picture of Charles Thompson
Sir Charles Thompson
Charles (* 1918 in Springfield, OH) first studied violin and briefly played tenor saxophone, but took up piano as a teenager." He moved with his family to Parsons, Kansas. Later Thompson attended a Kansas City high school.
 
By the age of twelve, Thompson was playing private parties with Bennie Moten and his band in Colorado Springs, Colorado. During this time Count Basie played off and on with Moten's band. During a show Basie called the young Charles up to play. He was dubbed Sir Charles Thompson by Lester Young.
 
Charles chiefly worked with small groups, including the Coleman Hawkins/Howard McGhee sextet in 1944-1945. Throughout the 1940s he played and recorded with Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis and J.C. Heard, among others. He played with Lucky Millinder's big band in 1946, and under Illinois Jacquet in 1947-48 and 1952.
 
He worked freelance, principally on organ, for much of the 1950s. He played with Parker again in 1953 and recorded with Vic Dickenson and Buck Clayton in 1953-54. Charles worked with Earl Bostic in the late 1950s before heading his own quartet in 1959.
 
In the early 1960s he toured Europe and Canada with Buck Clayton. Charles was in Europe again in 1964, with Jazz at the Philharmonic, and in 1967 for the show Jazz from a Swinging Era. Living variously on the West Coast, where he often worked with Vernon Alley, and in Toronto, Paris, and Zürich, he continued to lead small groups through the 1970s and 1980s. He composed the jazz standard "Robbins' Nest".
 
Charles died in 2016 at the age of 98.
 
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Discography
Little Jimmy Rushing And The Big Brass
Columbia CL 1152
recorded February 1958 through June 1959
released 1958

Jimmy Rushing, vocals
Rudy Powell, alto sax
Earle Warren, alto sax
Don Byas, tenor sax
Coleman Hawkins, tenor sax
Buddy Tate, tenor sax
Danny Bank, baritone sax
Vic Dickenson, trombone
Urbie Green, trombone
Frank Rehak, trombone
Dicky Wells, trombone
Emmett Berry, trumpet
Doc Cheatham, trumpet
Buck Clayton, trumpet
Mel Davis, trumpet
Bernie Glow, trumpet
Danny Barker, guitar
Skeeter Best, guitar
Ray Bryant, piano
Nat Pierce, piano
Sir Charles Thompson, organ
Milt Hinton, bass
Gene Ramey, bass
Jo Jones, drums
Osie Johnson, drums
Sir Charles Thompson And The Swing Organ
Columbia CS 8205
recorded in New York City/USA
released 1959

Sir Charles Thompson, organ
Rudy Rutherford, clarinet
Percy France, sax tenor
Aaron Bell, bass
J.C. Heard, drums
Rockin' Rhythm
Columbia CS 8463
released 1961

Sir Charles Thompson, organ
Joe Puma, guitar
Tiny Grimes, guitar
John Pizzarelli, guitar
Skeeter Best, guitar
Aaron Bell, bass
Charles Wellesley, bass
J.C. Heard, drums
Teo Macero, drums
Oliver Jackson jr., drums
Sweet And Lovely
Black And Blue 33.142
released 1977

Sir Charles Thompson, organ, piano
Sam Woodyard, drums
Midnight Slows Vol. 8
Black And Blue 33.135
released 1978
recorded March 1978 in Paris/France
Illinois Jacquet, sax
Hank Jones, piano
Sir Charles Thompson, organ
George Duvivier, bass
J.C. Heard, drums
Ballads
Blue Note CDP 7243 8 56690 2 6
compilation
Ike Quebec, tenor sax
Grant Green, guitar
Willie Jones, guitar
Sonny Clark, piano
Freddie Roach, organ
Sir Charles Thompson, organ
Earl van Dyke, organ
Milt Hinton, bass
Sam Jones, bass
Art Blakey, drums
Al Harewood, drums
Louis Hayes, drums
J.C. Heard, drums
Wilbert Hogan, drums
The Complete Blue Note 45 Session
Blue Note 11441
recorded September 1960 in Hackensack, NJ/USA
Ike Quebec, tenor sax
Sir Charles Thomson, organ
Milt Hinton, bass
J.C. Heard, drums
Jazz From A Swinging Area
Lone Hill Jazz LHJ10245
recorded March/April 1967
Buck Clayton, trumpet
Earl Hines, piano
Budd Johnson, soprano sax, tenor sax
Earle Warren, alto sax, clarinet
Bud Freeman, tenor sax
Vic Dickenson, trombone
Roy Eldridge, trumpet
Sir Charles Thompson, organ, piano
Bill Pemberton, bass
Oliver Jackson, drums

 
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