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Dave Thomas RIP
12/12/13 - Awful news, Dave Thomas, our good friend and a member of the Original Panama Jazzband for nearly 60 years passed away this afternoon. Our thoughts are with Di and family. Diane Thomas has told me that Dave Thomas’ funeral will be a private family event. Jon Critchley 13/12/23 - I'm deeply saddened to hear that Dave has died. He was a fine clarinettist, and I always loved the relaxed and understated way he sang. I first met him in 1981 while depping with the Panama in what turned out to be my audition to replace Robin Tankard, who had recently left to join the Merseysippi. Deservedly I wasn't offered the job, but that was the night I first played Snake Rag, never having heard it before. It is still one of my favourite numbers; the precision of the clarinet part is crucial to it, and Dave Thomas's interpretation and execution of that, together with his unfailing warmth and generosity, will remain for ever in my memory. - Allan Wilcox, 13/12/23 - I was a big fan of Dave Thomas, both as a
lovely man and a very, very fine clarinettist. 14/12/23 How sad to hear of the passing of Dave
Thomas. Dave & I worked together in 1950’s and shared our
interest in Traditional Jazz. Dave bought a clarinet and me a
trombone. We joined a band called the “Tony Girard’s
Dixielanders” having replied to an advert in the Liverpool Echo.
Bart Poole was on drums. In 1958 we were both called up to do
our National Service. On demob or shortly after Dave joined the
Panama Jazz band (The Original Panama Jazz Band) and played with
them continuously until he retired a few years ago. Dave was a
natural and gifted musician. It’s a sad time for jazz on
Merseyside. 16/12/23 - I am sure that the chaps in the Merseysippi would agree with me that it was with great sorrow to hear about the death of Dave Thomas, a great clarinet player and good friend over many years. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to his wife and family at their sad loss and he will be much missed by all his friends on the Merseyside jazz scene. I knew Dave from the days when the Panama used to play at the Black Horse Inn in West Kirby in the early 70s before I joined the Merseys. Pete Fryer 17/12/23 - Our good friend Dave was a member of The Original Panama Jazz Band from 1962, when, due to work commitments, he initially shared the gigs with Keith Jones, also a fine player. Dave remained with the band until Covid stopped us all in 2019, and sadly he couldn’t return: He was a few months short of achieving 60 years with the band. During that time, Dave was a good friend, popular with audiences, enthusiastic, the band vocalist and a great clarinettist with a lovely full tone. He also had a natural ear for harmony and made for a super front line. He was in demand from other bands also, including The Merseysippi (travelled to The Sacramento Jazz Festival with the band), Alan Davies’ Delta Jazz Band in Beibertal, Germany, and most of the Northwest bands. We were lucky to have him full time. We miss him, RIP Dave. 18/12/23 - Very sad to hear of the death of Dave Thomas, a superb clarinettist with The Original Panama Jazz Band. Dave was truly a class act and stood out on his own when top front line guests of the calibre of the great trombonist Roy Williams appeared with The Panama. RIP Dave 21/12/23 -
We were so sad and shocked on hearing the news about Dave. He
played with the Harlems for some five years , a fine
clarinettist and singer and a real nice guy. Our thoughts are
with Di and family. Ian and Carol McCann. 30/12/23 - Dave, I knew when he joined the Panama just after Bruce Bakewell left for Canada. In those days I used to deb with the Panama a lot. He became an excellent clarinet player and in later years an excellent vocalist. Apart from those attributes he was the perfect gentleman.
Jim West 03/01/24 -
Dave was a
very fine jazz clarinet player. I used to go
regularly to hear him play with the Panama at the
Black Horse in West Kirby in the 1970s – his playing
filled me with admiration; he was a gifted ‘natural’
musician. I also have to thank him (though no-one
else will!) for persuading me to start playing again
after the death of my first wife in 1993.
09/01/24 -
I would like
to thank all the jazz musicians & followers of the
bands for their cards & condolences with regard to
Dave, it was really touching reading their lovely
words & thoughts. He missed playing with the
Panama and we often talked about the years he played
with them and numerous other Nrth West bands, lot’s
of wonderful memories.
Thank you
all again -
MY HUSBAND DAVE Reproduced from an article in the Daily Mail under the title, "Extraordinary Lives". DAVE grew up in Liverpool and was a talented amateur musician. He taught himself to play the recorder and his music teacher then encouraged him to learn the clarinet, which became a huge part of his life. At 17 he joined a skiffle-type band with his guitar-playing friend, a slightly younger George Harrison, and they played at various Liverpool venues. Then at 20 Dave was called up for National Service, joined the RAF and was posted to Cyprus, where he soon heard the news about George teaming up with Paul McCartney and John Lennon to become the Beatles. To keep his hand in with the music he loved, he formed a jazz band in Cyprus with fellow National Servicemen. Years later, the Daily Mail's Missing & Found column featured his search for the long-lost band members and reunited him with several of them. After demob he returned to Liverpool and began working as a salesman for a camping equipment company, but spending lunchtimes painting the walls in a dive in Mathew Street that became the famous Cavern Club. After marrying his first wife, Pat, in the mid-Sixties. he joined the Wirral-based Original Panama Jazz Band. He played with them, alongside Humphrey Lyttelton, Kenny Ball and other well-known jazz musicians for nearly 60 years, until the Covid pandemic brought it to an end. Dave and Pat had two daughters, Susie and Anna. But Pat died aged only 43, leaving him to raise the young girls alone. He continued playing jazz, though, saying the music helped him through the trauma. We met through the jazz band: I was engaged to its banjo player but after we split up, Dave and I got together, marrying in 1984. We set up home near Liverpool and I became stepmother to the girls. Dave occasionally played clarinet with other jazz bands, travelling with them to do gigs in Canada, Norway, Germany, France and elsewhere. And a couple of times in the mid-Eighties he played with the Merseysippi Jazz Band at the Sacramento jazz festival in California. Dave's all-time favourite musician was Benny Goodman, on whose style he based his own playing. We spent 40 wonderful years together. Dave retired at 60 after a career in sales and we were able to enjoy life, music and visiting the destinations on our bucket list. Although I'm very sad to have lost him, at least I have many tapes and CDs he recorded, so I can still hear him singing and playing his clarinet. DAVID THOMAS, born August 8, 1939; died December 12. 2023. aced 84.
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