Leon's funeral was held Friday, May 14, 1999, at the Greater New Hope Baptist Church in East St. Louis, Illinois. Several memorial services were held in May and June in New York City.
During the memorial held at St. Peter's "Jazz Church" in New York City, one highlight was a poetic tribute by legendary griot Abiodun Oyewole (of the Last Poets), performed as musicians improvised on themes from Leon's masterwork, "The Creator Has A Masterplan."
Here, copyright the author, of course, is Abiodun's poem:
Have you ever heard him yodel
With a million voices blending
Leon Thomas was all that
Even his movements were majestic
He was a mouth sorcerer
not like the Scandinavian's yodel
in the mountains of Norway
but how the Africans yodel
in the Pigmy nation
conversing soul to soul
during the middle passage
You can hear the voices
each nation on the ship
was Leon's out of his mouth
from deep within
with an east St. Louis spice
and a smoothe Harlem tone
with a presence
you could feel blocks away
draped in royal garments
of an ancient past
In the best of times
in the worst of times
and when Leon and Pharoah
were on stage
space shuttles became obsolete
astrotraveling was a natural
journey into light
while your body never left
the ground
though Venus was his planet
He wore the sun on his face
stars glistened in his voice
bigger than the average man
with a love as humble
as a weeping willow tree
swaying gently in the wind
who had magic from within
I know I'll see him again
for, it is true,
the Creator does have
a master plan
and Leon's voice was
Peace and Happiness through
all the land
CONCERT REVIEWS:
Leon Thomas and his new band Blues Wing went ON TOUR IN EUROPE in late 1998. He appeared in London, Manchester, Dusseldorf and other venues. He was promoting his greatest hits anthology on Soul Brother Records in the UK, which is doing quite well.
Nick Wrigley saw Leon's concert in Manchester, England, over the weekend of November 21 and writes this review of his show: "I saw Leon Thomas last night in Manchester a friend of mine went to see him the night before in London
and was keen to know whether any of the inbetween song banter was repeeated the following night.
There was banter but it wasn't the same stories and jokes, it was other stuff -- which, of course, is great...
"BLUESWING (his band) were: Billy Kaye on drums, Kevin McNeal - guitarist/music director, Ian
McDonald - piano, Hilliard Greene - stick double bass.
"They started with a superbly dark and faithful "Shape your mind to die" which saw me run down from my birdseye-balcony-table-view to the front of the stage. Fantastic deep cackle laugh as well --he looked possessed.
"Sun Song, China Doll, Bag's Groove, Song for My Father...
all performed remarkably well. I was so elated during Sun Song i swear i forgot where i was for a few moments, there were tears of joy in my eyes. The last song was The Creator has a master plan -- followed by an encore of Prince of Peace. All the songs were arranged with a keen eye for simplicity and delivered in such a way as to sound like the original albums -- this i was very pleased about. Each and every member of the band played straight down the line -- no messing around - no unwanted solos -- no hackneyed phrasing. The whole performance was imbued with a strong heart and managed to avoid many of the pitfalls that are so easy to fall into these days.
"Re: his singing --- it was note perfect and highly moving all night, retaining all the depth, swoops, and clarity as the records
of thirty years ago. The most affecting vocal performance i've ever seen live."
Other recent appearances including a great set at Wetlands in NYC in the fall, backed by a large group including a percussionist and guitarist. He appeared with Freddie Hubbard over the summer, and is a frequent headliner at NYC's Lenox Lounge. On March 20 and 21, 1998, Leon Thomas returned to the Lenox Lounge. I saw two of his sets on the first night. His terrific back up band was the Donald Smith trio, featuring Billy Hays on drums and (?) on bass. Donald Smith, of course, is Lonnie Liston Smith's brother, and a fine pianist and singer in his own right. As usual Leon tackled a mix of material ranging from blues to jazz standards to his own material. I'm partial to his own stuff when he really starts to yodel and scat: my favorite numbers were "Echoes" and "Sun Song" which really grooved out. He also sang "One," "The Creator Has A Masterplan," and "Little Sunflower." Also strong was his real blues-belter, "Big Legged Women." He sang "Green Dolphin Street" in duet with a great female singer whose name I didn't catch.
On February 13, 1998, Leon Thomas appeared in a performance of Randy Weston's 1960 masterwork, "Uhuru Afrika" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of 651 An Arts Center's LOST JAZZ SHRINES performance series. The concert opened with a set of songs from Weston's "Spirits Of Our Ancestors" performed by the Randy Weston Sextet: Randy Weston on piano, Talib Kibwe on alto and flute, Billy Harper on tenor, Benny Powell on trombone, dazzling bassist Alex Blake, and Neil Clarke on percussion. After an intermission, the sextet was joined by a huge cast of legends to perform "Uhuru Afrika" for the first time since its debut 37 years before. Musicians included Candido on congas, Babatunde Olatunji on African drums, Azzedin Weston on percussion, Eddie Henderson on trumpet (who gave an extraordinary performance in dueling solos with Cecil Bridgewater), Dewey Redman on tenor, Jamil Nasser on bass, Cecil Payne on baritone sax, and many others. All the musicians were decked out in African-garbed finery. Leon Thomas performed the opening narration and lead a call-and-response chant over drums for "Uhuru (freedom)". His booming voice really set the stage for the percussive drive and blaring horns that followed. He returned during the second movement to sing an old-fashioned style jazz orchestra vocal duet with singer Jann Parker in "African Lady," the lyrics of which were written by Langston Hughes. The music was absolutely wonderful, and the constant rhymic presence of African percussion really framed the fiery big-band jazz in an evocative and thrilling setting. Legendary arranger Melba Liston attended, and was serenaded in her wheelchair by a kind of walkabout salute during the work's grand finale as the audience rose to its feet in wild cheering and clapping. After the conclusion of the concert Randy Weston, Candido and Olatunji spoke to the audience about the spiritual nature of the music and how music, the only universal language we have, is a gift to the world from all of humanity's African ancestors.
In early December 1997 Leon performed at Harlem's legendary Lenox Lounge. Over two nights Leon sang several shows filled with his old classics and blues and jazz standards. Leon was backed by the Rahn Burton trio.The venue left a lot to be desired: while the original veneer-leather-and chrome 1930s ambience was a slice of living history, the apparently original soundsystem and piano not tuned since maybe 1943 demanded a certain patience. I must confess to never having seen Leon sing live before: But when he let loose with his trademark yodels and vocal sounds, the room was filled with power and energy unmatched by any singer I can think of. If I heard correctly it was an arrangement of "Night in Tunisia" that took the sound into a kind of ancestral stratosphere. I can't wait til next time.--ISH
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