Smooth Jazz News - October-November-Decemeber - 2024

O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 4 | 4 1 In addition to educating adolescents with the “Drums Speak” program, Thompson has written children’s books, geared toward different age groups, that are available at arthurthompsondrums.com . This year, Thompson has also emerged as a vocal talent with two new singles that charted in the top 100 on the Smooth Jazz Network. “Smile” is a loving tribute to a special lady who wishes to remain anonymous. The song features Abair on saxophone, and the lyrics describe Thompson’s love interest as someone whose warm embrace and smile lift him. “She is my best friend, my muse,” he explained. “We’ve been working together forever, and she helps me with a lot of different projects. We are a team, but she likes to be way in the background.” The video for “Smile” was shot on the Dave Koz & Friends at Sea cruise with Abair and the Boneshakers, and Abair’s husband, Eric Guerra, volunteered to film it. The footage was then professionally edited. The single “Oasis,” an upbeat take of an R&B number that was originally recorded by Roberta Flack, has a tight horn section and an infectious melody. Thompson’s mellifluous voice has a broad range, and he scats at the beginning of the song. For the video, he enlisted the talents of his 26-year-old son, a photographer and musician who shot the film at different locations in Tennessee. Thompson’s singing skills were a revelation both to fans and his professional peers. He is well known as a percussionist in some circles; in others, he’s a first-call drummer. But no one knew he could sing. “When you’re a sideman, you play what you are supposed to play,” Thompson explained. “I was a frontman when I had a band, and I was a worship leader. I’ve done a lot of music that people don’t know about. I thought, ‘Man, this is a lot of stuff that was going to waste. I’ll do one single at a time. Let them hear me sing and play drums and percussion.’” Thompson, 60, was born in Oklahoma and grew up with 11 siblings. “Same momma, same daddy,” he stated. “My mother and father started dating when they were in the seventh grade, and they were together forever. My father passed away when he was 82. My mother is still alive, and she’s getting ready to turn 95.” When Thompson got his first drum set, he was too shy to play it. “This is a great story,” Thompson said with a chuckle. “My father and three of my brothers and my brother-in-law were riding around, and we stopped at a garage sale. There was a drum set sitting out there, an old Ludwig maybe, and I said, ‘Daddy, buy me that drum set.’ It was red and sparkly with a snare, a kick drum and a high hat. My father said, ‘I’ll tell you what. If you play the drum set right now, I’ll buy it.’ I was 8 or 9 years old, and it seemed like 1,000 people were there. I said, ‘No, I’ll play it when I get home.’” No amount of coaxing could entice Thompson to play in front of a crowd that day, but his dad decided to purchase the drum set “for the family.” Luckily, Thompson’s brothers were more interested in football. He soon mastered the drums, eventually leading a band and joining his school orchestra, where he learned to read and perform orchestral music. Last year, Thompson released the single “We Can BEAT Cancer” with Koz and Stevenson. Thompson lost a sister and a sister-in-law to the disease, and some female members of his family are breast cancer survivors. Thompson also discovered that many musicians who participated on the single and accompanying video had lost loved ones to the disease. “My whole idea for the project was about coming together. It’s going to take a village of great minds and great hearts and lots of prayer to defeat this thing. We are doing it again this year, and my team is being built right now. The money we raise through the single and Arthurized merchandise is donated to the Susan G. Komen foundation.” Since 2012, Thompson has also traveled the world as part of the annual Dave Koz & Friends at Sea cruise lineup. In addition to performing with bands, percussion instruments are handed out to the passengers, and Thompson leads them in a popular drum circle event. For more intimate performances with Abair, Thompson generates his solo star power when he plays the cajon, a rectangular box drummade of wood. “You have to find the right position to get the low bass drum sound,” he explained. “If you play high, you get the snare sound. It’s like a drum set in a box. You have to have technique to make it sound good. I can make that thing cook.” Although, between his sideman gigs and youth educational endeavors, Thompson hasn’t been able to carve out much time for solo performances. However, he’s scheduled to perform at the Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival with Abair, Peter White and Vincent Ingala on Oct. 20. You can also catch him performing with Abair on her “I Can’t Wait For Christmas Tour” (featuring Lindsey Webster and Marcus Anderson) and at her Wine and Jazz New Year’s Eve at Loews Coronado Bay Resort in Coronado, California, Dec. 29-31. For more information on Thompson, including his complete tour schedule, visit https://arthurthompsondrums.com. Photo: Sandra Fitzgerald