Danny Thompson began his professional music career playing a homemade “tea-chest” bass in the late 1950s. Not long after, he graduated to the proper double-bass (apparently the same instrument he plays to this day). But any similarity between the skills of the average tea-chest player and the amazing dexterity demonstrated by Thompson today is purely coincidental. The man is a bass god.

During his recent gig at the Windsor Arts Centre, he captivated the audience with his amazing mechanical fluency, startling harmonic and rhythmic skills, and the apparent consummate ease with which all was executed. He moved from fast staccato rhythmic plucking to languorous slides and note bending without the merest hesitation. His bowing work was just as profound. Indeed, he switched between bowing and plucking without stopping for breath.

On his present tour, he is appearing with Darrell Scott, a virtuoso, country-style singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Scott’s songs are first rate, and although his performance would have been more than adequate in other circumstances, he was blown off the stage by Thompson’s magnificent playing. In comparison, Scott seemed just one-dimensional, with little of Thompson’s dynamic and emotional range. As a result, the expected staging of the double-bass vs. the voice and guitar was turned upside down. The singer/guitarist became a backing musician for the double-bass player.

Danny Thompson may now qualify as an old-aged pensioner, and may have suffered a partially debilitating stroke a few years ago, but there’s more than just life in this old dog — his musical prowess radiates with breathtaking energy and overwhelming joy.

©  Straight Words, 2004