Autobuzz - 1954 : probably dedicated to trumpet player Buzz Gardner. Based on the harmonies of the standard Fine And Dandy.

Ballad For Leo - 1971 : dedicated to his pianist friend Leo Flechet, this is a modal tune, like Thomas liked to play in the seventies. The introduction is pretty strange and modern in the version recorded for Dynasty.

Ballad For My Dad - 1971 : written with Eddy Louiss, this beautiful ballad is a gift of Rene Thomas to Stan Getz for the death of Getz's father, in 1971. Rene liked to improvised on it in a unusual way, that maked it sound quite far from jazz.

Be Like Bud - 1962 : a composition for Bud Powell who associated with Thomas during his Canadian period. This is a modern tune, probably inspired by Ornette Coleman, which was played for example at Ronnie's Scotts with Bobby Jaspar, January 1962.

Florence - 1966 : dedicated to his daughter Florence, I know just one version of this title.

Guitaristic - 1954 : written with Henri Renaud. Based on chord progressions of standard There Will Never Another You, but in G Major and the 6 last bars are originals.

Indicatif - 1962 : the oldest available recording of this title is the one on Bobby Jaspar Quartet 1962 at Ronnie Scott's. Both versions on "Enfin !" are half a tone higher and are at the end of each side of the LP, which let us think that they have been rised in pitch to decrease the lenght of the LP.

I Remember Sonny - 1962 : this recollection of the sessions with Sonny Rollins is a 16-bar minor blues that Rene used for some extended chorus. The first recorded version with Bobby Jaspar and the quintet is a must, in the Coltrane's hard-bop style (cf. Mr PC).

Juliette - 1974 : a wonderful ballad, for his sister Juliette. Jacques Pelzer, who recorded it with Thomas on TPL, played it at the tribute concert for Rene Thomas' death.

L'imbecile - 1954 : based on I Never Knew.

Meeting - 1963 : a pure bebop composition, probably one of his nicest. Moreover it gives the album which contains it his title.

My Wife Mary - 1974 : a kind of modal tune, for his wife Marie. Unfortunetly, he didn't have the time to record it on a LP. However, you can listen it on the live recording Hommage a ... Rene Thomas.

Relaxin' At The Grand Balcon - 1954 : The Grand Balcon was a hotel in Paris where Rene and Bobby were living during their stay in Paris. The tune is based on standard All God's Children Got Rhythm.

Rene's Theme - 19?? : it's the tune that Larry Coryell plays on his album "Spaces". The story of this composition is quite funny : Rene Thomas had the main structure but he did not find the chords for the bridge that he wanted to add. Jo Verthe told me that this song was supposed to be a dedication to his wife and supposed to be named Theme for Lulu. One day, Rene Thomas had to be telephoned from the USA to be told to register urgently the rights of the draft agreement for his composition on which Larry Coryell and John Mac Laughlin had chosen to record together for the album "Spaces".

Song For Jo - 1962 : this composition dedicated to Jo Verthe has never been on an official recording.

Theme For Manuel - 1970 : as far as I know, this song has been played firstly in 1968, but it was not exactly the same structure as the recorded version on Eddy Louiss Trio. The solos were indeed ad lib in Em in the first version when there was a middle part in Cm/F7 in the last version. This song is dedicated to Florence's friend Manuel (say Manouel). Sometimes it is called Theme For Emmanuel but that's just a mistake.

Theme For Freddie - 1962 : this song is dedicated to Freddie Mac Hugh who often was the bass player in Thomas' band in Canada. It's a beautiful ballad, the theme is usually played by a flutist, Bobby Jaspar or Jacques Pelzer, except a fantastic version by Chet Baker and Rene Thomas at RTB (issue on Stella By Starlight CD). Moreover, it's the reference tune that the Thomas-Pelzer group played at Comblain festivals.

The Real Cat - 1956 : based on the chord progressions of standard You Stepped Out Of A Dream in a way similar to Raney's Motion composition.

Thomasia - 1954 : written with Henri Renaud. Really similar to Body And Soul (especially on the bridge played by Buzz Gardner).

TPL - 1974 : written with Michel Portal and Eddy Louiss. The introduction is quite modern and strange, but beautiful.