Joe Thomas (

Muskogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the thirteenth-largest city in Oklahoma and the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0 percent decrease ...

, 23 December 1908 - 15 April 1997), was an alto saxophonist and songwriter. He was the brother of

Walter "Foots" Thomas Walter Purl "Foots" Thomas (February 10, 1907 – August 26, 1981) was an American saxophonist, flutist, and arranger in Cab Calloway's orchestra, one of the most famous bands of the swing era in jazz. Early life Born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, ...

. He first went to New York City with

Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a gen ...

in 1929. He then worked with

Blanche Calloway Blanche Dorothea Jones Calloway (February 9, 1902 – December 16, 1978) was an American jazz singer, composer, and bandleader. She was the older sister of Cab Calloway and was a successful singer before her brother. With a music career that spa ...

and other bands during the 1930s, and with jazz musician Dave Martin during the early 1940s. He gave up playing to become a vocal coach and songwriter and later an A&R executive.Billboard - Mar 22, 1997 - Page 4 Far from having "no voice in A&R," Joe Thomas and Howard Biggs ran R&B A&R at RCA Victor, Decca, and Columbia's OKeh division during the '50s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Joe (alto saxophonist) 1908 births 1997 deaths American jazz alto saxophonists American male saxophonists Songwriters from Oklahoma American male jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters 20th-century American saxophonists