Everything seems
to be “in a timing” for Jazz
musician
Leon
“Foster” Thomas - from his chance romance
with the steelpan – to his
application to university – to his
recent performance before United
States Democratic Presidential
candidate Senator Barack Obama
at Bank Atlantic Center,
Florida.
From the age of
three, the young Foster was
already making his presence felt
on the cultural landscape on the
twin island Republic of Trinidad
and Tobago with the Katumba
Drummers led by his late father
Loderick “Rollo” Foster.
At age thirteen
while still at San Fernando East
Junior Secondary School he was
invited by his pannist friend,
Roger Charles, to share his
drumming skills with the
Pleasantville Senior
Comprehensive School Steelband
for the music festival.
|
Leon ‘Foster’ Thomas (right) at the Callaloo Jazz Concert
with Ken ‘Professor’ Philmore (left) |
Leon was on a
short visit to Trinidad and took
time out to be a guest on WACK
Radio 90.1 FM’s “Pan Diaspora” -
the monthly interactive feature
which lends an ear to persons
who contribute towards the
promotion of the steelpan as an
art form outside of its place of
birth – Trinidad and Tobago. He
explained to hosts D.J. Heshimu
and Hollis Clifton that he could
easily have gone to the
University of Arizona had it not been for the goodwill of the
mother of his close friend and
fellow pannist, Khion De Las and
that of Dr. Dawn Batson. This
enabled him to be the recipient
of a scholarship as a drummer to
Florida Memorial University in
Miami (FMU), Florida.
Prior to his teenage
years, Leon revealed that he
had no appreciation for pan or
classical music. All he cared
for was playing African drums. This was until he heard Roger
Charles arranging a piece of
music for Pleasantville Senior
Comprehensive School Steelband. The tune was sung by Calypsonian
Baron (Timothy Watkins) entitled
“Somebody.” That struck a note
in him. It was so mellifluous
that whenever the band took a
break he (the drummer [Leon]) would grab
a pair of sticks and pick the
tune on the tenor pan. Thereafter the pan became his numero
uno musical instrument.
Foster remembers
his late mother, Hillouise
Foster, telling him that his
father used to play pan with
Free French Steel Orchestra but
he had never really seen the
band or his father perform. This
must have been his first
influence in pan.
Leon’s panmanship has been influenced
by ace pannists Ken “Professor”
Philmore, Len “Boogsie” Sharpe
and the late Clive Bradley. Other local musical arrangers
who influenced him include Roger
Charles, Darren Sheppard, Ray
Holman, Clive and Carlton
“Zander” Alexander and Brian
“Bean” Griffith. He is ever so
grateful to the “Professor” who
became his mentor since he heard
him play at Queen’s Park Savannah
in Trinidad in 1997 for Pan Ramajay. Foster recalls that “Pro” literally had the
audience eating out of his
hands. “Nuff respect” to Ken.
In 2002 Leon went to Trinidad to
take part in the World Steelband
Music Festival (WSMF) in the Soloist
Category, and won. He returned to
Florida to a rousing welcome as
it dawned upon the institution
that the world’s number one
pannist was a student at FMU.
This feat saw the photo of Leon,
the victor grace the cover of
the school’s music department’s
course catalog for the next
academic year. This drew immense
respect for the pan and the
pannist alike.
Two years later he won the Duet
Category of the WSMF with fellow
student Aleah Nicholson.
At his graduation
in 2005 he received the “Most
Outstanding Student Award” in
the music department. He was
also instrumental in starting
the “Sweet Tuesday Jazz Jam
Session” which featured great
musicians such as Lou Donaldson,
Melton Mustafa,
Pewee Ellis, and Ken
“Professor” Philmore among
others. This open jam session
gave the students the
opportunity to perform in front
of a live audience as well as
exposing people on campus to
local and international talent.
Leon made time to
do gigs whenever possible. On
one such occasion at a gospel
convention in Orlando, Florida,
Foster played the piece entitled
“I Believe I Can Fly.” He
reminisced
the audience being
so moved that at the end of his
performance there were vast
numbers of people queuing up to
get his autograph. That opened
his eyes to the power of music. During his European
tour with
the American Gospel
Choir
people were eager to know what
the instrument (pan) was and
they thought his hands were
moving like lightning. He often
found himself having to educate
his audience on the history of
the instrument. In, lamentation
Leon interjects of times, when he
informs that the steelpan is
native to Trinidad and Tobago,
the question which often
followed was, “what part of
Jamaica is Trinidad ?”
To date Leon has
produced one live Jazz album
with his band Krossover Jazz and
is currently working on his solo
album to be released this
summer. He has performed at
countless jazz festivals,
classical concerts and carnivals
throughout the Caribbean, the
United States and Europe.
Foster has performed and worked
with world–renowned artistes
inclusive of James Moody, Nathan
Davis, Mark Whitfield, Billy
Taylor, Abraham Laboriel and
Melton Mustafa.
As a
composer, he wrote
a piece for the late Shiron
Cooper entitled “Call of the
Amerindians” which gave her
victory at the twenty–sixth
Bi–annual Music Festival in Port
of Spain, Trinidad. Again,
Michigan’s Oakland University
Steelband was the recipient of a
grant for him to compose the
music for their upcoming CD,
“Chamber of Steel.”
Foster is
currently the arranger for Miami
Pan Symphony Steel Orchestra
which has won the Annual Miami
Carnival Bomb Competition for
the last three years. The band
comprises high school and
college students of Caribbean
descent. His vision for
the future is to arrange for a
conventional steelband in his
native Trinidad as well as
continuing to perform and
compose.
Whenever he
returns to Trinidad for carnival
Leon has played for panorama
with the following steelbands:
- Phase II Pan
Groove twice, including once as
their
drummer
- Invaders
- Siparia
Deltones
- Silver Stars
- Skiffle Bunch
-
Courts Laventille Sound
Specialist
-
Simple Sound of Arima
-
Fonclaire