| The Leon Thomas Album | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Leon Thomas |
| Cover: | The Leon Thomas Album.jpg |
| Released: | 1970 |
| Recorded: | 1970 |
| Studio: | New York City |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Length: | 39:08 |
| Label: | Flying Dutchman FD/FDS 10132 |
| Producer: | Bob Thiele |
| Chronology: | Leon Thomas |
| Prev Title: | Spirits Known and Unknown |
| Prev Year: | 1970 |
| Next Title: | Leon Thomas in Berlin |
| Next Year: | 1971 |
The Leon Thomas Album is the second album by American jazz vocalist and percussionist Leon Thomas recorded in 1970 and released by the Flying Dutchman label.[1] [2] [3]
AllMusic reviewer Thom Jurek stated: "On the follow-up to the mind-blowing Spirits Known and Unknown, singer, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and composer Leon Thomas decided to take a different track. Far from the sparely orchestrated ensembles of the previous works, Thomas loaded this set with jazz luminaries ... Side one is the up-tempo jazz ride, as Thomas and company rip through a host of his own tunes ... The real gem on the album is "Pharaoh's Tune (The Journey)," which comprises all of side two ... It's a breathtaking ride made all the more so by the long, jazzed-out setup of side one. Why this guy wasn't huge is a mystery.". Critic Robert Christgau said "He has literally expanded the musical possibilities of the human voice. He is as powerful a jazz/blues singer as Joe Williams or Joe Turner, both of whom he occasionally resembles, as inventive a scatter as Ella Fitzgerald ... I have to suspend my disbelief and recommend this record unreservedly to anyone with the slightest fondness for jazz".
All compositions by Leon Thomas except where noted