Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Donald Ray Payne was born on January 7, 1933 in Wellington, Texas but was raised in California, He initially played trumpet before switching to double bass in high school. His first major gigs came in the mid-1950s and he worked in the second half of the decade with Georgie Auld, Ornette Coleman, Maynard Ferguson, Calvin Jackson, Joe Maini, and Art Pepper.
1958 saw Don relocating to New York City, where he played with Tony Bennett, Chris Connor, and Mundell Lowe. He then joined Herbie Mann and Astrud Gilberto for international tours and also worked with Stan Getz around this time. He led his own ensemble with a rotating cast of sidemen, including Mike Abene, Joe Beck, and Gene Bertoncini.
Payne began playing bass guitar in 1964 and worked in popular and rock idioms as well as in jazz as a session musician for New York studio recordings. He played on releases by Loudon Wainwright III, Judy Collins, Roy Buchanan, Leonard Cohen (New Skin for the Old Ceremony, 1974), Janis Ian, Luiz Henrique, Harry Chapin, and Melanie Safka. His later jazz associations included Bobby Hackett, Jackie Cain, and Roy Kral.
Double bassist and bass guitarist Don Payne passed away on February 25, 2017 in Plantation, Florida. He was 84.
