Farewell to an STL jazz giant: Jeter Thompson of Trio Tres Bien passes at 87

March 16, 1930 – December 1, 2017 – The local and national jazz scene lost a beloved staple when Jeter Thompson of Trio Tres Bien passed away December 1. He was 87.

“It was fabulous to play with him,” Jeter’s younger brother Howard Thompson confessed. Before he was his bandmate, Howard would travel to see his brother as the piano man for Quartette Tres Bien. They were a favorite of the famed Gaslight Square era of the St. Louis music scene.

“Wherever they were playing we would go and hear them,” Howard said. “I remember they played in Chicago and I caught a train just to go hear them.”

Quartette Tres Bien headed west. They would ultimately record 14 albums before the original group disbanded and Jeter returned home to St. Louis.

While Jeter was away, Howard had taught himself to play drums and Howard’s twin brother Harold picked up the bass. The brothers became familiar faces on the St. Louis music scene, playing for the likes of Jimmy Forrest, Spanky Wilson, Sonny Stitt and Johnny Hartman among others. They suggested to Jeter that quartette Tres Bien become a trio of brothers – and Jeter obliged. The latter incarnation became a notable group in their own right in the 1970s, and developed a legacy that stretched several decades.

“We could almost read each other’s minds even while we were playing,” Howard said. “We could be playing a brand-new song and we knew when to take a break and when not to take a break – when to get loud and when to get soft. All of that seemed to come natural.”

They were also known to make up songs right on the bandstand during a gig.

“We would tell the bass player, Harold, to start a rhythm. He would start,” Howard said. “Then I would join in on drum. And then Jeter would come in with whatever was on his mind. We instinctively knew what we had to do and would do it right there. People would say, ‘What was the name of that song?’ We would say, ‘We don’t know.’”

For the Thompsons, music was in their blood. Their father, Justus Thompson, had a group that used to rehearse in the family’s living room. They watched their dad play. Jeter, who was the second oldest of the children, was the first to catch on.

“That’s how we got the musical touch,” Howard said. “We always had a piano in the house and Jeter just picked it up. He never had any real lessons.”

Well, maybe a few. The Thompson family paid for Jeter to take a few classical lessons from the music teacher that lived across the street from their home. But according to Howard, Jeter already knew how to play any and everything before he ever sat down for a formal lesson.

“He played for Chuck Berry when he was a teenager,” Howard said with a proud laugh. “My folks didn’t know where he would be in the evenings and he’d be with Chuck Berry playing on the East Side.”

Howard described his brother’s style as a mixture of Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum, Earl Garner and their father.

“It was a thrill playing with him – it really was,” Howard said. “The crowds were still following us wherever we played. We made some great contacts.”

Trio Tres Bien became synonymous with the St. Louis jazz scene.

Howard said that beyond his music, people will remember his brother for his big beautiful smile and his warm personality.

“He was one of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet,” Howard said. “And he was willing to help any young musician whenever they would come to him – telling them what to do or what not to do.

He was a great person to everybody.”

He was also a great bandmate.

“Every single time we got together to play, it was special,” Howard said. “I mean, each performance. It was truly a joy and a thrill.”

Jeter Thompson is survived by his wife Louisa, daughters Donna Patton and Pamela Cobb-Miller, sister Patricia T. Whitelocke, brothers Harold and Howard Thompson, several grandchildren and a host of family and friends.