CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History (WVDACH) will host “An Evening with Bob Thompson” at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, at the Culture Center Theater, State Capitol Complex, in Charleston. The show is free and open to the public.
Thompson will play some of his favorite tunes written by jazz pianists, past and present. The program lineup is as follows:
“An Evening with Bob Thompson”
“Memphis Blues” by W.C. Handy
“Jitterbug Waltz” by Fats Waller
“It Don’t Mean a Thing” by Duke Ellington
“Pannonica” by Thelonious Monk
“Waltz for Debby” by Bill Evans
“I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free” by Dr. Billy Taylor
“You Taught My Heart to Sing” by McCoy Tyner
“Little Burgundy Blues” by Bob Thompson
Internationally known jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, Thompson is the house pianist and a featured performer on National Public Radio’s syndicated Mountain Stage program, which is broadcast live from the West Virginia Culture Center Theater in Charleston.
Thompson grew up in New York City but came to West Virginia in the 1960s to study music at West Virginia State College (now University), and thereafter decided to stay.
Since the 1970s, Thompson and his bands have recorded and released multiple CDs, and toured nationally and internationally, performing in Europe, Africa and South America. Throughout the 1980s Thompson released a series of widely acclaimed solo albums, first through his own label, Rainbow Records, and later through Capitol’s Intima jazz label.
Thompson is co-producer and host of the annual “Joy to The World” holiday jazz show that airs on public radio stations across the nation and is heard internationally on Voice of America. In 2015, in recognition of Thompson’s contributions to the Mountain State music scene and beyond, he was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
For more information, call the WVDACH at (304) 558-0220.