JON THOMAS
Thomas, a graduate from The Juilliard School‘s Jazz department (MM ‘19) helmed by Wynton Marsalis, has performed with Samara Joy, Marquis Hill, Dominick Farrinacci, Walter Blanding, Robin Mckelle, and Jazzmeia Horn among other leading voices in jazz today.
Thomas is lauded as one of the most ardent and gifted rising forces in jazz today. He continues to make regular appearances at The Blue Note, Dizzy's Club, Smalls Jazz Club, and Minton's Playhouse in addition to annual appearances at a host of international jazz festivals.
Thomas, a student of pianists Benny Green, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s Dan Nimmer, Aaron Parks, and Taylor Eigsti is also a graduate of The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music (BFA ‘15) and a Current Resident of New York City.
JON THOMAS & FIRM ROOTS
True to their name Jon Thomas and Firm Roots paint, with ardent and skillful strokes, a celebration of the storied art form that is American music. Firm Roots pulls from the murky and hallowed depths of traditional American folk songs, swing music, the avant-garde, the most novel and infectious of backbeats, and back again.
They connect hundreds of years of musical and oral traditions through two qualities which their leader considers to be the most important factors to the group: soulful storytelling and deeply personal interpretation.