Larry Reni Thomas (Aka Doctor Jazz)

Larry Reni Thomas is a veteran jazz writer/ radio announcer whose busy, colorful career has spanned close to three decades, and has included stints at seven, mostly non-commercial public radio stations, including WHQR-FM, Wilmington, N.C., WNCU-FM, Durham, N.C., and WCOM-FM, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, N.C.( www.communityradio.coop), where he is presently the host of Sunday Night Jazz. His work has appeared in such publications such as downbeat, The Urban Journal, The Spectator Magazine, and All About Jazz. com. He has interviewed and written about such stars Dexter Gordon, Woody Shaw, Betty Carter, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Carmen McRae, Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Albert Murray, Wynton Marsalis, Percy Heath, Jimmy Heath, Jackie McLean, Sam Rivers, Roy Hargrove and Nnenna Freelon, who is featured in a seven-part taped profile series produced in 2000 at WNCU-FM in Durham, North Carolina, and partially funded by the North Carolina Arts Council, called THE CAROLINA CONNECTION, which showcased the significant contributions made to jazz by personalities who have a connection to the Carolinas (North Carolina and South Carolina).
Thomas is a member of the IAJE (The International Association for Jazz Education), served on the board of directors of The North Carolina Jazz Network, Inc., and The Triangle Jazz Society, Inc. Since 1984, his non-profit, cultural organization, Larry Thomas & Associates, Inc., has promoted and presented jazz concerts, which included such artists as Jimmy Heath, Eve Cornelious, Yusuf Salim, Bus Brown and Gary Bartz; and, has hosted, such extremely popular events as Jazz at The Know in Durham, N.C. Called "Doctor Jazz," by master musician/composer/pianist Brother Yusuf Salim, Thomas is a self-described "dedicated servant of the people." He considers himself foremost "a gentleman and a scholar" whose ultimate aim is to uplift the cultural awareness of the masses of the people. His blogspot is carolinajazzconnectionwithlarryrenithomas.blogspot.com.