Fred Thomas - Repose (2023)

British pianist/multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and educator Fred Thomas is a musical polymath. As evidenced by his discography, he is equally at home playing and writing classical music, modern jazz, improv, indie pop, electronica, and more. In addition to leading his own projects, he is a first-call sideman/collaborator who has worked with dozens of artists, including Brian Eno, Yo-Yo Ma, and Larry Grenadier. He made his debut at 19 on Ultimo Tango on 2004's Plays Astor Piazzolla. After 2006's Le Grand Tango, he left the group and led his own trio on It's Time. He joined the Loop Collective for 2007's Twelve Tales from Abbey Road. In 2011, he produced and played on Afro Celt Sound System singer Iarla O Lionaird's hit solo album Foxlight, and produced and played on Magic Lantern's A World In A Grain Of Sand. Two years later, he issued Below the Blue Whale in duet with producer/engineer Alex Bonney, and Living Standards with composer/multi-instrumentalist Zac Gvi. In 2015, he issued Electrofeit, a collection of compositions by J.S. Bach on organ, and followed it with a recording of solo piano performances of Bach pieces titled Dance Suites in 2017. Thomas made his ECM debut in 2020, playing with Elina Duni's quartet on Lost Ships. The following year, he made his leader debut for the label with Three Or One, featuring 24 Bach pieces for trio and solo piano.

Thomas was born in London in 1985. His father, Peter, is a renowned classical violinist and educator. Fred Thomas began studying the piano at age five and eventually went on to study jazz piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music, where he developed an interest in rhythmic cultures from Africa and Latin America, free improvisation, and contemporary classical, as well as in improvised counterpoint and Baroque music, in particular the music of J.S. Bach.

He made his recording debut at 19 as part of Ultimo Tango on 2004's Plays Astor Piazzolla and toured concert halls across Europe. He remained for 2006's Grand Tango before leaving to pursue his own music. That year, he released his debut album, It's Time, with a trio and joined London's Loop Collective. In 2007, he and Mini-Loop (a sextet of collective members) cut the wholly improvised Twelve Tales from Abbey Road, featuring future collaborators Alex Bonney on trumpet and Robin Fincker on reeds and winds. In 2009, he recorded Repose in duet with Czech bassist/multi-instrumentalist Jiri Slavicek and joined indie blues and roots band Sister Mary & the Choir Boys (also with Slavic) on their eponymous debut album. In 2011, Thomas produced the globally acclaimed Foxlight, the third solo album by Afro Celt Sound System lead vocalist Iarla Ó Lionáird, as well as Daughter of the Spring by Mor Karbasi. That same year, he produced and played on Magic Lantern's The World in a Grain of Sand.

In 2013, Thomas and Zac Gvi issued the duo album Living Standards, followed almost simultaneously with Below the Blue Whale, in duet with Bonney. That year, Thomas also produced Pathts, the debut EP by Ellie Rose Rusbridge, and the following year, her first full-length, Night Becoming, and La Jeunesse by Slavicek. In 2015, with Sister Mary & the Choir Boys, he issued Lullaby of Bedlam and also produced Lily Luca's debut EP, La Stratégie du Foulard en Coton. Thomas then recorded Electrofeit, a 16-track collection of Bach compositions for harpsichord and clavichord he transposed for organ. He also recorded Duo with his violinist father, Peter. In 2017, Thomas released Dance Suites on Odradek; it was another series of compositions performed solo on piano.

2019 was a busy year for Thomas. He produced and played on Anglo-Polish singer/violinist Alice Zawadzki's widely acclaimed long-player Within You Is a World of Spring, played bass, drums, and prepared piano on Gvi's trio offering Monk Spent Youth, and produced and played on Magic Lantern's To The Islands. The following year, Thomas issued the independent offerings J.S. Banjo, a collection of Bach compositions performed on tenor banjo, and Air, presenting Bach on violin, viola da gamba, and double bass. Thomas also appeared on ECM for the first time, playing piano and drums on Elina Duni's Lost Ships.

In 2021, Thomas produced Beyond Breath, the debut album from string duo Balladeste, composed of Indian-American violinist Preetha Narayanan and English cellist Tara Franks. In June, he released Dick Wag: A Tribute to Richard Wagner, with guitarist Benoît Delbecq and reedist Ewan Bleach. In October, Thomas released Three Or One, his ECM New Series leader debut, offering 24 Bach compositions for trio and solo piano with cellist Lucy Railton and violinist Aisha Orazbayeva.

Thomas also works regularly as musical director with the National Theatre and Shakespeare’s Globe, and teaches at Trinity Laban Conservatoire. ~ Thom Jurek