Donald Winston Thompson, OC (born 18 January 1940) is a Canadian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

icon who plays double bass, piano, and vibes. Thompson's career as a performer, recording artist, producer, session musician, and music educator has lasted for more than 50 years. One of Thompson's best-known musical associations was his membership in Paul Desmond's "Toronto Quartet" from 1974 to 1976, along with

Ed Bickert Edward Isaac Bickert, (November 29, 1932 – February 28, 2019) was a Canadian guitarist who played mainstream jazz and swing music. Bickert worked professionally from the mid-1950s to 2000, mainly in the Toronto area. His international reputat ...

and Jerry Fuller. Thompson also worked for several years in the 1970s and 1980s with guitarist Jim Hall. Thompson was also a member of Rob McConnell's

Boss Brass Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

for more than two decades starting in the late 1960s. From 2005 to the present, Thompson arranged and performed on all of singer Diana Panton's albums. Thompson first met Panton in the 1990s when he heard her sing as a high-school student, and he encouraged Panton to study at the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

, where he was one of her faculty instructors. Thompson has been a fixture on the Toronto jazz scene since the late 1960s when he moved there from British Columbia. As a backing musician in studio and live performance, Thompson has appeared on more than 200 records, including releases by

George Shearing Sir George Albert Shearing, (13 August 1919 14 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 t ...

Buddy Tate George Holmes "Buddy" Tate (February 22, 1913 – February 10, 2001) was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. Biography Tate was born in Sherman, Texas, United States, and first played the alto saxophone. According to the website All Ab ...

Jay McShann James Columbus "Jay" McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader. He led bands in Kansas City, Missouri, that included Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson (trumpeter), Bernard A ...

Junior Mance Julian Clifford Mance, Jr. (October 10, 1928 – January 17, 2021), known as Junior Mance, was an American jazz pianist and composer. Biography Early life (1928–1947) Mance was born in Evanston, Illinois. When he was five years old, Mance st ...

John Handy John Richard Handy III (born February 3, 1933) is an American jazz musician most commonly associated with the alto saxophone. He also sings and plays the tenor and baritone saxophone, saxello, clarinet, and oboe. Biography Handy was born in ...

, John Abercrombie,

Moe Koffman Morris "Moe" Koffman, Order of Canada, OC (28 December 1928 – 28 March 2001) was a Canadians, Canadian jazz saxophonist and flautist, as well as composer and arranger. During a career spanning from the 1950s to the 2000s, Koffman was one of Cana ...

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Op ...

Ruby Braff Reuben "Ruby" Braff (March 16, 1927 – February 9, 2003) was an American jazz trumpeter and cornetist. Jack Teagarden was once asked about him on the Garry Moore television show and described Ruby as "the Ivy League Louis Armstrong". Braff ...

Lenny Breau Leonard Harold Breau (August 5, 1941 – August 12, 1984) was an American-Canadian guitarist. He blended many styles of music, including jazz, country, classical, and flamenco. Inspired by country guitarists like Chet Atkins, Breau used fingers ...

, and others.

Biography

Thompson was born 18 January 1940 Powell River, British Columbia, Canada. He lived in Vancouver from 1960 to 1965, working as a freelance musician primarily on bass. He has appeared with jazz troupes led by Vancouver musicians such as Dave Robbins, Chris Gage and

Fraser MacPherson John Fraser MacPherson CM (10 April 1928 – 27 September 1993) was a Canadian jazz musician from Saint Boniface, Manitoba. MacPherson moved to Victoria, British Columbia, as a child. He learned piano, clarinet, and alto and tenor saxophones ...

, as well as leading his own musical groups. In addition to appearing regularly on CBC radio, he was also on television as a featured artist. From 1965 to 1966, Thompson worked with saxophonist

, who was based in San Francisco, and he appeared with Handy at the 1965

Monterey Jazz Festival The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jaz ...

, a performance which was recorded and released on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. He returned to Canada in 1967 and has been a resident of Toronto since 1969. In that year he joined

Rob McConnell Robert Murray Gordon "Rob" McConnell, (14 February 1935 – 1 May 2010) was a Canadian jazz trombonist, composer, and arranger.Jeff Sultanof. Experiencing Big Band Jazz: A Listener's Companion'. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; 8 November 20 ...

's Boss Brass as a percussionist, switching to bass in 1971 and later to piano (1987–1993). He was also a member of Moe Koffman's group from 1970 to 1979 as pianist or bassist, contributing arrangements and compositions and working as co-producer with Koffman on two albums, ''Museum Pieces'' and ''Looking Up''. He also worked extensively with guitarists

and

Sonny Greenwich Sonny Greenwich, (born January 1, 1936) is a Canadian guitarist. He has played in major Canadian and American cities including a concert at Carnegie Hall. He has performed with musicians such as Charles Lloyd, Wayne Shorter, Pharoah Sanders, Mc ...

(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

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 Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld; November 25, 1924 – May 30, 1977) was an American jazz alto saxophone, alto saxophonist and composer, best known for his work with the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for composing that group's biggest hit, " ...

, Jim Hall,

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solo ...

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, double ...

, James Moody,

Zoot Sims John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...

Harry Edison Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. His most important contribution was as a Hollywood studio musician, whose muted trumpet can be heard back ...

Frank Rosolino Frank Rosolino (August 20, 1926 – November 26, 1978) was an American jazz trombonist. Biography Rosolino was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States, He performed with the big bands of Bob Chester, Glen Gray, Tony Pastor, Herbie Fields, Gen ...

Slide Hampton Locksley Wellington Hampton (April 21, 1932 – November 18, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. As his nickname implies, Hampton's main instrument was slide trombone, but he also occasionally played tuba and flugelho ...

Lee Konitz Leon Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American composer and alto saxophonist. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool jazz ...

and

Abbey Lincoln Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of deli ...

. Thompson appeared at other venues with

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "Jazz royalty, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine ...

, Red Rodney, Joe Henderson, Dewey Redman, Red Mitchell, Sheila Jordan and Kenny Wheeler. Thompson also served as a recording engineer for several of the Bourbon Street performances, including the 1975 Paul Desmond performances that resulted in the albums Live (Paul Desmond album), Live and Paul Desmond (album), Paul Desmond, plus a box set released in 2020. Thompson's 1975 recordings of Jim Hall's trio (featuring himself and Terry Clarke) at Bourbon Street resulted in the album Jim Hall Live! and a later box set of the same performances. 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. Thompson became a member of guitarist Jim Hall's trio in 1974, and performed and recorded with Hall in Europe, Japan, the United States and Canada until the early 1980s. In 1982 he joined pianist

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. In 1996 he was artist in residence at the Royal Academy of Music, London, England, and performed in a concert of all-Canadian music with fellow Canadians Kenny Wheeler and Hugh Fraser (musician), Hugh Fraser. He taught regularly at the Banff, Alberta, Banff Centre for the Performing Arts along with other major international musicians.

Awards

* Juno Award, Best Jazz Recording, ''Sackville 4005'', 1980 * Juno Award, Best Jazz Album, ''A Beautiful Friendship (album), A Beautiful Friendship'', 1985 * Vibraphonist of the Year, ''Jazz Report'', 1993–1997 * Composer of the Year, ''Jazz Report'', 1994 * Original Jazz Composition, Socan, 1994 * Juno Award, Best Traditional Jazz Album, ''Ask Me Later'', 2006 * Order of Canada, Order of Canada#Officer, Officer, 2009

Discography

As leader/co-leader

* ''Country Place'' (PM Records, PM, 1976) * * ''Beautiful Friendship'' (Concord Records, Concord, 1984) * ''Music from the Movies'' (1989) * ''Witchcraft'' with John Abercrombie (Justin Time Records, Justin Time, 1991) * ''Winter Mist'' (Jazz Alliance, 1991) * ''Opus D'Amour'' with Don Friedman (Sackville Records, Sackville, 1992) * ''Celebration'' (Jazz Focus, 1998) * * ''At the Garden Party'' with

(Sackville, 2004) * ''Ask Me Later'' (CBC Records, CBC, 2007) * ''Forgotten Memories'' (Roadhouse, 2007) * ''One Take'' with Reg Schwager (Alma, 2007) * ''For Kenny Wheeler'' (Sackville, 2008) * ''Trio'' (2009) * ''George Shearing at Home'' with George Shearing (2013) * ''Look for the Silver Lining'' with Phil Dwyer (musician), Phil Dwyer (2013) * ''Some Other Spring'' (2014)

As sideman

With

* ''Like Someone in Love (Paul Desmond album), Like Someone in Love'' (Telarc, 1975 [1992]) * ''Live (Paul Desmond album), Live'' (A&M/Horizon, 1976) * ''Paul Desmond (album), Paul Desmond'' (Artists House, 1978) With

* ''The Old Man and the Child'' (Sackville) * ''Sun Song'' (CBC Records, CBC) * ''Evol-lution Love's Reverse'' (PM Records, PM) With Jim Hall * ''Jim Hall Live!'' (A&M/Horizon, 1975) *''Commitment (Jim Hall album), Commitment'' (A&M/Horizon, 1976) * ''Jazz Impressions of Japan'' (A&M) * ''Live in Tokyo'' (Paddlewheel) * ''Circles'' (Concord) * ''Live at Town Hall'' (Musicmasters) With

* ''Recorded Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival'' (Columbia, 1966) * ''The Second Album'' (Columbia) * ''Live at Yoshi's Nightspot'' (Boulevard) With Bill King * ''The Jazz Report All Stars'' (Radioland) With

* ''Solar Explorations'' (GRT) * ''Museum Pieces'' (GRT) * ''Master Sessions'' (GRT) * ''Live at George's'' (GRT) With Pat LaBarbera * ''Pass it On'' (PM) * ''Necessary Evil'' (CBC) With Dave Liebman * ''Sweet Fury'' (BeBop to Now) With

* ''Big Band Jazz'' (Umbrella) * ''Again'' (Umbrella) * ''Present Perfect'' (MPD) * ''Tribute'' (Pausa Records, Pausa) * ''Live in Digital'' (SeaBreeze) * ''The Brass is Back'' (Concord) * ''Brassy and Sassy'' (Concord) * ''Our 25th Year'' (Concord) * ''Three for the Road'' (Concord) With

* ''Man from Muskogee'' (Sackville) * ''Tuxedo Junction'' (Sackville) * ''Just a Lucky So and So'' (Sackville) * ''Swingmatism'' (Sackville) With Diana Panton * ''...Yesterday Perhaps'' (2005) * ''If The Moon Turns Green'' (2007) * ''Pink'' (2009) * ''To Brazil With Love'' (2011) * ''Christmas Kiss'' (2012) * ''Red'' (2013) * ''I Believe in Little Things'' (2015) * ''Solstice / Equinox'' (2017) * ''Cheerful Little Earful'' (2019) With Emily Remler * ''Take Two'' (Concord) With

* ''Thinking of You'' (Sackville, 2014) With

* ''Live at the Café Carlyle (George Shearing album), Live at the Café Carlyle'' (Concord, 1984) * ''George Shearing & Barry Tuckwell Play the Music of Cole Porter'' (Concord, 1986) With George Shearing and

* ''Top Drawer'' (Concord, 1983) * ''An Evening at Charlie's'' (Concord, 1983) With

* ''The Ballad Artistry'' (Sackville) * ''Saturday Night Function'' (Sackville) With

* ''At the Garden Party'' (Sackville, 1979) With His West Coast Friends * ''Days Gone By'' (Atlas,1982)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Don 1940 births Canadian jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists Canadian jazz pianists Juno Award for Best Jazz Album winners Living people Musicians from Toronto Officers of the Order of Canada People from Powell River, British Columbia Canadian jazz vibraphonists 20th-century Canadian double-bassists 21st-century Canadian double-bassists 20th-century Canadian pianists 21st-century Canadian pianists Juno Award for Traditional Jazz Album of the Year winners 20th-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian male musicians Canadian male jazz musicians Justin Time Records artists