Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Lucky Thompson
open-in-new
<p>Eli "Lucky" Thompson (June 16, 1924 – July 30, 2005) was an American <a href="/facts/Jazz/lmUzXGq8">jazz</a> tenor and soprano saxophonist whose playing combined elements of <a href="/facts/Swing_music/80SJ1h4F">swing</a> and <a href="/facts/Bebop/Q6suehVl">bebop</a>. Although <a href="/facts/John_Coltrane/IhSaHEEQ">John Coltrane</a> usually receives the most credit for bringing the soprano saxophone out of obsolescence in the early 1960s, Thompson (along with <a href="/facts/Steve_Lacy_(saxophonist)/puXTBrRG">Steve Lacy</a>) embraced the instrument earlier than Coltrane. </p>