Born William Thomas in 1937 in Houston, Texas, the jazz drummer, and bandleader was better known by his stage name Bubbha Thomas. Growing up in a music-filled household, he was more interested in basketball but after studying with Texas jazz legend Conrad ‘Prof’ Johnson, Bubbha Thomas eventually fell under the spell of jazz. During the Korean War, he was drafted into the service, but returned to Houston after he was discharged and became a session man, recording with the Mighty Clouds of Joy, O.V. Wright, and other artists on the Duke and Peacock labels. Bubbha Thomas began working on his own material while also playing drums for artists such as Lightnin’ Hopkins and Chuck Jackson. While he was adept at playing many styles, jazz was his forte and by the late 1960s, he was moved by the spiritual jazz sound of Sun Ra, John Coltrane, and others. He formed the Lightmen – also referred to as Bubbha Thomas and the Lightmen – and released the album Free as You Wanna Be in 1970. The group’s next three albums were credited to the group name the Lightmen Plus One: Fancy Pants (1972), Energy Control Center (1973), and Country Fried Chicken (1975). While each album received critical acclaim – particularly Energy Control Center and Country Fried Chicken – the group’s groundbreaking music was reappraised many years later and Bubbha Thomas and the Lightmen Plus One’s albums are now considered classics of the spiritual jazz genre. Bubbha Thomas continued his work as a session drummer and released two solo albums – Life & Times (1985) and Love Ain’t Enough (2004) – and established the Summer Jazz Workshop, which is what he is best remembered for. In 2019, all four Lightmen albums were released in a boxset entitled Creative Music: the Complete Works, which also included a plethora of bonus material. Bubbha Thomas died on March 28, 2020.