Ross Tompkins (May 13, 1938 – June 30, 2006) was an American

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 m ...

pianist who was a member of ''The Tonight Show'' Band.

Biography

Tompkins attended the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...

, then moved to New York City, where he worked with Kai Winding (1960–67), Eric Dolphy (1964),

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a dist ...

(1966),

Bob Brookmeyer Robert Edward "Bob" Brookmeyer (December 19, 1929 – December 15, 2011) was an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of G ...

/ Clark Terry (1966), Benny Goodman (1968),

Bobby Hackett Robert Leo Hackett (January 31, 1915 – June 7, 1976) was an American jazz musician who played trumpet, cornet, and guitar with the bands of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Hackett was a featured soloist o ...

(1965–70), and

Al Cohn Al Cohn (November 24, 1925 – February 15, 1988) was an American jazz saxophonist, arranger and composer. He came to prominence in the band of clarinetist Woody Herman and was known for his longtime musical partnership with fellow saxophonist ...

and

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 ...

(1968–72). He moved to Los Angeles in 1971, playing with Louie Bellson, Joe Venuti, and

Red Norvo Red Norvo (born Kenneth Norville; March 31, 1908 – April 6, 1999) was an American musician, one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone as jazz instruments. His reco ...

in the 1970s and

Jack Sheldon Beryl Cyril Sheldon Jr. (November 30, 1931 – December 27, 2019), known professionally as Jack Sheldon, was an American singer, musician, and actor. He performed on '' The Merv Griffin Show'' and participated in episodes of the educational musi ...

in the 1980s. He was best known for his longtime association with

The Tonight Show Band The Tonight Show Band is the house band that plays on the American television variety show '' The Tonight Show''. From 1962 until 1992, when the show was known as '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', the band was a 17-piece big band, and ...

, led by Doc Severinsen, on the television program ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

''. He was a member of the band from 1971 until Carson's retirement in 1992. He recorded for

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the j ...

as a leader in the second half of the 1970s. Tompkins died of lung cancer at the age of 68.

Discography

As leader

* ''A Pair to Draw To'' (

, 1975) * ''Scrimshaw'' (Concord, 1976) * ''Live at Concord 1977'' (Concord, 1977) * ''Lost in the Stars'' (Concord, 1977) * ''Ross Tompkins and Good Friends'' (Concord, 1978) * ''Festival Time'' (Concord, 1979) * ''Street of Dreams'' (Famous Door, 1982) * ''Solo Piano'' ( Progressive, 1994) * ''Celebrates the Music of Jule Styne'' (Progressive, 1996) * ''Heart to Heart'' (HD, 1998) with Cathy Segal-Garcia * ''Ross Tompkins Celebrates the Music of Harold Arlen'' (Progressive, 1999) * ''Younger than Springtime'' ( Arbors, 2001)

As sideman

With Kai Winding * ''The Great Kai & J. J.'' (1960) * ''

The Incredible Kai Winding Trombones ''The Incredible Kai Winding Trombones'' is an album by American jazz trombonist Kai Winding featuring performances recorded in 1960 for the Impulse! Records, Impulse! label.

'' (Impulse!, 1960) * ''

Kai Olé ''Kai Olé'' is an album by jazz trombonist and arranger Kai Winding recorded in 1961 for the Verve label.Payne, DKai Winding on Verve (1961-1967) accessed June 23, 2016 Reception The Allmusic review by Tony Wilds observed "Before Herb Alpert p ...

'' (Verve, 1961) * ''

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

'' (Verve, 1963) * ''

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

'' (A&M/CTI, 1968) with J. J. Johnson * '' Stonebone'' (A&M/CTI (Japan), 1969) with J. J. Johnson With Doc Severinsen * 1970 ''Doc Severinsen's Closet'' * 1986 ''The Tonight Show Band Vol. 1'' * 1988 ''The Tonight Show Band Vol. 2'' * 1991 ''Merry Christmas from Doc Severinsen'' * 1991 ''Once More...With Feeling!'' * 1992 ''Good Medicine'' * 1999 ''Swingin' the Blues'' With Tommy Newsom * 1991 ''Tommy Newsom and His TV Jazz Stars'' * 1996 ''I Remember You Johnny'' With Louie Bellson * 1974 ''150 MPH'' * 1975 ''

The Louis Bellson Explosion ''The Louis Bellson Explosion'' is an album by drummer Louis Bellson recorded in 1975 and released by the Pablo label.

'' * 1976 ''Louie Bellson's 7'' * 1978 ''Louis Bellson Jam'' * 1978 ''Matterhorn'' * 1978 ''Prime Time'' * 1978 ''Raincheck'' * 1978 ''Sunshine Rock'' * 1995 ''Live at Concord Summer Festival'' * 1994 ''Cool Cool Blue'' With Herb Ellis * 1975 ''A Pair to Draw To'' * 1975 ''Rhythm Willie'' * 1979 ''Soft & Mellow'' * 1979 ''Herb Ellis at Montreux'' With

Snooky Young Eugene Edward "Snooky" Young (February 3, 1919 – May 11, 2011) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds. Biography Young was lead trumpeter of t ...

* ''Snooky & Marshall's Album'' (1978) * ''Horn of Plenty'' (Concord Jazz, 1979) with John Collins, Ray Brown, and

Jake Hanna Jake Hanna (April 4, 1931 – February 12, 2010) was an American jazz drummer. He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, United States. Hanna first performed in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the house drummer at Storyville nightclub in Boston, ...

. With Bill Watrous * 1980 ''I'll Play for You'' * 2001 ''Bill Watrous & Carl Fontana'' With

* 1983 ''Stand by for Jack Sheldon'' * 1991 ''On My Own'' With others * 1962 ''In a Mellow Mood'', Joe Newman * 1968 ''Warm Wild & Wonderful'',

Tony Mottola Anthony C. Mottola (April 18, 1918 – August 9, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist who released dozens of solo albums. Mottola was born in Kearny, New Jersey, Kearny, New Jersey and died in Denville, New Jersey, Denville. Career Like ...

* 1976 '' Hawthorne Nights'',

* 1977 ''The Real Howard Roberts'',

Howard Roberts Howard Mancel Roberts (October 2, 1929 – June 28, 1992) was an American jazz guitarist, educator, and session musician. Early years Roberts was born in Phoenix, Arizona to Damon and Vesta Roberts, and began playing guitar at the age of 8 - a ...

* 1978 ''Sweet Lorraine'',

Lorraine Feather Lorraine Feather (born Billie Jane Lee Lorraine Feather; September 10, 1948) is an American singer, lyricist, and songwriter. Early life A native of Manhattan, she was born to jazz writer Leonard Feather and his wife Jane, a former big band sin ...

* 1979 ''Peanuts Hucko with His Pied Piper Quintet'',

Peanuts Hucko Michael Andrew "Peanuts" Hucko (April 7, 1918 – June 19, 2003) was an American big band musician. His primary instrument was the clarinet, but he sometimes played saxophone. Early life and education He was born in Syracuse, New York, United St ...

* 1979 ''Red and Ros''s,

* 1980 ''Play the Music of Michel LeGrand'', Bob Cooper * 1981 ''California Doings'',

Dick Cary Richard Durant Cary (July 10, 1916 – April 6, 1994) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer and arranger. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Cary earned a bachelor's degree in music from Wesleyan University in 1938 and star ...

* 1988 ''Just a Bit o' Blues Vol. 1'',

Spike Robinson Henry Bertholf "Spike" Robinson (January 16, 1930 – October 29, 2001) was a jazz tenor saxophonist. He began playing at age twelve, recording on several labels, including Discovery, Hep and Concord. However, he sought an engineering degree and ...

* 1988 ''Just a Bit o' Blues Vol. 2'',

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 backi ...

/Spike Robinson * 1990 ''Doug MacDonald Quartet'', Doug MacDonald * 1990 ''Piano & Vocals'', Jack Lemmon * 1993 ''Bob Cooper/Conte Candoli Quintet'', Bob Cooper &

Conte Candoli Secondo "Conte" Candoli (July 12, 1927 – December 14, 2001) was an American jazz trumpeter based on the West Coast. He played in the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, and Dizzy Gillespie, and in Doc Severinsen's NBC Orc ...

* 1994 ''Don't You Know I Care?'', Polly Podewell * 1994 ''Prez Impressions'', Dick Hafer * 1999 ''Evening Delight'',

Plas Johnson Plas John Johnson Jr. (born July 21, 1931) is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and baritone sa ...

* 2001 ''Live in Paradise'',

Dave Pell David Pell (February 26, 1925 – May 7, 2017) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and record producer. He was best known for leading a cool jazz octet in the 1950s. Biography Pell played in his teens with the big bands of Tony Pastor, B ...

References

Footnotes Further Reading *Paul Rinzler, "Ross Tompkins". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. 2nd edition, 2001, ed. Barry Kernfeld. *Richard S. Ginell, Ross Tompkinsat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tompkins, Ross 1938 births 2006 deaths Deaths from lung cancer American jazz pianists American male pianists Jazz musicians from Michigan Concord Records artists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians The Tonight Show Band members Arbors Records artists