On July 6, 1917, Thomas Spalding Givens (later known as Nadi Qamar)was born into segregation in Madisonville, OH. Despite diphtheria, epilepsy, and TB, his musical life began in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which grew into the jazz piano and blossomed in California. During his 25 years in NYC, he performed and recorded with a Who's Who of African American musicians, while creating a tuning system for the likembi(thumb piano). He toured across the USA, Japan and Australia, and FESTAC in Lagos, Nigeria. After seven years of teaching at Bennington College(VT),he and Rose moved to Kewaunee, WI(her hometown). They were blessed with two children while he performed in many area schools and venues. He spent long days building instruments and invented the Mama Likembi. He became Catholic in 2003. On Wed. Oct 21st, 2020 at about 1:40PM CST, Nadi Qamar (aka Spaulding Givens), died after grappling with Covid and other underlying infections. He was 103 years and 3 months old. He has lived a long, rich and incredible life and his legacy lives on in his musical recordings, works, instruments and teachings. He was a second generation slavery survivor, survivor of colonial genocide(Seminole) , survivor of racism, world traveler, afromusicologist, composer, artist, poet, builder, jazz pianist , professor, husband, father, grandfather, uncle and cousin. He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Alberta Givens and his half-sister, Lovey Toatley. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Rose Dolski (Kewaunee); children, Fabian Qamar(Sheboygan), Alberta Qamar(Portland, OR), and grandchildren: Elijah, River, and Kinta; many in-laws and cousins nieces and nephews. We know he is at peace walking with his ancestors -grateful to see his parents and friends again and no longer carrying the burdens of this world.

His music can be found on Spotify and Apple Music as well as in the smithsonian. Some of his instruments are on display at Nicolai bank and the Green Bay Museum.

The wake is Set for Thursday 10/29/2020 at 6pm CST at Buchanan funeral home in Kewaunee and the Funeral to follow on Friday 10/30/2020 11am CST at Church in Green Bay. A live stream will be available at both.