Pat Thomas

Born in Oxford to a musical family, Thomas studied classical piano from age eight and played jazz from 16. He credits an extraordinary music teacher at his comprehensive with giving him the confidence to pursue music as a career – 

He has since gone on to develop an utterly unique style as a jazz pianist and improviser, with collaboration at the heart of his practice. He’s played with an extraordinary plethora of fellow musicians and composers over the years from all genres: classical, reggae, jazz, avant-garde and electro. Since 1997 he’s also collaborated extensively with marimba/​vibes player and multi-instrumentalist Orphy Robinson (also an Award recipient, in 2017) as Black Top, inviting others – most recently Cleveland Watkiss, Sofia Jernberg and Elaine Mitchener – to play with them. 

Thomas doesn’t have a personal website, and so I turn to Discogs to try and get a handle on his oeuvre. All in all, I count at least 88 records he’s contributed to across over 40 groups. That doesn’t include his own recordings, notably the collection of solo piano improvisations he has been creating for 25 years now, beginning with Nur (Emanem) and continuing through Al-Khwarizmi Variations (Fataka), The Elephant Clock of Al-Jazari (OTOROKU), and, this September, The Solar Model of Ibn Al-Shatir. For this solo work, Thomas draws on the Arabic world highlighting the work of astronomers and polymaths sidelined by Eurocentrism. Islamic innovation is at the heart of Thomas’ solo projects, and he draws a direct link between his Sufi faith and a totally unique style of playing.

Despite his industrious live and recording work, in the UK, he remains to an extent an insiders’ secret – his humble, generous approach rarely pushing his name front and centre. He’s far more well known across European capitals and jazz festivals, where his openness to collaborate and try something new keeps fans coming back.

He’s recovered fully from a minor stroke he suffered during Covid, his European touring schedule showing no signs of slowing down. Next week, he’s preparing for tour dates with Mariam Rezaei in the USA early in 2025 – coinciding with his first US commission – and hopes to spend time with the Kitchen Orchestra in Stavanger, Norway next year. Again, he attributes these doors opening for him to the global high esteem Paul Hamlyn Foundation is held in, and the networks it’s plugged into: ​“Paul Hamlyn Foundation really listens to artists and people who know what they are talking about; this is so important, and so rare. It’s experts to experts – artists nominating and judging artists – so suddenly people notice you a bit more, it’s easier to get promotion, to open doors. Especially as an improviser. Even the fact the Awards recognise improvisation, that they take spontaneous improvisation seriously at all, is very validating.” 

When he received the Award alongside Shabaka Hutchings and Martin Green, there were only three Awards for composers, and all three were men that year. I ask if he feels it has become any easier for women, and he gives a shout out to Mariam Rezaei (2022 recipient), sharing how excited he was when she got it. He notes that by extending to five composers (to match the number of visual artists awarded each year), it allowed a lot more women to be recognised and awarded, and he can see a lot more openings now for women: ​“When things are very narrow, people stay narrow. It was an ​‘old boys network’, but so much has changed. And Paul Hamlyn Foundation has been part of that change.” 

What makes the Awards so unique for Thomas is the belief in the artist: