I first met Marshall Thompson at the famous Quincy Court Concerts in downtown Chicago (same event where I met Barrett Deems) where he was to perform with the Dave Remington Band.  Before the show I went up to Marshall and he was very receptive to talking with a young drummer.  (I do believe Marshall was playing a set of Camco drums, with Zildjian cymbals, one of which was a large sizzle cymbal — it had a beautiful sound.)  We talked about rudiments and keeping time, and he related to me that the numbered stroke rolls, five, seven, nine, thirteen, etc., that when played closed the actual strokes for a five were three strokes, since the other beats were the rebound; same for the seven, four strokes, the nine, five strokes, etc.  He mentioned he taught drums at Drums Ltd. on Wabash Avenue, down the street from Frank’s.  Since I had been working at the catering hall I was confident in telling Marshall I would see him for lessons soon, which I did.

 

I would take the L-Train downtown for lessons on Saturday before work at the catering hall.  Marshall would charge seven dollars for a half hour lesson, and taught me some of my first Latin American beats, like calypso, cha-cha-cha, samba, and bossa nova, plus a good review of rudiments and swingin’ the triplets.  I do believe Freddie White from Earth, Wind and Fire, among others, also studied with Marshall Thompson.  Marshall, though not as well known as the ‘Art Blakeys,’ ‘Philly Joe Jones,’ and the ‘Shelley Mannes’ of the jazz world, he was every bit as accomplished as any of them.  He was a marvellous time-keeper, very conscious of dynamics and sound timbres, and extremely tasty.  He recorded with some of the greatest:  Eddie Harris, Frank Foster, Woody Herman’s band, Eddie Higgins, Richard Evans, and I might add a few more.

 

Marshall attended DuSable High School in Chicago, but quit to travel with a show.  Clarence Allen and Marshall Thompson formed a tap dance act which was known as Peck & Peck.  The act appeared at the Club DeLisa, and the Fifty-one Hundred Club on Chicago’s north side.  They also toured with the bands of Erskine Hawkins and Duke Ellington.  Marshall got married to pianist Earma Thompson in 1943, and began working together at the Cotton Club in Chicago in 1950.  Marshall had already been working at the club and Earma replaced Horace Palm.  Marshall Thompson, along with Earma, backed up some of the greatest vocalists at that time.  Joe Williams began working Monday through Wednesday with them at the club, as well as others to follow:  Phylliss Branch, Billie Holiday, and others.

 

Marshall was there the night Joe Williams was given a going away party to join the Count Basie Band.  Other musicians Marshall performed with included Richard Abrams, E. Parker McDougal, John Gilmore, Clifford Jordan, Harold Ashby, and others.  Marshall’s main gig, though, up to his death in 1978, was performing with pianist Eddie Higgins, who he had been performing with for over two decades.  Marshall also has a son by the name of Terry Thompson, who is also a renouned drummer based in Chicago.  I’ve always felt honored to have the opportunity to study with this man.  Check out one of the recordings he is featured on above.  They are currently available on CD.

 

You know, there was a time in Chicago in Frank’s Drum Shop, at a drum clinic featuring Louis Bellson and all these drummers were hanging out at the store that afternoon.  And among those people there was Steve Smith, a great drummer who had just left Jean Luc Ponty’s band, and had joined the rock group Journey.  I was actually talking with Steve about the transition from playing fusion into more of a pop rock group.  The rest is history, Steve has gone on to become one of the world’s best drummers.  All of my drum teachers were also hanging out there, Roy Knapp, renowned Costa Rican drummer Alejo Poveda, and Marshall Thompson.  I believe Carmine Appice was also there.  It was a place everyone had gathered to watch Louis Bellson do a drum clinic; it represented a true community of drummers and percussionists, and it was at that time that I realized this — and how great it was!