He also worked extensively with guitarists Ed Bickert, Lenny Breau and Sonny Greenwich (whom he'd played with in the John Handy Quintet in the mid-60's) while keeping busy with his own various projects.

Thompson was, along with Ed Bickert and drummers Terry Clarke and Jerry Fuller, a member of the "house rhythm section" at Toronto's Bourbon Street Jazz Club.

There he worked with Paul Desmond, Jim Hall, Milt Jackson, Art Farmer, James Moody, Zoot Sims, Clark Terry, Harry Edison, Frank Rosolino, Slide Hampton, Lee Konitz and Abbey Lincoln.

Likewise, Rosolino's "Thinking About You" album was also taken from performances Thompson recorded live at Bourbon Street, where he, Bickert and drummer Terry Clarke were backing the trombonist.

Recordings Thompson made of the Thompson/Bickert/Clarke rhythm section at George's Spaghetti House, another Toronto club, resulted in Ed Bickert, the guitarist's 1976 debut album.

In 1982 he joined pianist George Shearing and stayed for a five-year period during which he appeared at many major jazz clubs and festivals in the United States, Great Britain, and Brazil.