James Gable "Jim" Aton 1925 - 2008

ATON, DVORAK

Posted By: Connie Swearingen -Volunteer (email)
Date: 2/4/2019 at 20:22:54

Sioux City Journal
2 October 2008

SIOUX CITY -- James G. "Jim" Aton, 82, noted jazz musician and Sioux City native, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008, in Lake Tahoe, Calif.

Mr. Aton was a professional jazz musician, singer and composer who enjoyed considerable success and notoriety while performing with some of the giants of the jazz world starting in the 1950s and continuing for four decades.

James Gable Aton was the son of Christian missionaries James and Florence Aton and was born in Shanghai, China, in 1925. He moved to Sioux City as an infant and attended Sioux City public schools, where he studied piano and violin. He graduated from East High School in 1943. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Merchant Marines in both the Pacific and European Theaters. He subsequently served with the 13th U.S. Air Force in the Philippine Islands.

After leaving the service in 1946, he enrolled at Morningside College to study music and English. He was a member of the Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity. He later transferred to the University of South Dakota to continue his music studies. He began performing on string bass at this time with local Sioux City jazz groups including that of the late trumpet player Clarence Kenner. He toured in summer with the Fats Carlson big band out of Sioux Falls. During his performing days in Sioux City, he was a member of the Local 254 of the American Federation of Musicians. In 1949, he moved to Chicago to become a full-time professional player. Together with his younger brother, pianist Richard "Dick" Aton, and fellow Sioux Cityan and trumpeter, Neil Lambert, he started performing in local clubs in Chicago and Milwaukee.

His first big break came in 1950 when he was invited to join the Herbie Fields band in Chicago. During the summer of 1950 the Fields band accompanied singing legend Billie Holiday on a three-month East Coast tour that included shows at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem and the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C. Other members of the Fields band on the tour included trumpeter Jimmy Nottingham, trombonist Frank Rossolino, and pianist Bill Evans. His musical skill during that tour was recognized by Down Beat magazine, which called him an up-and-coming bassist on par with Down Beat all star Ray Brown. Work with other noted jazz stars followed. He next toured with the Stan Kenton band and worked around Chicago with singer Lurline Hunters, trumpeter Maynard Ferguson and saxophonist Georgie Auld. He continued his studies on double bass and for a short time was a member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra. In 1955, he moved to Los Angeles, where he joined the big band of Jerry Gray, with whom

he made his first recording. He then began playing Hollywood jazz venues with the Bobby Troup Trio and the Paige Cavanaugh Trio. He was the original bassist with the revolutionary pianoless Chico Hamilton Quartet, which also included saxophonist Buddy Collette, guitarist Jim Hall and cellist Fred Katz and which was heard on regular radio broadcasts from Howard Rumsey's famous club, The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach. Beginning in 1956, he became a staff bassist at Gold Star Records in Hollywood, backing hundreds of artists and performing unaccredited on thousands of television commercials. In 1957, he made several appearances on ABC-TV's Stars of Jazz program as a member of The Bobby Troup Trio and with singer Mavis Rivers.

He recorded the critically reviewed album "The West Coast of Broadway" on the RCA-Camden label in 1959 with pianist/singer Nancy Malcom, along with guitarist Al Viola and drummer Mel Lewis and freelanced in Los Angeles with Pete and Conte Condoli and saxophonists Harold Land and Zoot Sims. In 1961, he appeared on pianist/singer Charles Cochran's debut album, "I Sing, I Play, I'm Charlie Cochran" on the Dorian label. At this time, he began to study composition and was rewarded for his efforts when pop star Debbie Reynolds recorded his song "Love Is A Thing" on one of her best-selling albums. The project resulted in his induction into the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP).

While on a visit back to Sioux City in the summer of 1960, he was summoned by legendary jazz singer Anita O'Day and he joined her quartet on tour at the Band Box Club in Denver, Colo. He remained with O'Day as her tour bassist for the next nine years and was a prominent, though unnamed, figure in her best-selling 2004 memoir, "High Times, Hard Times."

He appeared in three films: "Bop Girl Goes Calypso" (1957) with the Bobby Troup Trio, "Roustabout" (1964) starring Elvis Presley and Barbara Stanwyck, and "They Shoot Horses Don't They" (1969) with Jane Fonda.

In 1969, he relocated to Reno, Nev., where he led his own six-piece band at Harrah's Club. At various times the band included trumpet stars Pete and Conte Condoli and saxophonist Med Flory. In 1972, he moved to Lake Tahoe, where he enjoyed steady work in the clubs and casinos. He performed as a member of the Earl "Fatha" Hines Quartet there for four years and also was the first-call bassist with numerous visiting stage shows including that of the Fifth Dimension. In later years, he worked with small groups or as a single on piano and vocals at numerous venues in Lake Tahoe, Carson City and Reno. He was actively performing as recently as February of 2008.

His marriage to the former June Dvorak ended in divorce.

He is survived by three children, Ruth Baumgartner of Iowa City, Iowa, Leslie Snydel of Naperville, Ill., and James D. Aton of Anchorage, Alaska.