Millard G. Thomas was an African-American band leader who found his way to Canada via Chicago sometime around 1918. He was employed as the pit band director for the vaudeville shows at the Princess Theater in Montreal. In 1919, he is known to have led his Famous Chicago Jazz Band at Montreal's Palais de Danse. From 1920 to 1922, they were the pit band at the Starland Theater in Montreal and are also known to have played in Quebec and in New Hampshire. The orchestra went on to play at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal and to be broadcast on radio station CKAC. Thomas continued to lead bands in Canada until 1926 when he moved to New York.