Sam Donahue

Sam Donahue was a well-respected tenor saxophonist in the swing period who, in several cases, nearly became famous, although he finished up fairly obscure. Donahue come up with his first music group in 1933 when he was simply 15, an clothing that he led for five years. His initial big-name work was with Gene Krupa (1938-1940) and he previously occasional possibilities to solo over the drummer’s information. After brief stints with Benny Goodman and Harry Adam, Donahue led his very own big music group which documented 20 game titles for Okeh, Bluebird, and Strike during 1940-1942. Apart from performers Francis Wayne and Irene Time, non-e of Donahue’s sidemen had been famous, although Count number Basie guested on his documenting of “It Matters a whole lot.” Donahue became a member of the Military in 1942 and in 1944 overran the Artie Shaw Navy Band, a talented if no-name device that documented V-Discs in 1945 and produced some radio broadcasts. After his release, he became a instructor and led his very own civilian band for a while, producing recordings for Capitol during 1946-1947 however, not creating a lot of a mix. Donahue caused Tommy Dorsey, fronted the Billy Might Orchestra during 1954-1955 and going a large band with an abnormal basis through the second half of the ’50s; there is an recording apiece for Remington and Prescott in 1958 and extra material has turn out for the collector’s brands Big Band Landmarks and Jazz Hour. Donahue found some reputation for his use Stan Kenton’s Orchestra during 1960-1961 but became the first choice from the Tommy Dorsey Ghost Music group. Regardless of the orchestra becoming revitalized a little (Helen Forrest and Charlie Shavers had been members area of the period) and producing many tours, the work was relatively thankless. After 1966, Sam Donahue remaining the business. He worked well as musical movie director for the Playboy Golf club in NY and during his last five years, led his personal music group in Nevada.