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Ed Thigpen

{{Short description|American jazz drummer (1930–2010)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2014}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Ed Thigpen

| image = Ed Thigpen.jpg

| caption =

| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist

| birth_name = Edmund Leonard Thigpen

| birth_date = {{birth date|1930|12|28}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2010|1|13|1930|12|28}}

| death_place = Copenhagen, Denmark

| genre = Jazz

| occupation = Musician

| instrument = Drums

| years_active = 1951–2010

| associated_acts = {{ubl|Cootie Williams|Oscar Peterson|Billy Taylor|Ella Fitzgerald}}

| website = {{URL|www.edthigpen.com}}

}}

Edmund Leonard Thigpen (December 28, 1930 – January 13, 2010) was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with the Oscar Peterson trio from 1959 to 1965. Thigpen also performed with the Billy Taylor trio from 1956 to 1959.

Biography

Born in Chicago, Thigpen was raised in Los Angeles, and attended Thomas Jefferson High School, where Art Farmer, Dexter Gordon, and Chico Hamilton also attended. After majoring in sociology at Los Angeles City College, Thigpen returned to East St. Louis for one year to pursue music while living with his father who had been playing with Andy Kirk's Clouds of Joy.{{cite web |url=http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2010/02/thig-f10.html |first=Jesse |last=Werner |title=Jazz drummer Ed Thigpen dies at 79 |publisher=International Committee of the Fourth International |work=World Socialist Web Site |date=February 10, 2010}} His father, Ben Thigpen, was a drummer who played with Andy Kirk for sixteen years during the 1930s and 1940s.

Thigpen first worked professionally in New York City with the Cootie Williams orchestra from 1951 to 1952 at the Savoy Ballroom. During this time he played with musicians such as Dinah Washington, Gil Mellé, Oscar Pettiford, Eddie Vinson, Paul Quinichette, Ernie Wilkins, Charlie Rouse, Lennie Tristano, Jutta Hipp, Johnny Hodges, Dorothy Ashby, Bud Powell, and Billy Taylor.

In 1959, he replaced guitarist Herb Ellis in the Oscar Peterson Trio in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 1961, he recorded in Los Angeles, featuring on the Teddy Edwards–Howard McGhee Quintet album entitled Together Again!!!! for the Contemporary label with Phineas Newborn Jr. and Ray Brown. After leaving Peterson, Thigpen recorded the album Out of the Storm as a leader for Verve in 1966. He then went on to tour with Ella Fitzgerald from 1967 to 1972.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/arts/music/26thigpen.html?_r=0 |title=Ed Thigpen, Jazz Drummer, Dies at 79 |first=Peter |last=Keepnews |newspaper=The New York Times |page=B17 |date=January 26, 2010}}

In 1972, Thigpen moved to Copenhagen, joining several other American jazz musicians who had settled in that city over the previous two decades.{{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=2475}} There he worked with fellow American expatriates, including Kenny Drew, Ernie Wilkins, Thad Jones, as well as leading Danish jazz musicians such as Svend Asmussen, Mads Vinding, Alex Riel, and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. He also played with a variety of other leading musicians of the time, such as Clark Terry, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Milt Jackson, and Monty Alexander.

Thigpen died peacefully after a brief period in Hvidovre Hospital in Copenhagen on January 13, 2010.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-ed-thigpen15-2010jan15-story.html |title=Ed Thigpen dies at 79; jazz drummer |first=Don |last=Heckman |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=January 15, 2010}} He had been hospitalized for heart and lung problems and was also suffering from Parkinson's disease. He is buried at Vestre Kirkegård.

Awards and recognition

Thigpen was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 2002.{{cite web |url=http://www.pas.org/experience/halloffame/ThigpenEd.aspx |first=Rick |last=Mattingly |title=PAS Hall of Fame: Ed Thigpen |work=Percussive Arts Society |access-date=March 1, 2014}}

Discography

= As leader =

  • Out of the Storm (Verve, 1966)
  • Action-Re-Action (Sonet, 1974)
  • Explosive Drums (Black & Blue, 1974)
  • Young Men and Olds (Timeless, 1990)
  • Easy Flight (Stunt, 1990)
  • Mr. Taste (Justin Time Records, 1992)
  • It's Entertainment (Stunt, 1998)
  • Element of Swing (Stunt, 2002)
  • #1 (Stunt, 2004)

= As sideman =

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

With Gene Ammons

With Art Farmer

With Jutta Hipp

With Duke Jordan

With Gil Mellé

With Oscar Peterson

With Ella Fitzgerald

With Billy Taylor

With Paul Quinichette and Charlie Rouse

  • The Chase Is On (Bethlehem, 1958) – rec. 1957
  • When The Blues Comes On, Pt. 1&2 (Bethlehem, 1957)

{{col-2}}

With others

{{col-end}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{AllMusic |class=artist |id=ed-thigpen-mn0000166153}}
  • {{Discogs artist}}
  • {{IMDb name|1382687}}
  • {{Find a Grave|46737620}}
  • [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/ed-thigpen Ed Thigpen Interview] NAMM Oral History Library (2004)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thigpen, Ed}}

Category:African-American drummers

Category:American jazz drummers

Category:Hard bop drummers

Category:Bebop drummers

Category:Verve Records artists

Category:Timeless Records artists

Category:Jazz musicians from Chicago

Category:1930 births

Category:2010 deaths

Category:Burials at Vestre Cemetery, Copenhagen

Category:American expatriates in Denmark

Category:American emigrants to Denmark

Category:Naturalised citizens of Denmark

Category:Almost Big Band members

Category:Justin Time Records artists

Category:Black Saint/Soul Note artists

Category:Ilk Records artists

Category:Jefferson High School (Los Angeles) alumni

Category:20th-century African-American musicians

Category:21st-century African-American musicians

Category:Oscar Peterson Trio members

Category:American male drummers

Category:Drummers from Chicago