Thompson Egbo-Egbo challenges the standard.
If jazz as a culture should be about anything, it should be about challenging standards. Its history stems from music and rich cultural traditions and ways of communication that speak from depths of the soul and present in the most directly impactful and visceral ways. The music is a living evolution and gifted to the world from its American roots it has gathered, and continues to gather, players and authors, magicians and creators, all true artists, as it meanders along its way collecting the creative souls of the African diaspora and the best international artists and interpreters. The language of the music and its culture translates instantly when it hits the ears. Thompson Egbo-Egbo is one of the culture’s magical artists.
African-diasporan, he is from Nigeria, calls Canada his home, and plays music with its roots in America. A jazz musician, he is one of those artists who are excitingly part of the living evolution of the music. When he plays, you can hear and feel every forward reach into the culture’s future and the reaching back to the traditions and origins. It happens all at once, and it defines his artistry.
Egbo-Egbo is in step with the music’s journey and its expression, and through him, and how he speaks its language, it is in good and beautiful, sensitive, respectful, and healthy hands.
