Pat Thomas

Artist: Pat Thomas

LP: Desafinado
Song: "Could Be"
[ listen ]

Here's a song with a relaxing bossa-nova beat for the first thing on a bleary-eyed Monday morning. Pat Thomas' "Desafinado" LP was released in 1962, after the album's title track reached #78 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. I wasn't able to find much information on Pat Thomas on the internet, unless she went on to pursue a career as linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs (the LP's liner notes say she excelled in sports). Anyway, this wonderful album was produced by [Creed Taylor] with "Exciting Bossa Nova stylings" arranged and conducted by [Lalo Schifrin], and here are notes about both Schifrin and Pat Thomas from the back of the record:

Lalo Schifrin, who arranged and conducted this album, is the brilliant
30-year-old Argentinian whose work with the Dizzy Gillespie group,
both as an arranger and a pianist, has carved him a major reputation
in jazz. With this album, his reputation grows into the more general
area of popular music. He studied at the Paris Conservatory of Music
for three years, and has been active as composer, arranger or
player in many areas of music—popular, jazz, and classical. In 1958
he won an Academy Award for his score for "El Jefe," a Spanish
motion picture. His writing is particularly fresh in its use of exciting
rhythms and broad harmonies.

* * * * * * *

Someone once said that the function of the novelist is to make us
see. Is this not true of all gifted artists? To persuade us to seek
the beauty in their works—and thus to enable us to better appreciate
the world around us—is the sign of a truly talented artist.

Pat Thomas is such an artist.

She sings with warmth, clarity, feeling, and a confidence and control
that belies her tender years. Her approach is direct, but subtle in
sound. She maintains a genuine respect for melody, the meaning
of a lyric, and the feeling of a song.

She produces a sincere feeling for the blues without being either
"funky" or in a "gospel" groove. Pat Thomas sings her way, and the
proper shades of meaning and feeling always manage to be there.

Musicians may be considered a strange breed by people from night
club owners to disc jockeys, jazz critics to radio listeners. But
in one area, they are considered authorities. And that's in the
recognition of real talent. They are usually the first to discover
new talent and to spread the word about an exciting
sound or a brilliant voice.

Pat Thomas was discovered by musicians. They first spread the
word about her remarkable singing. In Chicago, where Pat was
born and raised, she was the girl singer most sought after by
local musicians as well as by out-of-town musicians who were
appearing at the Chicago clubs.

Norman Simmons, long considered among the handful of bright
young arrangers and coaches in popular music, helped Pat gain
recognition. She sang with his highly successful
"Experimental Jazz Band."

So despite her lack of formal musical training, she has compiled
an impressive record of musical experience.

Pat's musical talent is inherited from her parents who sang in
church choirs. While not professional singers, the parents have
seen three of their children embark on musical careers. Pat's sister
Mildred sings, and her brother Earl Teddy sings and plays drums.
There are five other children.

When Pat attended Dunbar Vocational in Chicago, she made up her
mind to become a dress designer, while pursuing her studies, she
became a summer Red Cross Swimming Instructor.

In school she displayed great versatility as a girl athlete. She was
an accomplished baseball and basketball player, and she also
mastered badminton and was quite a figure roller skater.

It is perhaps as an athlete she developed the confidence and
cool assurance she projects in her singing style.

The critical test of whether Miss Thomas has arrived, to use
the show biz expression, is being proven with the overwhelming
acceptance of her single record Desafinado. Pat may be classified
as a pop-jazz vocalist but disc jockeys playing jazz, rock and
roll and pop, are giving the record exposure on their programs
throughout the country proving that good music defies
classification but demands to be heard.

Through this new album, her first on the MGM label, Pat will add
many admirers to her growing list. Those who will be exposed to
her talents for the first time will discover a pleasant sound of
firm control devoid of gimmicks, and crystal clear in delivery.

Those who have had the pleasure of hearing Pat before will find
that she adds a new dimension to the bossa nova movement with
her swining interpretations, and adds new lustre to her reputation
as one of the bright new stars in the world of music.
-- Del Sheidls, WDAS-FM—Philadelphia, PA