Arthur Thompson- a Tulsa native who now resides in Nashville, Tennessee- is a drummer, percussionist, singer, songwriter, producer, author, designer, entrepreneur, and teacher. He was the drummer for the late Wayman Tisdale. Singer/songwriter Toby Keith recorded the song “Crying for Me” in honor of Wayman. Arthur recorded and performed this song with Toby Keith, along with Dave Koz and Marcus Miller. It was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2011. Arthur currently performs all over the world with Mindi Abair and many other artists, including Dave Koz on the yearly Dave Koz & Friends at Sea Cruise.
Deeply moved by the realities faced by at-risk children, as well as the drastic reduction of music and arts education in schools today, Arthur created Math & Music©, a curriculum that relates basic mathematical concepts with musical notes and scales incorporating repetitive auditory memorization skills. This rhythmic approach to learning uses engaging characters created by Arthur. Math & Music© helps make learning addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division fun for all children. This curriculum has been taught in Oklahoma, Texas, and California. Arthur also takes his life-changing curriculum to the children of Uganda, Africa and Nicaragua. As part of a yearly Medical Global Outreach “Power of a Nickel”, Arthur has donated his time and his resources to these children by teaching them his curriculum and training and equipping their teachers.
For over 10 years, he was a co-founder and a director of the Promises for Families© Foundation, which provided summer camps and school programs for children and youth with an incarcerated parent. Arthur has a passion for working with at-risk youth. He has created a way to mix music and education by energizing, engaging, and inspiring children. He uses his gift of music, movement, and storytelling to touch the lives of hundreds of children each and every day. Arthur uses his drums as an instrument for positive change. He has an immense passion for both his music and the children that he works with on a daily basis.
Arthur was honored to be named Smooth Jazz Network's "Breakout Artist of the Year" for 2023.
Lead Vocal - Arthur Thompson Sr.
Background Vocals - Melody Dunlap
Bass - Cortez Johnson
Guitars - David John
Keyboards - Jon Gilutin
Drums - Arthur Thompson Sr.
Horn section - The Monkey Fist Horns
Percussion - Arthur Thompson Sr.