Micah Thomas

Micah Thomas is a sophisticated pianist known for his nuanced, harmonically rich post-bop jazz. Along with recordings alongside <a href="spotify:artist:5szMuuBbDzULkagWIfI5LG">Immanuel Wilkins</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:26XwWqwNq8FMgZEKqqdU9b">Walter Smith III</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6w4OoJ1ZPsK6Nd9vQgZKwJ">Harish Raghavan</a>, Thomas gained wider attention with his 2020 debut Tide. He garnered the Grand Prix du Disque Award by Académie Charles Cros in France for 2022's Solo Piano and showcased his trio with Reveal in 2023.

Born in 1997 in Columbus, Ohio, Thomas grew up in a multicultural family with a pastor father from Chennai, India, and an American mother who taught English as a second language. At age two, he started playing piano, picking out songs by ear. By the time he was eight years old, he was taking private jazz lessons and drawing inspiration from players like <a href="spotify:artist:2hGh5VOeeqimQFxqXvfCUf">John Coltrane</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0kbYTNQb4Pb1rPbbaF0pT4">Miles Davis</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4PDpGtF16XpqvXxsrFwQnN">Thelonious Monk</a>. During his sophomore year of high school, Thomas started playing gigs, touring alongside violinist <a href="spotify:artist:5fsGSmVnV6uD0PwrWNiCGN">Christian Howes</a>. He also gained valuable insight from pianist <a href="spotify:artist:2kQZjl1wnD42U6rKhAHmz5">Sullivan Fortner</a>, who became a mentor after the two met at a summer jazz workshop. After high school, he further honed his skills attending the Juilliard School. There, he studied under pianist <a href="spotify:artist:0oM6BnOY2eeCEsbl0GDpSE">Frank Kimbrough</a>, and in 2015 he received the school's Jerome L. Greene Fellowship.

Thomas continued to play live, leading his own trio and holding down a weekly solo piano gig at the Kitano Hotel. He also joined the faculty of the annual Creative Strings Workshop in his hometown of Columbus. Recordings followed, including sessions with <a href="spotify:artist:6w4OoJ1ZPsK6Nd9vQgZKwJ">Harish Raghavan</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:26XwWqwNq8FMgZEKqqdU9b">Walter Smith III</a>. In 2020, Thomas graduated with his Master of Music degree. That same year, he released his debut solo album, Tide, featuring his trio with bassist Dean Torrey and drummer Kyle Benford. He also performed as a member of saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:5szMuuBbDzULkagWIfI5LG">Immanuel Wilkins</a> group, appearing on 2020's Omega and 2022's The 7th Hand.

He returned to his own work with 2022's Solo Piano, which took home France's Grand Prix du Disque Award by Académie Charles Cros. In 2023, he released Reveal, a trio album featuring bassist Dean Torrey and drummer Kayvon Gordon. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi