Tom Nicholas, Sr. - March 8, 1938 - June 16, 2023

[mikeweil]

Tom Nicholas, born in Philadelphia on March 8, 1938, died at his home in Germany on June 16, 2023, as his son Kamal reported on facebook this morning.

He had started on cello, but switched to percussion and was reported to have played with Jimmy McGriff as a teenager. He moved to California after his army service and recorded with Michael Howell (one track featured in a recent Blindfold Test) and John Handy, played with Kenny Burrell, Dewey Redman, Pharoah Sanders, Eddie Moore. He moved to New York in the 1970s, played with George Coleman and recorded with Roland Prince but decided to move to Europe in 1977. He landed a regular gig with Lou Blackburn's Afro Jazz band Mombasa soon after and played with many bands on the German jazz scene, most notably with Peter Giger's Family of Percussion. Among his last activities was a band with saxophonist Anke Schimpf - here you can see some photos from his birthday concert.

He was my first conga drum teacher, I admired his solid timing and swing - as he said "I always have a good time playing" - and sounded great, no matter what conga drum you placed in front of him. When I met him in 1978 he had a heavy fiberglass conga with a very thick muleskin that I hardly could get to sound. Regrettably, it was stolen when Mombasa's band bus was broken in. I'll never forget how he tried to encourage us to sound "more deutlich", make a clear distinction between different sounds on the conga. 

R.I.P., and eternal thanks for the inspiration.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/1059178-Tom-Nicholas?type=Credits&subtype=Instruments-Performance&filter_anv=0

https://www.facebook.com/tomnicholassr

Edited June 18, 2023 by mikeweil

[JSngry]

Sound like his sport will be with you forever. That's the ultimate gift.

RIP