9.26.2025

Moondo Music Welcomes Grammy-Nominated Jazz Artist, Vance Thompson!

Vance Thompson debuts 

with a new single from the forthcoming album, Lost and Found ! 

 Showcasing a vibraphone-led jazz quintet, featuring a stellar supporting cast of noted musicians including  pianist Taber Gable (Marcus & E J Strickland, Braxton Cook), guitarist Steve Kovalcheck (Jeff Hamilton, Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra), bassist Tommy Sauter (Jason Marsalis, Cyrus Chestnut) and drummer Marcus Finnie (Kirk Whalum, Kurt Elling). 

 

Lost and Found covers a range of styles and emotions, and the album’s first single (of three), Tell It Like It Is, is one of six originals in the set by the leader. The tune takes inspiration from the Hard Bop era, with echoes of giants such as Horace Silver, Bobby Timmons and Benny Golson. The form of the song hints at the blues without ever truly going there, and the band’s performance swings with abandon behind 

spirited solos by vibes, piano and guitar.

 

Vance Thompson is the founder/music director/arranger of the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, a professional big band, nonprofit organization based in Tennessee that produces dozens of concerts annually, has performed internationally, released acclaimed recordings, and collaborated with guests such as Monty Alexander, Hank Jones, Eric Reed, Michael Dease, Donald Brown, Carmen Bradford, Gregory Tardy, John Clayton, Stefon Harris and many others. Recent milestones include Thompson’s Grammy-nominated 

performance on trumpet (What If, Jerry Douglas Band), arranging for the 2023 Grammy-winning (Best Large Ensemble) Count Basie Orchestra album, 

Basie Swings the Blues and celebrating 25 years as a professor of Jazz Trumpet 

at the University of Tennessee’s College of Music.