Photo: David Laws / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Danny Thompson is exactly the kind of musician I respect most: the indispensable sideman. An English double bassist out of Teignmouth, he spent a long career making everyone around him sound better — most famously alongside John Martyn and Richard Thompson, bridging jazz and British folk. The Times line about his technical virtuosity and intuitive feel says it perfectly; great bass playing is about listening, not showing off. He kept at it for decades, right up to his passing in 2025. To me he's a reminder that the players who never chase the spotlight are often the ones holding the whole record together.
Overview
Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (4 April 1939 – 23 September 2025) was an English multi-instrumentalist, best known as a double bassist. During a long musical career he played with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Martyn. The Times said he had "a technical virtuosity and an intuitive feel for whatever he was playing".
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Danny Thompson
- Name (Japanese)
- ダニー・トンプソン
- Reading
- だにー・とんぷそん
- Born
- April 4, 1939 (age 87)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aries / Rabbit
- Origin
- Teignmouth, United Kingdom
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- bassist / musician / jazz musician / double-bassist
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Salesian College
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Bassist — see all → · Musician — see all → · More people from United Kingdom →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.