The co-founder of the American soul and funk band Kool & The Gang, Dennis Thomas, is dead. The musician who became known as “Dee Tee” died on Saturday at the age of seventy in New Jersey “peacefully in his sleep”, as the band announced.
"He was an alto saxophonist, flautist, percussionist and master of ceremonies at the band's shows," said a statement posted on the group's Facebook page. Loved for his hip clothes, his hats and his relaxed demeanor, he was the band's “cool cat” - which means something like “cool sock”. Thomas was a long-time resident of Montclair, New Jersey. Nothing was reported about the cause of death.
With hits like “Ladies' Night”, “Celebration” or “Get Down On It”, Kool & The Gang stormed the charts in the 1970s and made people all over the world dance with their catchy soul-disco-funk.
Her music made it to Hollywood on the soundtracks of films like "Rocky" and "Saturday Night Fever".
Director Quentin Tarantino used the party hit "Jungle Boogie" for his film "Pulp Fiction".
New album later this month
The band released more than twenty studio albums.
According to their record company V2 / Omnivore, Kool & The Gang have won two Grammys, seven American Music Awards, 25 top ten hits in the R&B sector and 31 gold and platinum albums in their fifty-year career.
Almost a year ago - in September 2020 - band co-founder Ronald Bell died at the age of 68.
In Jersey City, he and his brother Robert "Kool" Bell had already gathered their friends from the neighborhood around them in the 1960s and started to play a danceable mixture of jazz, soul and funk.
After several name changes, they finally called themselves Kool & The Gang from 1969 and celebrated their breakthrough soon afterwards.
On August 20th, after a ten-year break, the new Kool & the Gang album “Perfect Union” will be released.
On it saxophonist Thomas can be heard alongside Ronald Bell, George Brown and Robert "Kool" Bell.
The comeback record contains ten tracks, including the singles "Pursuit Of Happiness" and "Sexy (Where'd You Get Yours)".