Edward Thornton (born 1931), better known as "Tan Tan", is a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

er, whose career began in the 1950s.

Biography

Thornton was born in 1931 and attended the

Alpha Boys School Alpha Cottage School (often referred to as Alpha Boys' School, Convent of Mercy "Alpha" Academy and now called Alpha Institute) was the name of the vocational residential school on South Camp Road in Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica, still ru ...

.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) ''The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.'', Rough Guides, , p. 8, 50
In the 1950s, he played in the Roy Coulton band (the first band to play live on Jamaican radio) along with

Don Drummond Don Drummond (12 March 1934 – 6 May 1969) was a Jamaican ska trombonist and composer. He was one of the original members of The Skatalites, and composed many of their tunes. In 1966, Drummond was convicted of murdering his 23-year-old ...

.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p. 289-90 He toured worldwide with the group, backing a number of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

stars, and settled in Europe, where he played with several bands including Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames in 1964, playing on several of their hits. He also performed with Georgie Fame and another friend of Rico Rodriguez in the BBC 4 Session: ''The Birth of Cool''. He went on to play on

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

' " Got to Get You into My Life", and performed with

Boney M Boney M. is a German reggae, funk and disco music group founded in 1974. It achieved popularity during the disco era in the second half of the 1970s. The band was created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary song ...

. In 1975, Thornton played horn on

Andy Fairweather Low Andrew Fairweather Low (born 2 August 1948) is a Welsh guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and lead singer of 1960s pop band Amen Corner (band), Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton ...

's album, ''

La Booga Rooga ''La Booga Rooga'' was the second solo album by Andy Fairweather Low, and was released by A&M Records in 1975. It was Fairweather Low's most successful album, with an eclectic musical styling. The opening track was a cover of Clarence Will ...

''. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he was part of the horn section for Aswad, as well as playing with King Sounds. He released a self-produced solo album in 1981, on which he was backed by The Cimarons. More recently he has played with Jazz Jamaica, and Ska Cubano.
Since 2008 he has played with the band Kitty, Daisy & Lewis and has featured on most of their albums. In February 2015 and autumn 2017, Thornton joined Kitty, Daisy & Lewis on their European tour accompanying a number of songs as a guest artist.

Solo discography

*''Musical Nostalgia for Today'' LP (1981), Maccabees/Rainbow *"Theme From A Summer Place" 12" single (1981), Rough Trade

References

External links

Eddie Thornton recording credits
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Eddie 'Tan Tan' Thornton
at Roots Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Eddie 1931 births Living people Jamaican trumpeters Jamaican reggae musicians People from Spanish Town Musicians from Saint Catherine Parish 21st-century trumpeters People educated at Alpha Boys School Development (band) members