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Guitarist and composer Thom Douvan hails from Ann Arbor, where he grew up listening to the Motown sounds near its very source as the 45's from Hitsville Studios landed on the streets of West Grand Boulevard in nearby Detroit. Later, Thom had the distinct privilege of playing regularly with three of the original 'Funk Brothers,' the elite studio musicians handpicked by Berry Gordy to be in the Motown bullpen: pianist and organist John Griffith, pianist Joe Hunter, and drummer Richard 'Pistol' Allen. Between those three Funk Brothers, they played on all the major Motown hits and with all the major Motown artists from 1958 to 1971, including 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine,' 'My Girl,' 'What's Going On,' 'Dancing in the Streets,' 'Heatwave,' and so many other hits by Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, the Temptations, the Four Tops, etc. The experience of playing with and hanging out off the bandstand with these master musicians profoundly influenced Thom and deepened his appreciation of soul music and R&B. However, the Funk Brothers were also accomplished jazz musicians who played and recorded with Kenny Burrell, Coleman Hawkins, Dinah Washington, Pepper Adams, and others, and Thom learned a great deal about jazz from them as well. Thom commends to the reader the documentary film "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" for a glance at the historical importance of his dear departed friends Johnny, Pistol and Joe. Also, the book "Where Did Our Love Go?" by Nelson George, a behind-the-scenes look at what caused the demise of Motown after it abandoned its roots, left Detroit in 1972 to move to L.A., and left behind the great studio musicians like Johnny, Pistol, and Joe who chose to remain in their hometown. This was unfortunate indeed for Motown, but proved fortuitous for Thom's musical development, since he got the opportunity of a lifetime in working with these master musicians in and around Detroit.

Flashback: long before that unique Motown experience, Thom began his love affair with the guitar at age 5, while watching the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. After that defining moment in Thom's life, Thom kept up the study of the guitar, expanding from rock to jazz, r&b, funk and soul music during high school. He played in his high school and college stage bands under the direction of Louis Smith, a Blue Note and Steeplechase recording artist and trumpeter from Memphis discovered by Cannonball Adderly and who recorded with Cannonball Adderly, Kenny Burrell, Clifford Jordan, Sir Roland Hanna, and many other jazz greats.

After high school, Thom continued to study the guitar at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and at Oakland University in the Detroit area. He continued to play in big bands and small combos with many Detroit-area greats, like James Carter, Tim Ries, Marcus Belgrave, Gary Schunk, Ron English, Larry Walton, and the aforementioned Funk Brothers. Thom also played often with Will Austin, bassist for Sonny Stitt and Yusef Lateef, and with Charlie Williams, a trumpeter who recorded with Charlie "Bird" Parker. Thom also frequently accompanied the great Toledo, Ohio-based soul singer Jimmy Delphs of the Karen/Carla record labels ("Don't Sign The Papers"; "Almost [But Not Quite]).

Since relocating to California, Thom has had the fortune of playing and/or recording with many Los Angeles and Bay Area jazz greats, including Mitchel Forman, Michael Barsimanto, Jimmy Earl, Trey Henry, Sam Most, Jack LeCompte, Quentin Dennard, Michael Saucier, Diane Hubka and others in L.A., and John Wiitala, Jim Grantham, Rocky Tatarelli, Tony Malfatti, Clinton Day, Mark Little, Larry Dunlap, Dave Rokeach, John Mader, Adam Goodhue, Buca Necak and Terrence Brewer among others in the Bay Area.

In 2005, Thom played guitar and tenor banjo on the recording, 'Blue Skies' by vocalist and entertainer Shawn Ryan (www.shawn-ryan.com), which was among the final 32 recordings nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Vocalist that year. Based on the success of that recording and performances at the Plush Room in San Francisco, Thom was invited to perform with Shawn and musical director Kelly Park on the Jazz at Lincoln Center stage in New York, where Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra regularly perform. Thom says that 'playing on the Lincoln Center stage in a brand new acoustically perfect auditorium in front of thousands of people is an experience I will never forget, and for which I will be forever grateful to Shawn and Kelly.'

Thom recently released his first solo CD of all original compositions, entitled "So Shall We Learn." The CD features a core group of Michigan musicians loosely associated with Motown -- e.g., Carl Graves, touring drummer for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Larry Walton, bassist for Ray Parker Jr., and other Michigan players Thom has played with for many years -- Timm Stubbs on piano, Cary Kocher on vibes and percussion, Ralph McKee on bass, Duncan McMillan on Hammond organ. Thom then added overdubs in California using Clinton Day on bass, and as recording and mixing engineer and co-producer. Several tunes feature the great Tony Malfatti on sax. Thom describes the music as "Midwestern Americana Heartland Music" in the style of Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden and Gary Burton, but with a funky edge that takes it into the territory explored by artists like Lonnie Liston Smith, Roy Ayers, George Duke, Eric Gale and Cornell Dupree.

Not wasting any time, Thom is currently working on his second CD, "The Backstory." Like his first CD, "Backstory" will mostly feature original compositions, and in addition a solo guitar version of Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" plus a vocal rendition of Kenny Burrell's composition "Then I Met You" written for Mrs. Burrell and featuring the world-renowned vocalist Diane Hubka. Diane and Thom were thrilled to present Kenny with a pre-release CD of "Then I Met You" after which Kenny requested their autograph on the CD! The new CD will also feature world class musicians Mitchel Forman (Mahavishnu Orchestra, John Scofield, Mike Stern), Michael Barsimanto (Jean-Luc Ponty, Billy Preston, Ivan Neville), Trey Henry (Ray Charles, Gerald Wilson, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Hancock, Flora Purim, Airto), Jimmy Earl (Robben Ford, Jimmy Kimmel Show) and others. Thom's compositions continue to mine the "Midwestern Americana Heartland Music" vein first tapped on "So Shall We Learn," but with a decidedly funky, soulful bent. Basic tracks for "The Backstory" have already been recorded in Los Angeles, and overdubs and mixing will continue into early 2010, aiming for a Spring 2010 release date.

Stay tuned to this MySpace page for new Soundfiles of songs from both CD's as the mixing progresses.