon-Thomas Yahoo Bio
http://music.aol.com/artist/leon-thomas/biography/1006486 Another bio
Persondata | NAME = Thomas, Leon | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = October 4, 1937 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = May 8, 1999 | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Leon Category:1937 births Category:1999 deaths Category:American jazz singers Category:Tennessee State University alumni Category:Musicians from Illinois Category:Santana (band) members Category:Flying Dutchman Records artists
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