Reggie Thomas is retiring after ten years as professor of music and head of jazz studies at Northern Illinois University, and his farewell performances are going to be memorable.
Thomas is the director of the acclaimed NIU Jazz Orchestra, who just last year performed at Lincoln Center in New York City, as part of the 2023 Jack Rudin Jazz Championships.
His final faculty recital will be held Tuesday, April 16 at 7 p.m. in Boutell Memorial Concert Hall.
Thomas will be joined at the faculty recital by a number of former students and colleagues, including:
- Geof Bradfield, tenor saxophone
- Dennis Carroll, bass
- Kirby Fellis, trombone
- George Fludas, drums
- Len’i McKinney, baritone saxophone
- Lenard Simpson, alto saxophone
- Pharez Witted, trumpet
- Avalon String Quartet
- Blaise Magnière, violin (Richard O. Ryan Endowed Chair in Violin)
- Marie Wang, violin
- Anthony Devroye, viola
- Cheng Hou-Lee, cello
Thomas’ final performance with the NIU Jazz Orchestra will be held Thursday, April 18 at 7 p.m. in the Concert Hall, featuring special guests Sean Jones and Wycliffe Gordon.
Gordon will be conducting a masterclass for NIU School of Music students at 11 a.m., April 18.
Thomas came to NIU from the Michigan State University College of Music, where he served as professor of jazz piano. Prior to his position at MSU, he was professor of music at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and was SIUE’s director of Black Studies. Reggie has performed at festivals around the world – St. Louis Jazz Festival in Senegal, West Africa; The Montreal International Jazz Festival; and The Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia.
After leaving the St. Louis area, he also spent three years as pianist for the Legendary Count Basie Orchestra with whom he performed at a festival before the King of Thailand. Thomas has performed abroad in Brisbane, Calgary, London, Milan, Montreal, Poznan, Senegal, Sydney, Toronto, Trinidad and Warsaw. He has also performed across the U.S. in cities including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, San Francisco and Seattle.
As a recording artist Thomas has appeared as a leader or co-leader on four recordings. The most recent, Matters of the Heart (with wife Mardra), was released March 2015 and follows previous recordings Fade to Blue (MaxJazz), Standard Time (Victoria) and 4 (Jazz Compass). Recordings as a sideman include Clay Jenkins’ Yellow Flowers After (Chase Music Group) and Azure Eyes (Chase Music Group), Kim Richmond’s Ballads (Chase Music Group) and Inner Spirit (Jazz Compass), Clark Terry/Mike Vax’ Creepin’ With Clark (Summit) and the MSU Professors of Jazz Better Than Alright.
Reggie remains active with some of the top institutions in jazz and music education including recent travel to South Africa to serve as a juror for the 14th Unisa International Piano Competition 2020. Since 2018 he has served as the ensemble coach for NYO Jazz Orchestra, a national youth jazz orchestra created by The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall and teaches for their Summer Music Educators Workshops. From 2004-2016, he served as a clinician and education consultant for Jazz at Lincoln Center, working with the Essentially Ellington Program and Band Director Academy. Since 2011 he has worked with the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz (formerly the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz) serving as accompanist for the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competitions.
He has recently returned from performances at The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts accompanying the 2019 Herbie Hancock International Jazz Guitar Competition.
Thomas has directed All State Jazz Bands, Combos and Jazz Choirs in Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, South Dakota and Tennessee and directed the first ever Missouri All-College Jazz Band. He has served on summer jazz faculties across the country and abroad including the IAJE Teacher Training Institute, the Birch Creek Music Center, the Eastman School of Music Summer Jazz Camp, the Summer Jazz Academy in Chodziez, Poland, the Barbican Center in London and the University of Trinidad and Tobago. Reggie has been awarded the Excellence in the Arts award from the Greater St. Louis Arts and Education Council (2005) and was named in Riverfront Times “Best of St. Louis” as Best Jazz Artist (2005).
Reggie Thomas earned his M.M. in music education from SIUE and a B.A. in music education from Western Illinois University.
About Sean Jones
Music and spirituality have always been intertwined in the artistic vision of trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator, and activist Sean Jones. Jones sang and performed as a child with the church choir in his hometown of Warren, Ohio, and switched from playing the drums to the trumpet at the age of 10.
Jones is a musical chameleon, comfortable in any musical setting no matter the role or genre. After a six-month stint with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis offered him a permanent position as lead trumpeter of the ensemble, a post he held from 2004 until 2010. In 2015, Mr. Jones was tapped to become a member of the SFJAZZ Collective. During this time, he has managed to keep a core group of talented musicians together under his leadership, forming the foundation for groups that have produced and released eight recordings on Mack Avenue Records. His most recent is the 2017 release Sean Jones: Live from Jazz at the Bistro.
Jones has been prominently featured in recordings and performances with many major figures in jazz, including Illinois Jacquet, Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Gerald Wilson, and Marcus Miller. He was selected by Miller, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter for their A Tribute to Miles tour in 2011. He has also performed with the Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Youngstown symphony orchestras, as well as Soulful Symphony in Baltimore and a chamber group at the Salt Bay Chamberfest.
Jones is an internationally recognized educator. He is president of the Jazz Education Network and holds the Richard and Elizabeth Case Chair in Jazz Studies at The John Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute in Baltimore. As well as artistic Director for the NYO JAZZ Program of Carnegie Hall. Previously, he served as chair of the Brass department at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Visit: www.sean-jones.com.
About Wycliffe Gordon
Wycliffe Gordon experiences an impressive career touring the world performing to great acclaim from audiences and critics alike.
Last year, Jazz Journalists Association named him 2022 “Trombonist of the Year” for the record-breaking 15th time, and he’s topped Downbeat Critics Poll for “Best Trombone” for an unprecedented six times (2020, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2013 and 2012). Recent awards include the “Louie Award”, the International Trombone Award and the Satchmo Award, among others. Wycliffe is a prolific recording artist and is extremely popular for his unmatched signature sound, plunger technique and unique vocals. He can be heard on hundreds of recordings, soundtracks, live DVD’s and documentaries, and has an extensive catalog of original compositions that span the various timbres of jazz and chamber music. His arrangement of the theme song to NPR’s “All Things Considered” is heard daily across the globe.
In addition to a successful solo career, Gordon tours regularly leading the International All Stars performing at festivals and performing arts centers worldwide. Gordon is also one of America’s most persuasive and committed music educators and is highly sought after as a clinician and guest speaker.
Wycliffe Gordon is a Yamaha Performing Artist and has his own line of Wycliffe Gordon Pro Signature Mouthpieces by Pickett Brass. Visit www.wycliffegordon.com.
