Jazz in Britain has released Memorial, a seven-track tribute to Ron Mathewson, the double bass virtuoso who died on December 3, aged seventy-six.
Taken from Ron’s personal archive, the tracks feature the Shetland-born musician who became revered across the jazz world in sessions with leading figures of the British jazz scene including saxophonist Trevor Watts’ trailblazing Amalgam, Latin-American fusion outfit Paz, pianist Gordon Beck’s Gyroscope and the Tony Coe-Kenny Wheeler team, Coe, Wheeler & Co.
The tracks feature Ron on both double bass and bass guitar and there’s a solo double bass feature, Black Forest that calls to mind the brilliantly adventurous playing and amazing tone production that gathered Ron admirers including Stan Getz, Joe Henderson, Bill Evans, Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott, with whom Ron worked regularly for some fifteen years.
Jazz in Britain has been established to ensure that music from the 1950s through to the 1970s is not lost and that musicians or their families receive recompense, recognition and appreciation.
Memorial is available through Bandcamp.
Ron Mathewson (photo by Brian O'Connor)