Joe Thomas (

Muskogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the 13th-largest city in Oklahoma and is the county seat of Muskogee County, Oklahoma, Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of ...

, December 23, 1908 – April 15, 1997), was an American

alto saxophonist The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E, smaller tha ...

and songwriter. He was the brother of Walter "Foots" Thomas. He first went to New York City with

Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe ( Lemott, later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American blues and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer of Louisiana Creole descent. Morton was jazz ...

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 span ...

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 – March 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 20th-century American songwriters