What do Bruce Hornsby, Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, and Dave Matthews have in common (besides being famous musicians)?

Charlottesville’s own John D’Earth!

D’Earth has toured with, recorded with, and written for many well-known artists, including the afore mentioned. Despite these credentials, D’Earth continues to live in Charlottesville and performs on a weekly basis at Miller’s with the Thompson/D’Earth band. He is also the director of jazz performance at The University of Virginia.

The Thompson/D’Earth band is a jazz combo made up of John D’Earth on trumpet, his wife Dawn Thompson on vocals, J.C. Kuhl on Saxophone, Daniel Clarke and/or Wells Hanley on piano/keyboards, Jamal Millner and/or Sam Wilson on guitar, Pete Spaar on upright bass, and Brian Caputo on drums/percussion. Thompson has not appeared with the band in over a year as she is battling cancer, but the musicians continue to keep playing the music they all love. The Thompson/D’Earth band can be found playing every Thursday night at Miller’s on the Downtown Mall.

The band’s most recent album is called When the Serpent Flies and “demonstrates what fans experience as the explosive spontaneity of their live gigs,” according to the band’s website.

The CD is available on the band’s MusicToday merchandise shop. Prior to When the Serpent Flies, D’Earth and Thompson recorded an album together called Mercury, and the Thompson/D’Earth band did a live recording at Miller’s aptly named Live at Miller’s.

Heading out to Miller’s on a Thursday night is a C-ville must-do. The musicians who show up to play with John D’Earth vary in number and name, as do the set lists, from classic Jazz favorites, such as Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon,” and jazzed-up covers, such as The Beatles’ “Julia.” Every show is entertaining, and paired with Miller’s intimate atmosphere and good-eats menu, the night could not be better. The Thompson/D’Earth band starts playing between 10:00 and 10:30 PM and there is no cover charge.

For more information and to see where this information came from, check out the Thompson/D’Earth band website at www.thompsondearth.com and the UVA McIntire Department of Music site.