Skin Warm To The Touch – 1979

Leon Thomas (1937-99) is best remembered for his hit with Pharoah Sanders (“The Creator Has A Master Plan”) and for his use of yodeling in some of his more impassioned scat-singing.

Thomas was actually a well-rounded singer who had been with Count Basie (although it was barely documented) in the 1960s and worked with Santana in 1973.

On this performance from Warsaw, Poland on Oct. 27, 1979, Thomas sits in with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard’s rhythm section (pianist Billy Childs, electric bassist Larry Klein and drummer Carl Burnett) for a quietly passionate version of the Cedar Walton ballad “Skin Warm To The Touch” that includes a fine Childs solo.

-Scott Yanow