Donald Ashworth

Don Ashworth
Don Ashworth
	Don Ashworth (L) with Johnny Carson and Skitch Henderson (1962)
Background information
Birth name	Donald William Ashworth
Born	March 16, 1931 (age 90)
Origin	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Instruments	Flutes Saxophones Oboes Clarinets Ocarina Recorders
Years active	1955–1995
Labels	Group IV Recording
Associated acts	Doc Severinsen

Last updated August 28, 2021

Donald William Ashworth (born March 16, 1931) is a musician who was a member of The Tonight Show Band ^[1] for thirty years before retiring in 1995. Ashworth played woodwind instruments with the group starting from Johnny Carson's first week as host of The Tonight Show in October 1962 (when the band was referred to generically as The NBC Orchestra) until his final show on May 22, 1992. For its first 10 years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, Ashworth moved from New York City to Southern California when the show moved permanently to Burbank. He was often seen on the show when Carson played "Stump the Band", where studio audience members asked the band to try to play obscure songs given only the title.

The Tonight Show had a live band for nearly all of its existence, and Ashworth played under three different band leaders: Skitch Henderson (who had previously led the band during Tonight Starring Steve Allen; see photo), followed briefly by Milton DeLugg, then from 1967 to 1992 by Doc Severinsen (with Tommy Newsom filling in for him when Doc was absent). While playing for The Tonight Show Band, he also played woodwinds for The Carol Burnett Show on CBS for 8 years. He also played for a variety of other television shows, including Dallas , Dynasty , Trapper John M.D. , Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall , and The Merv Griffin Show . Ashworth plays all types of flutes, saxophones, oboes, clarinets, recorders, and ocarina.

Early career

Ashworth began his career in 1955 playing for the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra , led by two of the best arrangers of the big band era, Eddie Sauter and Bill Finegan ,^[2] which one reviewer described as a "band which had enormous popularity in the Fifties but has all but vanished from public consciousness." ^[2] The sound, which was post-Swing, was described as "too clever to be pop music, but too popular to be considered jazz, the records released between 1952 and 1958 by this band were very much a product of their time."^[3]

1960–1994

Ashworth has played in numerous Broadway musicals, including Li'l Abner (870 shows), Do Re Mi , Goldilocks, and I Can Get It for You Wholesale . His concert work also included stints with the Benny Goodman and His Orchestra. His studio work includes well-known albums by artists such as Frank Sinatra ,^[4] Barbra Streisand , Tony Bennett , and George Clinton .^[5] He also contributed to albums such as The Other Side of Abbey Road by guitarist George Benson (1969), Dawg Jazz/Dawg Grass by musician David Grisman (1983), Inner City Blues by saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., and Mysterious Traveller by the band Weather Report. His oboe can be heard on Mel Brooks' 1991 film "Life Stinks."

Education and honors

In 1995, Ashworth was appointed to the Music Advisory Board of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music, from which he had graduated in 1953 with two bachelor's degrees (BFA in Applied Music [oboe] and BFA in Music Education). He also received a Masters in Music Education from Columbia University in '57.

Discography

Particular People (Upstairs Records, 1981)

With Johnny Hodges

Blue Notes (Verve, 1966)

With Gerry Mulligan

Holliday with Mulligan (DRG, 1961 [1980]) with Judy Holliday

With Bernard Purdie

Stand By Me (Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get) (Mega, 1971)

With Walter Wanderley

When It Was Done (A&M/CTI, 1968)

Related Research Articles

Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American jazz trumpeter who led the band on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Eugene Edward "Snooky" Young was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds.

Skitch Henderson American pianist, conductor, and composer

Lyle Russell Cedric "Skitch" Henderson was a pianist, conductor, and composer. His nickname "Skitch" came from his ability to "re-sketch" a song in a different key and Bing Crosby suggested that he should use the name professionally.

Secondo "Conte" Candoli was an American jazz trumpeter based on the West Coast. He played in the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, and Dizzy Gillespie, and in Doc Severinsen's NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He played with Gerry Mulligan, and on Frank Sinatra's TV specials. He also recorded with Supersax, a Charlie Parker tribute band that consisted of a saxophone quintet, the rhythm section, and either a trumpet or trombone.

"Memories of You" is a popular song about nostalgia with lyrics written by Andy Razaf and music composed by Eubie Blake and published in 1930.

"Things Ain't What They Used to Be" is a 1942 jazz standard with music by Mercer Ellington and lyrics by Ted Persons.

Thomas Penn Newsom was a saxophone player in the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, for which he later became assistant director. Newsom was frequently the band's substitute director, whenever music director Doc Severinsen was away from the show or filling in for announcer Ed McMahon. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement" by Johnny Carson as an ironic take on his low-keyed, reserved persona, he was often a foil for Carson's humor. His conservative brown or blue suits were a marked contrast to Severinsen's flashy stage clothing.

Pete Christlieb is an American jazz bebop, West Coast jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist.

"Here's That Rainy Day" is a popular song with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke that was published in 1953. It was introduced by Dolores Gray in the Broadway musical Carnival in Flanders.

Al Klink was an American swing jazz tenor saxophonist.

Nick Travis was an American jazz trumpeter.

Herman "Trigger" Alpert was an American jazz bassist from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Santo J. "Sonny" Russo was an American jazz trombonist.

Derek Smith was a British jazz pianist.

Walt Levinsky was an American big band and orchestral player, composer, arranger and bandleader. While many of his big band assignments were as lead alto sax player, his favorite instrument was the clarinet.

The Tonight Show Band is the house band that plays on the American television variety show The Tonight Show. From 1962 until 1992, when the show was known as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the band was a 17-piece big band, and was an important showcase for jazz on American television. During the Carson era, the band was always billed as "The NBC Orchestra" and sometimes "Doc Severinsen and the NBC Orchestra".

Don Raffell was an American saxophonist, woodwind doubler (multireedist), studio musician and educator. Raffell recorded on hundreds of records, movies, and T.V shows dating from the 1940s all the way through the 1990s. His career as a studio musician was long and stylistically diverse having started in the big band era and playing all the way up through rock n' roll and other modern pop era acts. He had a long time close professional association with arranger and conductor Nelson Riddle.

"Johnny's Theme" is an instrumental jazz song played as the opening theme of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from the show's inception in 1962 through its finale in 1992. The piece was composed by Paul Anka and Johnny Carson, based on a previous composition by Anka. It was performed by The Tonight Show Band, which released an arrangement by Tommy Newsom in 1986 as part of its Grammy Award-winning debut album. The single release also earned a Grammy nomination.

<i>Holliday with Mulligan</i> 1980 studio album by Judy Holliday and Gerry Mulligan

Holliday with Mulligan is an album by American singer Judy Holliday with jazz saxophonist and bandleader Gerry Mulligan featuring performances recorded in 1961 which were first released on the DRG label in 1980.

The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen is an album that won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance in 1986. The album consists of big band songs arranged by Tommy Newsom, Bill Holman, and Dick Lieb performed by members of the band from The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. The band is conducted by trumpeter Doc Severinsen.

References

↑ The Tonight Show Band, Vols. 1 & 2; Merry Christmas From Doc Severinsen And The Tonight Show Orchestra
1 2 "Eddie Sauter & Bill Finegan: the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra". Space Age Pop Music.
↑ White, Ted (September 1999). "The Forgotten Sauter-Finegan Orchestra". Dr. Progresso Reviews. Archived from the original on 2011-07-09.
↑ "Frank Sinatra – Trilogy: Past, Present & Future". Discogs.
↑ "George Clinton – R&B Skeletons In The Closet". Discogs.