The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance said Compton was a jazz bass specialist who was a gifted and charismatic musician who brought “warmth and brilliance” to every performance.
“I had great respect for Don Compton, for many reasons, but especially because of his skill as a jazz bassist,” Neal Gittleman, Dayton Philharmonic’s artistic director and conductor, said in a statement. “There aren’t many great orchestral bass players who can also be a great jazz upright bass player. And there aren’t many great jazz bassists who are also great orchestral players. The skill sets are that different. But Don somehow figured out how to work both sides of that stylistic divide.”
Gittleman said he and Compton both loved the Beatles and Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass.”
The alliance said Compton’s love for music transcended genres, and he mastered the classical double bass and the electric bass.
“All of us in the DPO will miss him very much,” Gittleman said.
Compton attended Wright State University and the University of Cincinnati and taught bass at Wright State University.
He was a fan of vintage guitars, basses and fishing.
The fatal fire occurred at about 1:30 p.m. in the 1600 block of Hilltop Road east of Beavercreek and north of Xenia in Greene County.
The Beavercreek Twp. Fire Department said there is an “open and ongoing investigation” into the fire. Compton’s cause and manner of death are pending.
