Ron Sweetman (1932-2018) bought his first Duke Ellington records in his native England when he was 14, using money earned by digging neighbors’ gardens. It was his first investment in what
became a lifelong obsession that saw him move from starting a jazz society in his local community to becoming one of North America’s pre-eminent jazz radio hosts. In between, he befriended artists like Bill Coleman, for whom he named his only child, organized concerts and continually championed social justice.
Sweetman died in Ottawa on October 24, following a long decline due to dementia. His diminishing health eventually led him to surrender the reins of “In A Mellow Tone,” the radio show he had hosted on CKCU-FM since 1976. For more than 35 years, he used that weekly program to expose listeners to new music, trumpet local gigs and, occasionally, rail against injustice.
A former senior bureaucrat in the Canadian government and the husband of renowned visual artist Jennifer Dickson, Sweetman was well connected, which sometimes came in handy. Once, Wilson Pickett was turned away at the Ottawa International Airport at about the same time Tony Bennett breezed into the capital city for a concert. Pickett had a decades-old offense on his record; Bennett had just published a book detailing his cocaine addiction. Sweetman was incensed at the racism evident in the two musicians’ divergent receptions, and he went to the top levels of government with his fury.
That was Ron: passionate, focused and committed to the cause of justice — never happier than with a cigar in his fingers, a glass of whisky at hand and something swinging in his ears.
