RON RUBIN (Liverpool 1933- London 2020) R.I.P.

Another sad news for everyone here: Ron Rubin, the great bass player who played with Mike Taylor on the second album and in many gigs in duo or trio, is passed away on April, 14th 2020 (not due to corona virus).

The bad news was posted on Facebook by Sandy Brown Jazz on the page HERE

There's no idea about the reason of his death, but I remember that in 2013-2015, during the exausting work for the Mike Taylor biography, he was often ill and he was recovered at the hospital for some weeks.

I cannot forget the huge generosity of the man who sent me everything he had about his peculiar relationship with Taylor: his precious list of gigs he played (see HERE), that enigmatic drawing (see HERE) Mike gave to him in the last years of his life; some memories and observations by letter (he had no e-mail or smartphone).

Just in two occasions I called him at the telephone, trying to interview him, but frankly for me it wasn't easy at all understand his English and we preferred write letters.

My gratitude to him is absolute and I think his contribution was fundamental for helping me to write this difficult book.  

Born in Liverpool on July 8th, 1933, very young he started with music playing violin, then the piano. Army service in Germany, played in the Rhine River Jazz Band. Just after that experience, he started to play double bass. Played in and around Liverpool in some bands (Ralph Bags Watmough Band, Lee Harris Six, Wall City Jazzmen, Darry Dugdale's Trio), before to move to London in 1961, where he played with many other bands as Glyn Morgan Band, Dick Williams Band, Fairweather-Brown All Stars (1962-1965), Ronnie Selby Trio (in 1965),  New Departures (1966-1967). As we know, he played also with Mike Taylor from 1962-1969.
During the second half of Sixties, mainly in London, he played with a huge amount of bands on double bass and piano: Lennie Best Quartet, Billy Eckstine, Howard Riley, Michael Garrick, Manfred Mann, Barbara Thompson...
From 1969-1972 he played solo piano in Palma (Maiorca), then (1972-1973) with Colin Purbrook Trio, John Picard Band (1973-1976), Roy Mathewson (1975) and with his own band in 1975-1976. 

Taylor, Rubin and Tomlin in 1962.

During the late '70's with Keith Ingham Trio, Fred Hunt Trio, Alex Welsh (1979-1981). At the beginning of '80's he played in Austria (with Fatty George's Band) and Switzerland (in 1981-1983 with Oscar Klein, Keith Smith, Geoff Simkins). In duo work with Earl Okin (1983), toured with Will Bill Davison (1983), touring with Donald Swann-Digby Fairweather, playing solo piano concerts and in duo with Brian Leake. 
In 1987-1988 he played with George Melly-John Chilton; in 1989 with Bruce Turner Quartet, in 1990 with Campbell Burnap. From 1990-1993 he played piano with George Melly-John Chilton again, and in 1993-1994 with Phil Franklin in Switzerland.
At the beginning of 2000's he played piano solo and with others musicians.
(A partial discography is available at Discogs HERE).

A passionate expert and a writer of limericks (!!!), in 2013 he was working on his professional autobiography: it was titled "Jottings from a Jazzman's Journal: from 1954 to 2010" but I guess unfortunately it's never been published.

Here's one of his limericks:

"Said a gentleman dining in Papua
to his friend, 
'What an awfully nice 
chap you are
to allow me to share
you're delicious grand-mère
but you're dropping her bones in
my lap you are'".

R.I.P. Ron!