• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass Don Thompson

#61
I first heard Don Thompson on a CD that I think was released pretty recently (although recorded in 1998)- it's called "the Banff Sessions" and is duo with guitarist John Stowell as well as a few tracks with Dave Liebman on soprano. Really amazing playing and I was shocked I hadn't been hearing his name for years.. he seems to balance of all the things i love about different styles of bass playing.. he takes an overwhelmingly musical solo on milestones (the 'newer' milestones). It's very virtuosic, fast and perfectly in tune but i'm still knocked out more by the musicality of it than anything. Liebman used the word genius in talking about Don and he wouldn't throw that around lightly.

Then in may at a hotel in washington D.C I saw him playing duo with a saxophonist / pianist on BET jazz, a channel i don't get where i'm from. If that was recent, he's definitely at the top of his game..
 
#62
Mark:

Yes it's weird that there are so many great players that are from the Vancouver / Nanaimo BC area. There were certainly no jazz radio stations and school jazz programs were non existent until later in the 70's, so I don't know or how Don got interested in jazz up in Powell River, a small mill town north of Vancouver. And Bickert was from the Okanogan Lake BC area, again thousands of miles from NY or LA where jazz was thriving in the 40's & 50's. CBC radio didn't air much in the way of jazz until the 70's. At least now we can pick up a NPR jazz station from Seattle.

When Don moved to Vancouver (where I currently live) in the early 60's, he soaked up a lot from guys like pianist Chris Gage (another little known monster that died too young). Then Don and drummer Terry Clark split to San Francisco to play with John Handy and both eventually moved permanently to Toronto.

Some others from this area... saxophonist Shamus Blake, pianist Renee Rosnes, Hugh Fraser (strong trombonist, pianist & composer & educator), Diana Krall of course, bassist Neil Swainson, pop pianist David Foster and many more, most of whom have moved to greener pastures in NY, LA, Europe and Toronto.

Vancouver still has some very high level players though, many have recently moved here from Montreal. If only there were more than a couple of venues to play... Most of us teach etc. to make a living; our jazz fest lasts 2 weeks, then it's back to slim pickin's.

Cheers!
 
#63
I have an older Jim Hall record, in fact, I think I have all the stuff that Jim recordes with Don. There's a cut on which Don plays piano on that tune "All of A Sudden My Heart Sings" As Ray Parker would say, Jesu Cristo!!!!!That Mother plays his ASS off on that cut. It's got a real long chromatic up and down form that they double the time on. Wow! Rufus Reid is playing bass on that cut, but it is most definately a virtuostic piano performance.
And man, he is fun for a bass player to play with.....no bass notes in the left hand and his comping is perfect...he knows how it feels to be a bass player!
 
#65
Marcus Johnson said:
It's those Nanaimo Bars! (No, you don't drink in them, you eat them).

Really, I've met a lot of creative, vital people in that neck of the woods. It's such a beautiful place, it stands to reason that one might be inspired to do great work there.
Click to expand...

Kinda afraid to ask, Marcus, but what the hell is a Nanaimo Bar?
 
#66
Invalid Link Removed

Renee Rosnes also has a recipe for them in the book "Jazz Cooks", which features recipes and interviews with jazz stars. Sounds stupid? Actually, it's a cool book, the stories are what it's all about. Milt Hinton has one called "Millionaire Meatloaf", that he used to cook backstage in a portable oven during shows, for consumption by the band after the gig.
 
#68
Mike Goodbar said:
Amen! Some of the piano players I play with, I'd like to chop off their left-hand pinky with my jack knife!
Click to expand...

Isn't that disgusting? Sometimes I think the main reason Bill Evans and Scott LaFaro were put on this earth was to free bass players from that doubling up of the bass note by the piano player......
 
#69
Went to an SF Jazz show last night... guess who?!?!

Jim Hall! I had to jump on the chance since he rarely ever comes around her and I'd never seen him live before. Before getting to the Theater, I didn't know who was filling out the other positions. Lo and Behold! It was Don Thompson and Terry Clarke.

It was good to see Jim Hall and see how versatile he is in a live venue. Seems like he has so many more dimensions than his records depict.

But Don Thompson... wow! Just fricken unbelievable how effortless and beautiful he plays. It's indescribable IMO.

I paid attention to his gear from a distance... looks like he had an old or pedigree gamba cornered bass. Very dark and antiqued color. He was playing through what looked like a GK MB 150 or 200. No extension speakers and I think he was hooked into the house PA by direct out. Couldn't tell what he was using for a pickup nor strings. Probably spirocores.

BTW: The opening act was w/ Kurt Rosenwinkel Group with Jeff Ballard. That was very intense. I love Rosenwinkels music.
 
#71
I saw that band in Boston in 81 or 82, Terry Clarke had his left arm in a sling (broken wrist or something) and still swung his ass off. Don played piano on a couple, too.

When I first got to NYC I would try to catch Jim Hall whenever he was playing. I remember hearing him at Basil's 4 nights out of a 5 night run. I was doing a duo gig with a guitar player in the Village then and he knew Terry Clarke as an acquaintance from being on the same bill with him for a couple of tours, so he introduced me one night. Terry recognised me at the gigs after that and we got to hang out a real little bit. He's a real nice, down to earth kind of cat. Steve LaSpina was playing bass with the group then...
 
#72
T-Bal said:
You Bast**d! I'd jump at the chance to see either one of those bands, and you saw them both in one night! One of my favorite recordings is Jim Hall Live with that same trio, recorded 29 years ago. That must have been sublime!
Click to expand...

What? I'm all the way over here in California. I would tend to think Rosenwinkel plays NYC all the time. Guess I'm wrong. Last time I saw him play was last year at Yoshi's. Jim Hall only comes to SF maybe once or twice every couple of years, usually only for the Jazz Festival as far as I can tell.

I love Rosenwinkel's sound... feels really emotional and his singing-along-with-his-playing style I find really haunting. It was especially nice to hear him play "East Coast Love Affair" off the album of the same title. One of my personal faves. His playing last night kinda goes back when he didn't start to get into the electronic aspects of his current playing and where he's a little more straight-ahead if you can call it that. Really really nice. Maybe because Jim Hall was in the house, but he was pulling out all of his really colorful and Jim Hall'ish playing with lots of chord melody solo's 'n such. Simply wonderful.

As for Jim Hall, I personally prefer his sound back in the 40's when he was playing with Art Farmer or Paul Desmond. That cool strong simple yet beautiful playing comes out like a cross between a guitar, piano, and vibes. Still, he definitely showed his stuff and he even had a little funk to some of the stuff he played. He playing "All The Things...", "Bent Blue" (which I like very much off the Jim Hall & Basses album, and ended with a steel drum sounding guitar (by using an effects box) version of St. Thomas. I think most were surprised that he was rather vocal about his political views (He voted against the president). But we can leave all the politicking for the TB Lounge, of course. :) It was also interesting watching the total telepathy between the 3 players. They all seemed to communicate seamlessly without looking at eachother. It was kinda remarkable, and Don seemed to just levitate to the right places to support Jim. Definitely something you don't see on a record.

Wish y'all could've been there. :)
 
#77
hey guys!

i caught the jim hall trio two nights ago at the jazz bakery, here in LA.

don on bass, terry on drums.

don did a solo body and soul intro that slayed me right where i was sitting. his thumb position was truly the best i have ever checked out. of course it would help to have hands his size. his musicality and touch were amazing. he got a great sound out of his bass, and his bass was huge. i think it looked like a 4/4 ... does anyone know the size on that bass?

that was my first time checking don (and jim and terry) out and it was humbleing (sp?).

the counterpoint and interplay those guys have requires just doing it.

just doing it for many years. being talented, being honest, being truthful about your weaknesses, being humble, being faithful to yourself...looking deeper into yourself, your motivations

man oh man, i can blather on...



seeing don made me be a bit more honest with myself.




its the best.... musical therapy



simon
 
#79
brutuscheezcake said:
hey guys!

i caught the jim hall trio two nights ago at the jazz bakery, here in LA.

don on bass, terry on drums.

don did a solo body and soul intro that slayed me right where i was sitting. his thumb position was truly the best i have ever checked out. of course it would help to have hands his size. his musicality and touch were amazing. he got a great sound out of his bass, and his bass was huge. i think it looked like a 4/4 ... does anyone know the size on that bass?

that was my first time checking don (and jim and terry) out and it was humbleing (sp?).

the counterpoint and interplay those guys have requires just doing it.

just doing it for many years. being talented, being honest, being truthful about your weaknesses, being humble, being faithful to yourself...looking deeper into yourself, your motivations

man oh man, i can blather on...



seeing don made me be a bit more honest with myself.




its the best.... musical therapy



simon
Click to expand...
Simon...The bass you're mentioning sounds more like Don's big French bass: Chanot, I think...we talked about this on another thread with some of Don's students. That bass has a great story behind it. He's never taken that one out though, I don't think. He usually takes a dark run of the mill German shop bass for road trips. It has a great sound though.
 
#80
hdiddy said:
What? I'm all the way over here in California. I would tend to think Rosenwinkel plays NYC all the time. Guess I'm wrong. Last time I saw him play was last year at Yoshi's. Jim Hall only comes to SF maybe once or twice every couple of years, usually only for the Jazz Festival as far as I can tell.
Click to expand...
Well, I'm on the East Coast, but not in N.Y. I read an article a while back that Kurt's most recent album was his attempt to create music that would be more suited to larger venues, being as he felt that his earlier work was more subtle and played better in more intimate settings. So maybe he was just playing the room.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back