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There is more than one person with Leon Thomas as their name:
1) American avant-garde jazz singer
2) American singer/producer/actor
3) Australian blues/folk
4) funk/soul
1. Leon Thomas (born Amos Leon Thomas Jr. on October 4, 1937, died May 8, 1999) was an American avant garde jazz singer from East St. Louis, Illinois. He changed his name to Leone in 1974.
Thomas is best known for his work with Pharoah Sanders, particularly the 1969 song "The Creator Has a Master Plan" from Sanders' Karma album. Read more on Last.fm
The first three tracks showcase Thomas’s talent as a straight-ahead vocalist. All three are top-notch Oliver Nelson arrangements, with the excellent band (featuring Billy Cobham, Billy Harper, Sonny Morgan and Ernie Royal) in superb form on “Come Along” and Thomas giving an especially inspired reading of “Bags’ Groove.”
It would be unfair to call “Um, Um, Um” merely a teaser for side 2, what with it including an incredible percussion breakdown led by Roy Haynes and one of the most ecstatically powerful vocals of Thomas’s career. That being said, the side-long “Pharoah’s Tune (The Journey)” is the real meat here, a psychedelic jazz odyssey that ranks among the most tripped-out free music ever. Cobham and Haynes run the two drummer shuffle while Spaulding’s flute follows Thomas’s voice before busting out into a great solo. The African oboe + bells breakdown is pure bliss and the horn section builds tension until dropping out so John Williams’s electric bass can re-introduce the groove and the band can ride it out. Just stunning.