Malachi Richard Thompson (August 21, 1949, in Princeton, Kentucky — July 16, 2006), was an American avant-garde jazz trumpet player. In addition to his own work as a bandleader, Thompson was known for his work in the brass ensemble led by fellow trumpeter Lester Bowie.
He worked with saxophonists Joe Henderson, Jackie McLean, Frank Foster, and Archie Shepp, among other musicians, while living in New York City. Thompson formed his "Freebop" band in 1978, and eventually relocated to Washington, D.C. He also worked with Lester Bowie's Hot Trumpets Repertory Company and formed Africa Brass, a group inspired by traditional New Orleans brass bands.[2]
With a goal of preserving the Sutherland Theater on Chicago's South Side, he founded the Sutherland Community Arts Initiative, a non-profit corporation, in 1991. He also wrote incidental music for a play about the theater.[2]
Informed in 1989 that he suffered from T-cell lymphoma and had one year to live, Thompson claimed he was healed by radiation and reading about jazz. He died in Chicago, Illinois, from a relapse of his cancer in 2006.[3]
