René Thomas

René Thomas stood among the leading European jazz guitarists to surface in the 1950s and went on to appear in numerous sessions alongside American players across the following decades. Though shaped, as expected, by Django Reinhardt, Thomas remained largely self-taught; by the 1950s he had become a highly sought-after cool-toned guitarist whose approach echoed that of Jimmy Raney. Beyond his work with Europe’s finest jazz musicians, he recorded with Chet Baker in 1955, spent the years 1958–1963 living in Montreal, and collaborated there with Toshiko Akiyoshi and Sonny Rollins before returning to Europe in 1963. Over the next several years he performed with Kenny Clarke, Lou Bennett, and Han Bennink, among many others. Between 1969 and 1972 Thomas belonged to Stan Getz’s European Band, contributing to the group’s album Dynasty. He suffered a fatal heart attack in Spain at the age of 47. Leading his own dates, Thomas recorded for Vogue in 1954, Barclay, Polydor, Jazzland in 1960, RCA, Royal Jazz, and the Italian Vogel label in 1974.