Keith Thomas was an English

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

. On 7 March 2022,

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...

announced: Keith Thomas, a contributor to Jam recordings, had died. "It is with great regret to hear of the passing of our dear comrade Keith Thomas. Keith, along with Steve Nichol, played sax & flute with The Jam between 81 & 82. Very sad news. Bless you and thank you Keith. My deep sympathy to his family."

Career

Thomas started playing saxophone with a South London based

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

band called the Brothers of Funk, who resided and played in and around

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Old Kent Road Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæceli ...

. Playing with

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

's big band run by Herman Wilson is where he met with various South London session saxophonists including Ray Carless and Roger Thomas. Thomas, making his first album at FreeRange Studios, with sound engineer and record producer Marc Frank, was introduced to

Robbie Vincent Robbie Vincent (born 9 June 1947) is an English radio broadcaster and DJ. As a champion of jazz, funk and soul music in the UK during the late 1970s he made an important contribution both live in clubs and on radio. In 1995 he was voted Independ ...

, who managed the R&B band Second Image. Thomas became a member of the band touring and playing on recordings from the 'Pinpoint the Feeling' era. During this time he met with John and

to talk about collaborations on

the Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 198 ...

's musical project and the upcoming European gigs. Initially this was collaborating on existing Jam songs, with Second Image trumpeter Frank. When Frank was no longer able to continue, Thomas introduced Steve Nichol of Loose Ends to Paul, and Thomas and Nichol worked on '' The Gift'' album. In February 1982, the first single from ''The Gift'', the double A-sided "

Town Called Malice "Town Called Malice" is a song recorded by British band the Jam from the album '' The Gift''. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart in February 1982. Overview The title is a play on words of the 1950 Nevil Shute novel ''A Town Like ...

"/" Precious" became a number one single in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and the band became the first group since

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

to play two songs on

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

''. ''The Gift'', released in March 1982, showcased the band's progression towards soul and became the group's first number one album in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. Thomas worked on other singles such as "

Just Who Is the 5 O'Clock Hero? "Just Who is the 5 O'Clock Hero?" is a song and single released by The Jam on 3 July 1982. It features on their sixth studio album '' The Gift''. It made number eight in the UK Singles Chart in July 1982. The single came with two B-sides – a ...

", and on '' Extras'', playing both saxophone and flute with background vocals on a number of songs until their dissolution, late in 1982.

Bands

*Second Image *Pressure Point *Legacy *Homeboys *Dr Blackstein

Session work

* Loose Ends *

Heaven 17 Heaven 17 are an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware (keyboards) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) (both previously of the Human League), an ...

Julian Lennon Julian Charles John Lennon (born John Charles Julian Lennon; 8 April 1963) is an English musician. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia, and he is named after his paternal grandmother, Julia Lennon. Julian in ...

Bananarama Bananarama are an English pop duo from London, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. Thei ...

References

External links

Official Jam Fan

All Music Reference

"The Jam The Gift (LP) Reissue"
Muziker. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Keith Living people Musicians from London English rock saxophonists British male saxophonists 21st-century saxophonists 21st-century British male musicians Year of birth missing (living people)