Don Mopsick

Don Mopsick began his musical career as a teenager in his hometown of Linden, NJ, performing on trumpet and bass guitar for local ethnic dances. After High School he attended Rutgers University and Berklee College of Music. His first professional gigs were with Rosemary Clooney and Ralph Sharon around Boston.

Mopsick’s musical interests have always been eclectic. He was graduated from The Manhattan School of Music in 1977 with a degree in Tuba Performance. While in New York, he performed on tuba and bass with The Smith Street Society, Lee Castle (with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra), Jim Chapin, John Carisi, Benny Ventura, the Paul Jefferey Octet and others.

After a move to Ft. Myers FL in 1977, Mopsick began private study on double bass with Lucas Drew at the University of Miami. He moved to Orlando in 1983 and began work at Walt Disney World, Circus World, Rosie O’Grady’s, and as a free-lance bassist state-wide. Until 1986 he was a full-time staff musician at Disney World. During his time in Orlando, Don played concert dates for, among others, The Jazz Club of Sarasota, The Treasure Coast Jazz Society (Vero Beach), The Gainesville Friends of Jazz, the Central Florida Jazz Society, and was a jazz clinician at Valdosta (Georgia) State University. Mopsick played Florida concert dates with Howard Alden, Mousey Alexander, Bill and John Allred, Dan Barrett, John Bunch, Pete Christleib, Al Cohn, Richie Cole, Ike and Freddie Cole, Kenny Davern, Buddy DeFranco, Terry Gibbs, Scott Hamilton, Buddy Morrow (with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra), Ken Peplowski, Flip Phillips, Red Rodney, Bob Rosengarden, Ira Sullivan, Clark Terry, Warren Vaché Jr., Joe Wilder and many others. In 1991 Don joined the 7-piece Jim Cullum Jazz Band in San Antonio TX. He played Monday through Saturday nights at The Landing jazz club and toured with the band through the US and abroad, including a 15-day tour of Russia and Siberia in 2007.

The style of Cullum's band focused exclusively on pre-WWII classics as played by King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, Bob Cats, early Duke Ellington, Eddie Condon, etc. In keeping with this aesthetic, at The Landing Mopsick played acoustically ("unplugged"), without the use of a pickup or amplifier for the bass. During his years in San Antonio Don recorded hundreds of hours for the Riverwalk Jazz public radio series. Some of the guests appearing on the show were Benny Carter, Clark Terry, Bob Wilber, Dick Hyman, Ken Peplowski, Kenny Davern, Milt Hinton, Nicholas Payton, Ralph Sutton, “Sweets” Edison, Shelly Berg, Harry Allen, Dan Barrett, Joe Williams, Stephanie Nakasian, Linda Hopkins, Bob Barnard, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Vince Giordano, Savion Glover, Bob Haggart, Jon-Erik Kellso, and many others. Don also worked as an Associate Producer for the radio show, developing show ideas and scripts and creating their first website in 1995. The show's run on public radio ended in 2015 but is currently being streamed in its entirety by the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound at http://riverwalkjazz.stanford.edu.

From 1993 to 2005, along with the other Cullum band members, he was on the faculty of the Stanford Summer Jazz Camp, giving bass master classes and private lessons to students between the ages of 12-17. After resigning from Jim Cullum's band in 2009, Mopsick spent a year in San Antonio working with alto saxophonist Rich Oppenheim, flautist Katchie Cartwright, drummer/vocalist Kyle Keener and guitarist Polly Harrison, and other local jazz players. He left Texas in May 2010.

Since his return to Florida, Don has appeared with Ira Sullivan, Aaron Weinstein, Stephanie Nakasian, Veronica Swift, Hod O'Brien, Carla Cook, Cynthia Sayer, Tedd Firth, Lew DelGatto, Dan Miller, Giacomo Gates, Ralph Peterson Jr., Wycliff Gordon, Russell Malone, Bucky Pizzarelli, Joshua Breakstone, Peter Appleyard, Dick Hyman. Kenny Washington, Harry Allen, Frank Portolese, Marty Morell, Harry Allen, Randy Sandke & others. Before COVID-19 disrupted live music in March 2020, Mopsick worked frequently with pianists Roy Gerson, Billy Marcus, Jerry Stawski and Joe Delaney; guitarists Dan Heck, Rick Howard and Frank Portolese, trumpeters Dan Miller and Randy Sandke, trombonist Herb Bruce, saxophonists Lew DelGatto, Gerald Augustin, Jeff Rupert, drummers Tony Vigilante, Tracy Alexander, James Martin, Marty Morell, John Jenkins and others.

Don says, "One of the advantages of living in Southwest Florida is the opportunity to work with the many fine jazz artists who come down here in season from all points North and Midwest for gigs, some deciding to move here permantly." 

Beginning in 2016 Mopsick held down a very popular Sunday Brunch duo gig at the Barrel Room at Twisted Vine Bistro, located on the Fort Myers waterfront, first with pianist Joe Delaney, then with pianist Roy Gerson. This residency was interuppted for over a year by the Covid-19 pandemic. After resuming in 2021 with Gerson, in late September 2022 the Barrel Room was destroyed by Hurricane Ian, flooded with 4 feet of river water.   

"Before the storm, besides the brunch gig I found myself subbing a lot for Brandon Robertson on the Barrel Room Thursday jazz night with Dan Miller and Lew DelGatto. There were also a few Wednesdays with tenor player Gerald Augustin. The Barrel Room was on its way to becoming a major venue for jazz in Ft. Myers, but the storm put an end to that."

"Neverthless, this year and hopefully next I will be returning to a few jazz-friendly venues in Naples: the London Club with guitarist Frank Portolese, the Club at Campiello with swinging Minneapolis pianist Benny Weinbeck, and the Oyster Society on Marco Island. But we've all had to learn to keep one eye on the tropics and the Gulf and hope for good luck this hurricane season."

Gear

Acoustic Image bass amp, Gage Realist pickup, Pirastro Chorda gut strings designed by Carlos Enriquez. 1880s era Mittenwald bass.