Don Thompson (musician)

Don Thompson OC
Thompson in 1989 Photo courtesy of the Fraser MacPherson estate
Background information
Birth name	Donald Winston Thompson
Born	(1940-01-18) 18 January 1940 (age 84) Powell River, British Columbia, Canada
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Jazz
Occupation	Musician
Instrument(s)	Double bass, piano, vibraphone
Years active	1960s–present
Labels	Concord, Jazz Alliance, Justin Time, Sackville, Brunswick, CBC

Donald Winston Thompson, OC^[1] (born 18 January 1940) is a Canadian jazz musician who plays double bass, piano, and vibes.^[2] 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 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 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, 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, Buddy Tate, Jay McShann, Junior Mance, John Handy, Ed Bickert, John Abercrombie, Moe Koffman, Anne Murray, Mel Tormé, Ruby Braff, Lenny Breau, and others.