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BIOGRAPHY

Marc Anthony Thompson is an eclectic singer/songwriter who released a pair of solo albums with Warner Bros. before the birth of his current project – Chocolate Genius Inc.

Thompson was born in Panama, raised in California, and later moved to New York where he became involved in the downtown avant-garde scene. Thompson originally conceived Chocolate Genius as an alter ego, but the conceit soon turned into a full-fledged recording project. The Chocolate Genius supporting band was a loose, free-floating collective of Thompson's downtown cronies, including Marc Ribot, cellist Jane Scarpantoni, Oren Bloedow, Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), keyboardist John Medeski and bassist Chris Wood (of Medeski, Martin & Wood), visionary guitarist Chris Whitley and Meshell Ndgeocello - amongst others.

Thompson's debut as Chocolate Genius was Black Music (produced with Craig Street and Abe Laboriel Jr.), released in 1998. Its eclectic fusion of genre-bending R&B, sonic experimentation, and a fearlessly unique slant on love and other four letter words drew many favorable reviews and earned the auteur behind Chocolate Genius a spot in the emerging neo-soul movement.

In 2001, he returned with a second Chocolate Genius album, the acclaimed Godmusic. The same year his version of The Beatles' "Julia" was included on the soundtrack to the film “I Am Sam” - earning Thompson his first gold record. His next album, Black Yankee Rock, followed four years later.

Marc Anthony Thompson has also worked extensively in scoring film and theatre productions. He won an Obie award in sound design for “A Huey P. Newton Story” in 1997 and has written music for “My Bloody Valentine” (2009), “Rikers High” (2005), “Brother to Brother” (2004), “Everyday People” (2004), “Colorvision” (2004) (which he hosted in the same year), “American Splendor” (2003), “Urbania” (2000), “Jackpot” (2000), “Twin Falls Idaho” (1999), and “Spark” (1998).

In 2006, Marc Anthony Thompson was enrolled in the line-up for the Bruce Springsteen’s Seeger Sessions Tour playing acoustic guitar, backing vocals and sharing the lead vocals with Mr. Springsteen on several songs - including "Eyes on the Prize" and "When The Saints Go Marching In". His contribution is captured for posterity on the Columbia released DVD – “Live In Dublin”.

His new album, Swansongs, the third in an extended trilogy of Chocolate Genius Inc. offerings, will be released on One Little Indian Records in February of 2010.