Ron Mathewson – 19 February 1944- 3 December 2020

Once headlined as ‘the Viking of the bass’ to mark his Shetland Isles origins, Ron Mathewson, who died aged 76 on 3 December from Covid-19, excelled in all facets of jazz, from traditional to mainstream, and on to hard bop and beyond, trumpeter Dick Pearce, a frequent playing companion, describing him as a “naturally brilliant bass player”.

Born in Lerwick on 19 February 1944, Rognvald [aka Ron] Mathewson first studied classical piano before depping for a friend on bass, which turned out so well that he immediately switched to the instrument. By 1962 he was playing with a Scottish Dixieland band in Germany and recorded with the Clyde Valley Stompers in London later the same year. He was then invited to join fellow-Scot Alex Welsh’s famously bibulous mainstream band, touring with them from 1964-66 while doubling with Tubby Hayes’ groups, all the while recording with visiting US stars like Red Allen, Rex Stewart and Earl Hines usually in company with Welsh.

In what was an especially lively period in British modern jazz circles, his stylistic open-mindedness and creative approach, inspired by the innovative US bassist Scott LaFaro, allowed him to fit into jazz situations as varied as those of experimenter John Stevens and the Spontaneous Music Ensemble while still working with Hayes in the quartet and big band. He is present on Mexican Green [1967] thought by many to be the Hayes quartet’s finest album and continued to play with the tenor star right up to his death in 1973.

Ron recorded and performed with the all-star Clarke-Boland big band [he’s on their 1969 Volcano and Rue Chaptal albums] and toured with Stan Getz in Scandinavia [1970] and with Phil Woods in the USA [1971]. He was a member of the elephantine Charlie Watts big band, one of its two bassists, Dave Green the other. Widely lauded as a virtuoso, it’s no exaggeration to suggest that anyone who heard him wanted him; they loved his accuracy and mastery of challenging tempos. Arguably it was his membership of Ronnie Scott’s quintet [1977-1992] that earned him the widest appreciation. A member for many years of Mick Pyne’s trio, a regular with Paz and an in-demand sideman for an array of visiting stars, Mathewson had long since retired from active playing, as his health deteriorated. Saxophonist Stan Sulzmann, with whom he played for a decade, said, “Ron could set the music alight.” RIP Ron Mathewson.