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 SEAN
THOMAS
(Musician, Educator) Born in Trinidad, West Indies, Sean had an
interest in music from an early age. The second child in this musical
family of five (5) children, Thomas’ father Leroy, Pan Tuner and
Manager - ‘Moods Steel
Orchestra’
encouraged his children to
develop the art of playing the steelpan from an early age.
Sean played
the tenor pan from the age of seven (7) and went on to fulfill the
role of drummer for his father’s steelpan orchestra. An introduction
to contemporary jazz music during this period by Thomas’ father
would now open a whole new world for Sean.
It was in
1995 he was awarded a scholarship to study drums at the
Thelonious
Monk Institute of
Jazz Performance
in Boston
http://www.monkinstitute.com/college.html
.
This afforded him the opportunity to study and perform with Jazz
Masters – Tom Mc
Intosh, Ron Carter, Thelonious Monk Jnr., Barry
Harris, Max
Roach, Lewis
Nash
and
Wynton Marsalis
to name a
few. He toured India
and
Thailand with the
Thelonious Monk Jazz Ensemble
under the
direction
of distinguished Jazz Masters:
Carl
Atkins
Thelonious Monk
Jnr.,
Herbie Hancock
and
Wayne Shorter
and performed both drums and
steel pans
at the
Snowmass Jazz Festival
in
Aspen Colorado.
Thomas then returned to his native Trinidad and began teaching
in schools and also offered private tuition. In 1994 and 2002, he did
the musical arrangement for his alma mater, St. Augustine Senior
Comprehensive School for the Schools National Panorama Competition (an
island wide steelpan competition for schools). The school placed first
and second respectively.
He also did the musical arrangement for Moods Steel Orchestra for the
National Conventional Steelpan (Small Band Category) Competition.
Moods Steel Orchestra was declared the National Panorama Champions in
their category for 1994.
Thomas continued to teach and perform until in 1999 he decided to
challenge himself by producing and performing a jazz concert,
“In
the Realm of Masters”
featuring
The Ruiz Brothers (Curtis –
Electric Bass, Felix – Piano and Jason Baptiste
– Double Tenor).
This was indeed a challenging and
exciting year for Thomas as during that very
year he won the
Best
Instrumental Category - ‘BET - Jazz Discovery’.
To quote
reporter Angela Pidduck, Trinidad Newsday, Sunday 28 July
2002, “Thomas sent a recorded copy of his
music to
‘BET - Jazz Discovery’.
They liked one of the pieces on
that tape and showcased that recording with a group selected from
another part of the world, before a panel of judges who were shown a
television video clip around Christmas 1999, That was my Christmas gift.
I was the ‘BET -
Jazz Discovery’ winner for that week”.
Yearly, he conducts a workshop/concert for musicians entitled ‘Jazz
Artist Workshop’
which has featured local Jazz Fusion pianist
Clive
“Zanda” Alexander.
Patterned after a workshop conducted in Holland
by past tutor and mentor Dr. Barry Harris, www.barryharris.com,
Thomas introduced the steelpan to the workshop for the very first time.
When Thomas is not teaching he entertains audiences both locally and
abroad having performed at the
Barbados Jazz Festival with one of
Trinidad’s Jazz Fusion guitarists Michael Boothman and at the
St.
Lucia and Grenada Jazz Festivals
with St. Lucia’s
Ronald
“Boo” Hinkson
in
2000.
The Sean Thomas Quartet
featuring
Grant Langford
on
Tenor
Saxophone (U.S.A.)
performed in 2003 at the Grenada
Spice Jazz Festival
and at Trinidad’s
“Jazz Artists on the Greens 2003”.
His passion and drive to spread the music has forced him to form a
company
S.T. Jazz
Incorporated,
based in Trinidad to promote and
educate both current and upcoming musicians about Jazz Music. As
musical director, Thomas believes that the company will help to
strengthen and broaden the musicians’ knowledge via its workshops,
nightly performances and jam sessions. This encourages musicians to
work and experiment together ensuring a higher level of competence and
confidence.
Thomas who is known for his versatility on the steelpan and drums has
returned to his roots, to experiment with the steelpan to master the
art of playing the instrument to sound like a piano. Trinidad Guardian, Sunday 29
September, 2002, reporter Natasha Ofosu, writes as
quoted by Thomas……“ I want to be able to execute on my pans at a
certain point where……when you listen to other pannists you will be
saying to them, you have to check out what Sean is doing because this
was the traditional way of playing, you have to take it to another
level”.
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