* En anglais uniquement
One of the finest European jazz guitarists to emerge during the 1950s,
René Thomas appeared on many sessions with Americans during the next few decades. Influenced as one might expect by
Django Reinhardt,
Thomas was mostly self-taught and by the 1950s he was a greatly in-demand cool-toned guitarist, playing in a style similar to
Jimmy Raney's. In addition to performing with the top European jazz musicians,
Thomas worked with
Chet Baker (1955), lived in Montreal during 1958-1963, played with
Toshiko Akiyoshi and
Sonny Rollins, was back in Europe by 1963, and during the next few years worked with
Kenny Clarke,
Lou Bennett, and
Han Bennink among many others. During the 1969-1972 period,
Thomas was a member of
Stan Getz's European Band (with whom he recorded
Dynasty). He died of a sudden heart attack in Spain when he was 47. As a leader,
Thomas recorded for Vogue (1954), Barclay, Polydor, Jazzland (1960), RCA, Royal Jazz, and the Italian Vogel label (1974). ~ Scott Yanow