Malachi Thompson, a great, but underrated, trumpeter has performed in free settings and recorded abstract tributes about Buddy Bolden, jazz’s founder. Thompson was born in Chicago. He was 11 years old when he heard Count Basie’s Orchestra perform live at a concert. His parents convinced him to buy a trumpet. Thompson, who was a member and performer of the AACM by 1969, had worked in a variety of settings, including free jazz and R.
