Hersal Thomas
Hersal Thomas (* 1910 in Houston, † July 3, 1926 in Detroit, Michigan ) was an American jazz and blues pianist and composer. Despite his early death, he influenced the development of Boogie Woogie and Blues Piano strong. So called him Jimmy Yancey, Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis as her main musical influence.
Life and work
Hersal Thomas was born in Houston, Texas as one of 13 children in a musical family. Besides Hersal his brother George W. Thomas was a gifted pianist, while his sister sippie Wallace and his niece Hociel Thomas sang.
From a very young age his talent was discovered. While he initially with his brother George worked in clubs and theaters from New Orleans, he moved in 1923 with his sister sippie to Chicago, where he again worked with his brother George and his niece Hociel Thomas.
Hersal Thomas took from 1924 piano rolls and records from 1925 on both a soloist and as a companion to Hociel Thomas, sippie Wallace, Lilian Miller and Miller Sodarisa. Shortly before his death he went with Louis Armstrong and King Oliver on tour. His last work before his death took place on March 4, 1926, when he accompanied Lillian Miller in their Okeh recording of " The Kitchen Blues".
Hersal Thomas died on July 3, 1926 during a performance in Penny 's Pleasure Inn in Detroit due to food poisoning. His sister sippie Wallace took seven of his compositions on: "A Jealous Woman Like Me," " A Man for Every Day of the Week," " Dead Drunk Blues ," " I Feel Good ", " Have You Ever Been Down? " " Shorty George Blues" and "Trouble Everywhere I Roam ".
His most famous recording is probably the " Suitcase Blues" ( 8958 -A Okeh 8227 ), the two brothers wrote in 1921 as " The Five " together, which was described by Ammons and Lewis as one of the basic boogie woogie.
Lexigraphic entries
- The Handbook of Texas Online
- Robert Santelli Big Book of the Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia New York: Penguin Books 1993