Danny Thompson

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".

For four years between 1964 and 1967 Thompson was a member of Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated. He led a trio that included guitarist John McLaughlin and was a founding member of the British folk-jazz band Pentangle. Between 1987 and 2012 he recorded six solo albums. He converted to Islam in 1990.

Life and career Thompson was born in Teignmouth, Devon, England, on 4 April 1939. He was named after a favourite song of his parents, 'Danny Boy'. His father, a miner, joined the Royal Navy at the start of World War II and was lost in action as a submariner. When Thompson was aged six the family moved to London and he was brought up in the working-class area of Battersea. At school he played competitive football and was a junior for Chelsea, the team he would support for the rest of his life, and was also a competent boxer. While at school he learnt guitar, mandolin, trumpet and trombone before settling on the double bass as his instrument of choice. He played his first professional gig, while under age, in a Soho strip club. He was discharged in 1963 and resumed playing double bass. In 1964 he spent £5, to be paid in instalments of five shillings a week, on a double bass at Foote's bass shop in Brewer St, Soho, London, which he used for his entire career. The instrument had been painted brown, but wear and tear revealed it to be an original, and valuable, French Gand, He acquired a second double bass in 2007 for use when travelling overseas. Thompson was a member of the folk-jazz group Pentangle throughout its first incarnation (1967–1973) In 1987 Thompson released his debut solo album, Whatever, to critical acclaim and recorded three more. The Old Kit Bag (2003) and the concert DVD release Richard Thompson Live in Austin Texas (2001), (from the Austin City Limits televised concerts). Between 1995 and 2013 he was a member of the house band in five of the six series of the BBC/RTE Transatlantic Sessions. Thompson received a Lifetime achievement award in the 2007 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. After several years of "rock'n'roll" touring with John Martyn,

Reported by Uncut magazine, Kate Bush recalled, "You never just worked with Danny. You also worked with his double bass he called Victoria. The two of them were joined at the hip and together they were the most fascinating storytellers – earthy and of the wild."

Private life and death

Thompson lived in Clopton, Suffolk, during the late 1970s and early 1980s with his wife, Daphne, and son Dan (Danny Junior), who became the drummer with Hawkwind (1985–88). Early in the 1980s he moved back to London. He converted to Islam in 1990 and adopted the Muslim name Hamza.

Thompson died at his home in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, on 23 September 2025, at the age of 86.

Partial discography Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated

Red Hot from Alex (1964) Sky High (1966) Blues Incorporated (1967 – re-issue of Sky High)

Alexis Korner

I Wonder Who (1967) A New Generation of Blues (1968)

Pentangle

The Pentangle (1968) Sweet Child (1968) Basket of Light (1969) Cruel Sister (1970) Reflection (1971) Solomon's Seal (1972) Open the Door (1984)

Danny Thompson

Whatever (1987) Whatever Next (1989) Elemental (1990) Connected (2012)

Danny Thompson, Allan Holdsworth and John Stevens Propensity (2009, recorded 1978)

Dizrhythmia Dizrhythmia (1988) Too (2016)

John and Beverly Martyn John Martyn: Bless the Weather (1972); Solid Air (1973); Inside Out (1973); Sunday's Child (1975); Live at Leeds (1975); One World (1977); Germany 1986 (July 2001); On the Cobbles (2004) John & Beverley Martyn: The Road to Ruin (1970)

Others Danny Thompson has played on dozens of albums and singles during his career. The following is only a small selection.

ABC: Alphabet City (1987) Ayuo: Songs from a Eurasian Journey (1997) Richard Barbieri: Stranger Inside (2008) Eric Bibb & North Country Far: The Happiest Man in the World (2016) Go Tell It on the Mountain (2003) Sam Brown: Stop! (1988) Tim Buckley: Dream Letter: Live in London 1968 (1968) Kate Bush: The Dreaming (1982); Hounds of Love (1985); Director's Cut (2011); 50 Words for Snow (2011) John Cameron: Off Centre (1969) Christine Collister: The Dark Gift of Time (1998); An Equal Love (2001) Deva Premal: Dakshina (2005)