Samuel Koontz Donahue (March 18, 1918 – March 22, 1974) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, and

musical arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition (music), composition. Differences from the original composition may include Harmony (music), reharmonization, musical phrasing, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, o ...

. He performed with

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973), known as Gene Krupa, was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer who performed with energy and showmanship. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of " Sing, Sing, ...

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

, Benny Goodman, Billy May,

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

, and

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

Biography

Donahue was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, United States. He put together his first band when he was only 15 years old. Donahue played in the bands of Gene Krupa,

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

, and Benny Goodman. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Donahue took over the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

band of

Artie Shaw Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...

. After the war, he assembled and led a group that recorded for Capitol Records. Trumpeters Harry Gozzard and Doc Severinsen, Wayne Herdell, arranger

Leo Reisman Leo F. Reisman (October 11, 1897 – December 18, 1961) was an American violinist and bandleader in the 1920s and 1930s. Born and reared in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, he was of Jewish ancestry; from German immigrants who immigrated to th ...

and vocalists

Frances Wayne Frances Wayne (born Chiarina Francesca Bartocci or Clara Bertocci, August 26, 1924 – February 6, 1978) was an American jazz vocalist. She was best known for her recording of "Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe." Early years and career Wayn ...

and

Jo Stafford Jo Elizabeth Stafford (November 12, 1917July 16, 2008) was an American traditional pop music singer, whose career spanned five decades from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. Admired for the purity of her voice, she originally underwent classi ...

were some of the members included in the new band. It dissolved in 1951 when Donahue re-enlisted in the Navy to serve in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. It is mentioned in Donahue’s

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

bio and also in an

UPROXX ''Uproxx'' (stylized in all caps) is an entertainment and popular culture news website. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater, and acquired by Woven Digital (later renamed Uproxx Media Group) in 2014. The site's target audience ...

article that

Frank Sinatra Jr. Francis Wayne Sinatra Group note. (; January 10, 1944 – March 16, 2016), professionally known as Frank Sinatra Jr., was an American singer, songwriter, and conductor. He was the son of singer and actor Frank Sinatra and his first wife, Nancy ...

was a vocalist for Donahue. According to a DownBeat article, “he began performing in his mid-teens for the Sam Donahue band.” Sinatra later mentioned that the majority of what he learned about singing was learned through the time he spent with Donahue and the other musicians in the band. Incidentally, Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped in Lake Tahoe while on tour with Donahue. His father Frank Sinatra paid the $240,000 ransom which ultimately led to his son’s release from the kidnappers. Donahue was married to actress Patricia Donahue, and was the father of guitarist

Jerry Donahue Jerry Donahue (born September 24, 1946, Manhattan, New York City) is an American guitarist and producer primarily known for his work in the British folk rock scene as a member of Fotheringay and Fairport Convention as well as being a member of t ...

who played on the album, '' Fotheringay 2''. His compositions included "Quiet and Roll 'Em" with

, "Convoy" released as

V-Disc V-Disc ( "V" for Victory) was a record label that was formed in 1943 to provide records for U.S. military personnel. Captain Robert Vincent supervised the label from the Special Services division. Many popular singers, big bands, and orches ...

No. 610B, "LST Party", which was released as a V-Disc as No. 573A in January, 1946, with the Navy Dance Band, "Scuttlin'", "Love Scene", "Please Get Us Out", "Root Toot", "Constellation", "Conversation at Lindy's", "Saxa-Boogie", and "Saxophone Sam". I’ll Never Tire of You is a 1941 song written by

Richard Kollmar Richard Tompkins Kollmar (December 31, 1910 – January 7, 1971), also known professionally as Dick Kollmar, was an American stage, radio, film and television actor, television personality and Broadway producer. Kollmar was the husband of jo ...

, Cy Walter and Jimmy Dobson. It was recorded in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on November 12, 1941, by Donahue and his orchestra as a RCA Victor - Bluebird

78 rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

single. Andy Blaine was the sole vocalist. The song is featured in ''The Sam Donahue Collection 1940-48''. ''Acrobat Records'' is the label name. Marketing and distribution for the album was handled by Arista Records. An article in

Jazz Journal ''Jazz Journal'' is a British jazz magazine established in 1946 by Sinclair Traill (1904–1981). It was first published in London under the title ''Pick Up'', which Traill founded as a locus for serious jazz criticism in Britain.Roberta Freund Sc ...

featured that reissue album; which has a majority of Donahue’s songs from the 1940s.

Online music database Below is a table of online music databases that are largely free of charge. Note that many of the sites provide a specialized service or focus on a particular music genre. Some of these operate as an online music store or purchase referral ser ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

also highlighted that album on their website. ''Trapeze Music & Entertainment Limited'', an independent label and distributor with a loyal customer base in the UK, US and throughout mainland Europe, highlighted a quote in their reviews (borrowed from ''Jazzviews'' March 2021) by Derek Ansell, a regular contributor to Jazz Journal, stating, “Although these pieces vary tremendously from track to track the music is all well played and shines a spotlight on a musician who really deserved to be much better known than he was.” In an article in ''The Syncopated Times'', Scott Yanow, who has written for

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

Jazz Times ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

Cadence In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (199 ...

, Coda and the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

, stated, regarding the collection of Donahue’s songs, that “it is a pity that it could not have been a three-CD set that included everything” that he recorded during 1940-48. Yanow also voiced his opinion in that article regarding the musical skills of Donahue and his band members, stating that “the musicianship is consistently excellent.” The songs from that album are listed in the

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

and

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

listening databases. Donahue died from pancreatic cancer on March 22, 1974.

Discography

As leader

* ''For Young Moderns in Love'' (Capitol, 1954) * ''Dance Date With Sam Donahue'' (Remington, 1957) * ''Stop Look Go And Listen To Sam Donahue'' (Prescott, 1958) * ''Convoy'' (Hep, 1974)

As sideman

With

* '' Adventures in Jazz'' (Capitol, 1961) * '' Kenton's West Side Story'' (Capitol, 1961) * ''

The Romantic Approach ''The Romantic Approach'' is an album by the Stan Kenton Orchestra recorded in 1961 and released by Capitol Records. It is the first album by the orchestra to be released with a mellophonium section.Vosbein, PStan Kenton Discographyaccessed June ...

'' (Capitol, 1961) * '' Sophisticated Approach'' (Capitol, 1962) * '' Adventures in Blues'' (Capitol, 1963) * ''Together Again'' (First Heard, 1982) * ''Mellophonium Magic'' (Status, 1989) * ''Cuban Fire!'' (Capitol, 1991) With others *

Will Bradley Wilbur Schwichtenberg (July 12, 1912 – July 15, 1989), known professionally as Will Bradley, was an American trombonist and bandleader during the 1930s and 1940s. He performed swing, dance music, and boogie-woogie songs, many of them written b ...

Johnny Guarnieri John Albert Guarnieri (March 23, 1917 – January 7, 1985) was an American jazz and stride pianist, born in New York City. Career Guarnieri joined the George Hall orchestra in 1937. He is possibly best known for his big band stints with Be ...

, ''Live Echoes of the Best in Big Band Boogie'' (RCA Camden, 1974) * Cab Calloway, ''Hi De Hi De Ho'' (RCA, 1982) *

, ''The Herd Rides Again'' (Everest, 1958) *

, ''Gene Krupa's Sidekicks'' (Columbia, 1955) *

Vic Lewis Victor Lewis MBE (29 July 1919 – 9 February 2009) was a British jazz guitarist and bandleader. He also enjoyed success as an artists' agent and manager. Biography He was born in London, England. Lewis began playing the guitar at the age ...

, ''Volume 1: The War Years'' (Harlequin, 1986)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donahue, Sam 1918 births 1974 deaths 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century trumpeters American jazz tenor saxophonists American jazz trumpeters American male jazz musicians American male saxophonists American male trumpeters Big band bandleaders Capitol Records artists Deaths from cancer in Nevada Deaths from pancreatic cancer Hep Records artists Progressive big band bandleaders Swing saxophonists Swing trumpeters United States Navy personnel of World War II