BERMUDA-born musician Gordon Thomas is to visit the island for the first time since he emigrated to the US with his parents 85 years ago.

He will be here to attend the premiere of , a documentary of his life by Canadian film-makers Malcolm Fraser and Stacey DeWolfe, screening at the Bermuda International Film Festival (BIFF).

"I did wonder about Bermuda," Mr. Thomas said, "but there were a lot of reasons that kept me from visiting. All of my relatives are now deceased; there was the cost too. There was nothing to pull me back. You don't just go back. You've got to have a reason. Now I have a reason."

Mr. Thomas had been independently recording and releasing music for 40 years without commercial success but when friends played a well-worn cassette for Mr. Fraser and Ms DeWolfe in 2001, they were intrigued. And so began a year-long search for the artist.

"At that time nothing was really known about Gordon," explained Mr. Fraser. "Friends had a tape that had been copied from a copy of a copy that had been passed along through people and had originated with someone who lived in an apartment building in New York. There was this sort of aura of mystery around it. It made us wonder, 'Who is this guy'?"

Later discovery revealed the tape could have originated from several sources. While working in the building, Mr. Thomas frequently gave his albums to tenants as Christmas gifts and house-warming presents. A copy of any one of those originals made its way to Montreal, where it was heard by Mr. Fraser and Ms DeWolfe.

"After all this time talking about the film, working on the film and hearing his music again and again, it's still very hard for me to put into words what it is I liked about it," laughed Mr. Fraser. "What comes from him, as a person and through his music, is a really warm glow. But, his music's very catchy. Even people who say they don't like it walk away humming the tunes.

"The songs tend to be really simple ? there's sometimes only two or three lines repeated in the song ? and the lyrics are really positive; people joke a lot about the fact that he uses the word 'good', very, very often.

"One thing I found interesting, particularly with his earlier stuff, is that although his voice sounds sort of rough or untrained, the arrangements are always really, really slick."

The pair determined to investigate as much they could about Mr. Thomas' life and document the search on film.

"And then, we ended up finding him, almost by accident," Mr. Fraser said. "Somebody gave us a cassette that Gordon had made and it was pretty recent. That's when we realised he was still alive. I don't want to give away too much of the film, but the cassette had the phone number of a studio.

"We'd just got back from shooting and, on a lark, I decided to phone the studio and see if they knew anything. Gordon was actually there. It's to my eternal regret I didn't have the cameras rolling when I called, but at that point we'd come up with so many leads that had gone cold that I really wasn't expecting I would find him just like that. Keep in mind we'd been searching for a year at that point; it seemed pretty hopeless."

With the search over, the film-makers decided to make Mr. Thomas' life the documentary's focus.

Born in 1917 to Bermudian George Thomas and Beatrice Matthews Thomas, a native of St. Kitts, Mr. Thomas left the island at the age of three, when the family moved to New York. is a portrait of his musical experiences. As described by a BIFF spokesperson: "(The) 88-year-old . . . has been recording and independently releasing albums for the past 40 years and is still hoping for his big break.

"A natural story-teller with a lifetime of reminiscences and philosophical musings, (Mr. Thomas) grew up amidst the rise, fall and rebirth of Harlem. He was a trombonist in several big bands, culminating in a stint with Dizzy Gillespie in 1946. is the story of one man's journey through six decades of music, guided by faith, charm, and quixotic optimism ? the tale of a creative spirit persisting against all the odds."

Mr. Thomas has written 200 songs, 100 of which have been recorded. Last in the studio two years ago, he intends to return next month to make another album. Though success eluded him in the past, the musician said he persevered, convinced that his music would receive recognition in some way, shape or form. Its appeal, he said, lies in the fact that the lyrics may successfully be laid to multiple genres of music.

"My music is very flexible. You can put it into funk. You can put it into ballads. You can put it into anything you want. It's not for any particular one group. I always knew where it was going. I just had that inclination. You have to have some kind of imagination for the future. I knew a lot of people were interested, it was just a matter of who would follow up."

Graduates of Toronto's Ryerson University, is the first feature-length documentary by Mr. Fraser and Ms DeWolfe.

"There's always shoulda, coulda, wouldas when you make a film, especially when it's low-budget," Mr. Fraser said. "But I'm happy. I think that we succeeded in doing what we were trying to do but at this point, it's not for me to say. Sometimes you get to the point where you can't see the forest for the trees; you're so deep into doing the film. But I'm pretty happy with it. I think it's going to be good."

Part of the film's appeal is that the search led them to such an affable subject, he added.

"He was great. When we went (to New York) for the first interview, we didn't know what was going to happen. But when I turned on the camera and asked the first question, he just started talking. He's a great storyteller. He loves to talk and spin a yarn."

As far as future films go, Mr. Fraser said anything is possible.

"I think we need to take a big, deep breath and relax for a little while," he said. "Making films is hard. There's always something going wrong, an extra cost that no one told you about, another challenge. It has been an amazing experience, but also a tough one as far as the effect it has had on our personal lives.

"Although I always feel compelled to make films, I sometimes joked ? and sometimes I wasn't joking ? that this would be my last film. The short answer is, we really don't have anything lined up right now. We're going to take a breather and see what happens with this one. We have so much invested in it. Once the film has had its life, then we'll see about other projects."

For more information on , or to hear some of Mr. Thomas' music, visit