ABSTRACT
One of the legendary figures in jazz piano, Sir Charles Thompson is looking forward to his eighty-fourth birthday in March 2002. Despite reaching an age when many musicians have long-since retired, he's still playing regularly and has just released his latest album, recorded live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase in Chicago in summer 2001. His style is instantly recognizable particularly his single-line right-hand solos, which are pared away to the most spartan of statements, but which are delivered with a rhythmic precision that makes even Count Basie's economical style sound cluttered. Sir Charles was just ten years old when Basie's band came to town to play for a local dance, where having being told by some friends that the youngster played piano, Basie persuaded Thompson to come up on stage and play for the band's intermission.
