Tom Golden, age 65, of Scottsdale, AZ passed away June 27, 2003. He began string bass study in 1949 with Rudy Fahsbender of the Chicago Symphony. After performing for years with the Phoenix Symphony, he returned to Chicago and enrolled at the American Conservatory of Music where he played with the Lyric Opera. He then toured with the Columbia Artists Chamber Ensemble and Imparo Iturbi and the Billy May, Ralph Flanagan and Richard Maltby orchestras. In New York, Tom performed with the Bobby Hackett Quintet, and in Chicago's Palmer House was the house bassist for ten years. Since returning to Phoenix in 1976, he backed many well known artists, and played regularly throughout the valley.



I played with him every Sunday for three years on that terrible old Steinway player/piano at the Wrigley Mansion Club. The tourists assumed I was Geordie Hormel, who would come in and play one set and then eat. That meant Tom had to keep playing while I took a break. He would let me play solo for a little while after Geordie's set, but then back he would come, in tune and on time.

He could play the root of any chord. I remember, once, playing a severely reharmonized version of Silent Night and Tom was making every change, no matter how radical. I improvised on the changes for almost ten minutes, and he played a two chorus solo with my accompaniment of block chords. When the song was over, Tom leaned over to me and asked, "What's the name of that song?"

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