The first summer I lived in the Twin Cities we went to the bar and restaurant at the top of the IDS tower to hear Butch Thompson play piano. There was hardly anyone there so we sat right at the bar right next to the piano and Butch. We could watch his hands as they “strode” from chord to chord on the left hand while the right provided the melody. Amazing.
We also chatted with him at the breaks. What a lovely guy. And he signed a napkin for us to add to our collection of local players. (I think we sent some of those off to our New England friends to impress them with our hipness!)
That same year we saw him playing clarinet with the Hall Brothers at the old Emporium of Jazz in Mendota Heights. Still miss that venue.
A few years later I was fortunate to have him as a guest on my program at KFAI. If time had allowed I am sure we could have listened to and discussed the entire stride piano catalogue and history. And as always he was so very gracious,
Thank you Butch, for the tunes and the craic. Godspeed.