Earma Thompson is one of our historic pianists, mother of Terry Thompson, a drummer, and wife of the late Marshall Thompson, known for his tap dancing and drumming. Here's what she had to say about her life in the old days.
I played piano before I entered DuSable High School. But I didn't play piano in the school band or the annual school production called 'The Hi Jinks.' I played in church. I was interested in singing and was in Matilda Bryant Jones's special choir. John Young, Dorothy Donegan, and others were in my class. Marshall had attended DuSable High School but quit to travel with a show. Clarence Allen and Marshall formed a tap dance act which later was known as Peck and Peck. Their act appeared at the Club DeLisa and the 5100 Club on Chicago's North Side. They also toured with the bands of Erskine Hawkins and Duke Ellington.
Marshall and I got married in 1943 and later I went with him on some of the appearances. The act broke up in 1950 when Clarence decided to move to California. Marshall started playing music professionally the same year, playing drums.
In 1953 three musicians, Harold Youngblood (piano), Bobby Payne (vibes), and Tony Smith (drums) purchased the Cotton Club in the 6200 block of Cottage Grove Avenue. Later Tony sold his interest to the other two. Bobby Payne was the real owner, but he couldn't get a license because of a felony conviction.
Marshall began working in the Cotton Club before I did. I replaced Horace Palm. Marshall and I were paid, and different bass players would come by and sit in. We worked three days a week (Monday through Wednesday). Don Castello on drums brought in a band on weekends consisting of Cliff Davis, Johnny Griffin (sax), Lou Dean (piano and trumpet), and Lowell Pointer (bass). Later, Joe Williams began working the Monday-Wednesday sets with us, and this was a learning experience. I learned all of his material, and this experience was of great help in working with Phylliss Branch, Billie Holiday, and other vocalists. The Cotton Club was packed the night Joe was given a going-away party to join the Count Basie band.
Working in the Cotton Club was like going to school. Other musicians and I didn't realize at the time that we had a workshop going! Musicians would come by the job like they were working. This happened every night. We would discuss everything, like playing tunes, learning tunes, learning different chords, and so on.
Some of those musicians were Richard Abrams, E. Parker McDougal, John Gilmore, Clifford Jordan, George Eskridge, Harold Ashby, and others. They would be there waiting for Marshall and me to come to work. We were the rhythm section. Everybody came by and played and exchanged ideas. If it was thought that a musician had potential, he or she would be given that extra push. Saxophonist Billy Mitchell, a member of the Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie bands, worked in the Club for a short while, and, man, this was the icing on the cake. He exposed the musicians to the Detroit and New York music philosophies.
The club opened at 7 am and closed at 4 am the next day. Musicians would be there all day playing and developing their musical tools. Sun Ra rehearsed his group almost every day in the Cotton Club, also.
We were making $12 a night when the union raised the scale to $15 per night. Owner Youngblood would not pay the other three dollars. Youngblood was a member of the Board of Directors of the Musicians' Local 208. Mr. Gray, President of Local 208, would come to the Basin Street Club, across the street from the Cotton Club, to see that the musicans were paid. He would come in and stop the show—starring Eddie Vinson—until the money was paid. However Gray never came over to see we got our money. I left the Club because Youngblood owed me too much money, even though the Club would be packed with people. I knew he could afford to pay me.
When I talk of my musical yesterdays, I remember them as fun days, although I didn't think so at the time. There were good and bad times, and I am blessed to have met and performed with many wonderful musicians. I also remember my mother wanted me to become a typist!
