OPEN POST: Music Manor Monday With The Terrific Pat Thomas!

Happy Martin Luther King Day, music sloots, and welcome to another kicky edition of Manor Music Monday. Today, we'll be chatting about a winning jazz songstress whom time has unjustly forgotten, though in her day, she delighted top jazz musicians and composers who scrambled to work with her. You can hear her tonight at "Sportin' a Semi!" the Manor's 24-hour club and creperie where DJ L'il Scratch will be laying down her irresistible tunes. 

Yes, it's Patricia "Pat" Thomas. Just look at her: coquettish beauty and adorableness incarnate. Born in The City Of Big Shoulders - that's Chicago to you pesky rubes - she was an in-demand performer by nearly every jazz band in the late 1950s and early 60s, and hit the big-time, if briefly, with her 1963 LP, "Desafinado," the title track being a Bossa Nova-flavored triumph which rocketed up the charts. 

It was her rich, caramel-toned voice which made her stand out, even in her early days. Her first big splash occurred when she was only a teenager. She won a local TV talent show, and while history has obscured the specific name of the show (it was probably "Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour," which ran from the 1940s through the 70s and frequently shot shows in Chicago), it was more than enough to earn her bookings thereafter with almost every local jazz band. She was the hot new "hometown fav," and everyone wanted to work with her, so much so that she became a staple at legendary venues like The Blue Note and The Gate of Horn, often sharing the stage with fellow giants of jazz, like Abbey Lincoln and Oscar Brown Jr. But it was her stint with Norman Simmons' Experimental Jazz Band which really helped establish her reputation before she moved to New York to pursue a national career.

She wasn't there long before Verve Records snapped her up and released her LP, "Desafinado," in 1963, a tasty collaboration with Lalo Schifrin, the swingin', phenomenally successful Argentinian-American musician and composer. The title track is pure jazz delight. Even if you haven't heard of Pat before, you've probably heard this pioneering Bossa Nova classic, the first time it was performed in English.

But give a listen to the rest of the LP and you'll discover a gifted vocalist who can shape-shift depending on the song's style, and all the while remain warmly accessible. She never again reached the popular heights of this Grammy-nominated chart-topper, yet she was still considered a major voice of her era by her fellow singers and musicians, who still clamored to share the stage and studio with her. She also continued to record LPs before and after, and while I love "Desafinado," my heart belongs to her LP, "Jazz Patterns," where her honeyed, sophisticated vocals are given full range. Pat could do it all. She could bop, she could swing and she brought real emotion to the lyrics - and without resorting to wild runs or over-embellishment, instead using smooth-as-silk tones and impeccable timing. For me, Pat's a keeper

What are you listening to this week? DJ Li'l Scratch wants to know.
Till next time...purr, bitches, purr! 🐾

Photo Credits; Verve Records; Getty Images