Pat Thomas was an American jazz singer from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

who had a hit with "

Desafinado "Desafinado" (a Portuguese word, usually rendered into English as "Out of Tune", or as "Off Key") is a 1959 bossa nova song and jazz standard composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim with lyrics (in Portuguese) by Newton Mendonça. Background "Des ...

". She also recorded "The Long Long Night".

Background

Born Patricia Thomas, and from Chicago, she appeared on the scene in 1961.

Career

In October 1962, "Desafinado" (backed with " One Note Samba") was released on

Verve Records Verve Records is an active American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Ca ...

.Pat Thomas - Discography
45cat. Also that month, '' Billboard Music Week'' magazine reported in its October 20 issue that her single "Desafinado" was doing very well. Then the single moved to another label. It was moved from the Verve label to MGM. Lennie Sheer the singles sales manager had stated in ''Billboard''′s November 3 article that this was to enable more sales, and because

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

had also released a version the previous week. By December 15, two versions of "Desafinado" were in the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

charts. Now on its 12th week, the version by

Stan Getz Stan Getz (born Stanley Gayetski; February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wis ...

and Charlie Byrd had dropped from number 18 to number 24. Her version had climbed from number 83 to number 78. There was even a version by

bubbling under at number 102. As reported in the April 20, 1963, issue of ''Billboard'', "Desafinado" from the album ''Slightly Out of Tune'' was a

NARAS National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

Award nominee in the Best Solo Performance Female category. In Canada her version was co-charted with the Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd version where they reached No. 14. In October 1964, "Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face", backed with "The Long Long Night", was released on Verve. "Home in the Meadow", backed with "Where There's Love There's Hope", was released in 1967, also on Verve.

Death

Patrica (Pat) Thomas died on Tuesday March 24, 1992, as a result of a heart attack. She was survived by her son, David Thomas and siblings Earl, George, Robert and sisters Marion Walker, Henriette Phillips, and Phylis Wordlaw.

Discography

Albums

* ''Jazz Patterns'' - Strand Records - SL 1015 - 1961Discog
Pat Thomas (5)
/ref> * ''Desafinado'' - MGM Records SE 4103 - 1962 * ''Moody's Mood'' - MGM E-4206 - 1964

References

External Links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Pat Singers from Chicago American jazz singers American women singers 1992 deaths Jazz musicians from Illinois MGM Records artists