Lucky Thompson, 81; Jazz Musician Bridged Swing and Bebop

Lucky Thompson, an influential but enigmatic figure in jazz who bridged the music’s swing and bebop styles, has died. He was 81.

Thompson died July 30 at an assisted living facility in Seattle. The cause of death was not announced.

An independent figure even by jazz standards, Thompson had a quick rise, compiling an impressive resume that included stints with Billy Eckstine and Count Basie before his 21st birthday. By the mid-1950s, he had made significant recordings as a sideman with Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, and was considered by many to be without peer on the tenor saxophone.

But less than 20 years later, he quit playing. He handed over his instruments to a dentist in Georgia to pay his bill.

Born Eli Thompson in Columbia, S.C., on June 16, 1924, Thompson was raised in Detroit and started playing saxophone at the age of 15. Initially, he played with local groups led by pianist Hank Jones and saxophonist Sonny Stitt. He first started gaining attention in the Basie band near the end of World War II, when he replaced saxophonist Don Byas, who was a big influence on him.

In the mid-1940s, Thompson lived in Southern California and was a busy studio musician, playing on an estimated 100 recordings in 1946 and 1947. When Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker were visiting L.A. with their sextet to perform and record, Gillespie hired Thompson as insurance in case the brilliant but notoriously unreliable Parker failed to show. Gillespie used both players on the Dial Records date in March 1946.

By 1948, Thompson had moved to New York City, where he remained busy doing studio work, and made some fine recordings with bassist Oscar Pettiford and vibraphonist Milt Jackson. He can also be heard on Miles Davis’ “Walkin’ ” sessions -- working as part of the all-star band that Davis hired for the Prestige recording session.

Thompson moved to Paris in February 1956 and joined the touring Stan Kenton orchestra. He stayed mostly abroad until 1962, performing with some of Europe’s players, including pianists Matial Solal and Tete Montoliu. He also took up the soprano saxophone, an underused instrument at the time.

Through much of the ‘60s and early ‘70s, he moved back and forth between the U.S. and Europe. He produced some of his most interesting recordings in the United States during the early ‘60s, but he also had long periods of inactivity.

By 1973, he had returned from Europe for good and began teaching, first at Dartmouth and then at Yale. It was at that point that he quit playing, embittered by the high fees that music promoters, record companies and music publishers were taking.

Over the years, he did make several recordings as a leader, including “Lucky Strikes” in 1964 and “Happy Days,” recorded the next year.

While Thompson dropped from public view, various reports said he was homeless. He hopscotched around the country and settled in Seattle in the late 1980s. In August 1994, he entered an assisted living facility.

He is survived by a son, a daughter and two grandchildren.