Salão de São Tomás

Pat Thomas – piano, organ, electronics

Born in Oxford, Pat Thomas began to be noticed at the end of the 80s. Firstly, thanks to his work within Oxford’s Improviser Co-op, where he found the conditions to create his first major work. Entitled Monads, it helped define the contours of the new electroacoustic improvisation in the UK, with a very particular instrumentation, marked by the use of computers, programming and turntables. Then, in the early 1990s, following his connection with Derek Bailey, one of the major figures in British free improvisation. Participating in Bailey’s Company Week in 1991 alongside musicians such as John Zorn opened doors for Thomas, allowing him to play regularly in groups with Tony Oxley and Lol Coxhill in the following years.

By the end of the 1990s, Thomas was an inescapable figure on the London scene (while remaining connected to Oxford), with endless collaborations. One of the encounters at that time, which would come to mark the following years, was with vibraphonist Orphy Robinson, with whom Thomas would form the Black Top project in 2012, a group that has maintained intense activity, fuelled by the energy of guests such as Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Shabaka Hutchings, Peter Evans, Maggie Nicols and Mariam Rezaei.

Over the last 10 years, and especially after being one of the recipients of the Paul Hamlyn Award – one of the most important artistic honours in the UK – Pat Thomas has gained an aura of respectability that he never sought.

This concert is hosted and supported by the Seminário Maior de Coimbra.