Acclaimed jazz artist plays festival

In a career spanning several decades Don Thompson has distinguished himself as one of this countrys most accomplished jazz musicians. He has been the recipient of two Juno Awards for best jazz album one of which he shared with longtime friend Ed Bickert for a duo project as well as a Juno Award for best traditional jazz album. Between 1993 and 1997 he earned no less than six Jazz Report awards, five of them for vibraphonist of the year, the other for composer of the year. There have been countless other awards for his work as a sideman and as a bandleader. Thompson, who performs in Charlottetown this weekend at the P.E.I. Jazz Blues Festival, has played with some of the biggest names in jazz, sharing the stage with John Handy, Maynard Ferguson, Doug Riley, Rob McConnell, Moe Koffman, Lenny Breau, George Shearing and a host of others. You might logically surmise from his long list of accomplishments that Thompson was weaned on jazz. But such is not the case. Until the Powell River B.C. native reached grade nine hed never even heard a jazz recording. There was always music in my house growing up but that music was classical music, not jazz. Thompson said in an interview last week. Thompson grew up listening to the works of Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin and other great classical composers. When we listened to radio we didnt listen to the pop music of the day we listened to opera from the Met in New York. Everything changed when Thompson reached high school. I was in grade nine. Our music teacher put together a dance band. He brought out Glenn Miller recordings of Tuxedo Junction and String of Pearls. Id never heard anything like that before. It really sounded like it would be so much fun to play. It was. I was playing trumpet in the band. There was another guy in the band who played trumpet. He was better than I was but I got to play a lot of the solos. Thompson, who already played some piano by then, said he took an immediate liking to jazz. I think I liked jazz initially because it was more fun. It was also easier because I didnt have to play exactly what was written and I could hardly read music at all back then. I still dont read music well, but I have a very good ear. Thompson proved to be a natural, able to pick up almost any instrument and figure out how to get good sound from it. I was a bored teenager so when there were instruments around the high school band area I would pick them up and try to play them. I learned a lot. I didnt play any woodwinds though back then. Im sorry about that now. Over time Thompson became a master of multiple instruments, focusing on four, bass, piano, drums and vibes. All have served him well. When he was living in Vancouver in the early part of his career it was his bass playing that paid many of the bills. There werent a lot of working musicians around Vancouver back then and there was a lot of live music in the clubs so if you could really play an instrument you could get a lot of work. As soon as people found out I could play bass I began to get a lot of calls. And I owned my own double bass so that was a big plus for me too. Thompson moved to Toronto in 1969, and soon became that city's first-call studio bassist. But it became apparent in short order that Thompson was a go-to guy for more than just bass. He played both bass and piano with the Boss Brass. He filled both roles as well for the late Moe Koffman and for George Shearing. With Sonny Greenwich it was piano. Still others would utilize him on vibes. And that was just one aspect of his career. As a composer hes written and arranged for almost every scenario imaginable, from small jazz ensembles to big bands, as well as for symphony orchestras. After more than 40 years of playing almost everything with almost everybody the 68-year-old Thompson says he still enjoys sitting down to play if hes playing with the right people. And in this case in Charlottetown - all of the people Im playing with are the right people. Hell share the stage this weekend with three of his favourite players, drummer Terry Clarke, bass player Jim Vivian and guitarist Reg Schwager. Reg Schwager is a world class player, I love working with him. Ive been playing with Terry Clarke since 1962. Terry knows me better than I know myself. Reg is amazing. He can read anybody. Jim Vivian knows me really well too. Hes a very instinctive player. On stage guys like that will always stand out. Thompson considers himself to have been very fortunate in terms of who hes been able to play with during his career. Ive always been around great players. Take John Handy, for example. The man was a genius. Playing with him was one of the best experiences of my life. And then theres Sonny Greenwich. I learned so much from Sonny, and from Jim Hall. And of course Rob McConnell. And Doug Riley, I met Doug almost as soon as I arrived in Toronto in 1969 and we recorded together very soon after that. Ive been very lucky. Does he have any regrets? Yes. He regrets not taking advantage of the opportunity to play with legendary horn player Miles Davis. I actually had the chance to play with him twice and didnt. The first time Davis asked him to sit in Thompson was playing with John Handy. That time it just didnt feel right. Id never heard his band play live before and didnt have my own bass with me. But at least I got to meet him. He recalls Davis as being very different than some of his records might suggest. He was actually a very peaceful man. There was a feeling of peace all around him. Youd go to a club where he was playing and there would be people just standing around him, because they could feel that peace too! Thompson treasures the time he got to spend around people like Pharoah Sanders, John Coltrane and Bill Evans. He cites Evans as his main influence as a piano player. I got to meet Bill a couple of times but never played with him. I had the chance once, he called me the night before I was flying home to spend Christmas with my family but I just couldnt cancel that trip. Bill is still one of the few people I listen to seriously. Thompson regrets that more people dont have the opportunity to hear good jazz these days. Thats not because there arent good players but because the number of venues that cater to jazz is decreasing. He said there was a time when most large cities had good jazz clubs but many of those clubs have gone by the way. Back in the 60s you could play six nights a week from June to December. We used to be able to go out on the road for two months at a time. Youd play a week or two in this club, then move to another club, sometimes in the same city, for another week. Now, you seldom get more than a night here or a night there. You could play all the big jazz clubs out there now in two months.