Safe Travels Edward 'Tan Tan' Thornton
- George
- 13 hours ago
- 2 min read
Trumpet player Edward Thornton (19 Oct 1931-10 Dec 2025) has passed away at the age of 94. His legacy is both musical and personal for generations of musicians and fans.
Edward Thornton was born in St Catherine and sent to Alpha Boys School after his father passed away. It was at Alpha he got the nickname Tan Tan--a variation on the Jamaican pronunciation. Upon leaving Alpha he joined the popular Kingston big band led by Eric Deans before emigrating to the UK where he settled into life as a go to musician on London's flourishing music scene in the 60s. See below for his contributions to Aswad, Georgia Fame, Kitty Daisy and Lewis, Beatles, Tom Jones and more.
Tan Tan is of the generation when musicians were front and centre. While musicianship has since begun to fade from public view, Tan Tan has always been someone people remember. While greatly respected for his musical contributions, in life and death Tan Tan is loved for his personal connections to the people he encountered along the way, particularly musicians he worked with. These are just a few of the dozens of comments left on the Alpha radio FB page (here) in 2013 recognizing Tan Tan on his birthday at the time...
"One of the best and also a gentleman. He played on.my first ever production."
"Eddie and I played together. A great character and a nice guy.
He wouldn't take any #%$&!, which was a good way to be if you are in the music business."
"My adventure with Tan Tan was memorable. He wanted me to take him to Tom Jones' house (who he played with) and could not comprehend how I could live my entire life in LA and not know where Tom lived. It was hysterical."
Listen to the BBC podcast featuring Tan Tan.
