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Michel Donato (born August 25, 1942) is a Canadian jazz double bass player, composer, and singer and pianist. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, "[h]is association with both [Oscar] Peterson and [Bill] Evans marks Donato as one of Canada's foremost jazz bassists...". [1] He was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2007. [2]
He grew up in a musical family, as his grandfather was a violinist and his father, Roland, was a saxophone, flute and piano player and dance band leader. Michel Donato studied accordion at age 10 and piano at age 12. [3] He studied double bass from 1958 to 1961 at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal (CMM) with Roger Charbonneau. After leaving CMM, he took private lessons with Thomas Martin. [1]
In the start of the 1960s, he played some gigs with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He soon moved away from Classical music and focused on playing jazz and working as a studio musician in the Montreal music scene, where he gigged with Jazz Hot and Jazztek. He also played with Pierre Leduc and Lee Gagnon. He became associated with the jazz drummer Claude Ranger, as they often provided the rhythm section for shows. In 1968 to 1969, he joined the Montreal trio Aquarius Rising. [1]
From 1969 to 1977 he moved to Toronto, and he played under Lenny Breau and accompanied Carol Britto and Bernie Senensky. From 1972 to 1973, he was in the Oscar Peterson Trio. In the 1970s, he did some shows with Bill Evans, but he decided not to become a full-time member of Evan's group. [1] He did studio work with performers including Félix Leclerc, Nick Ayoub, Sonny Greenwich, Ian McDougall, Bruce Coburn, Dave Samuels, Bernie Senesky, Buddy De Franco, Gordie Fleming, Gilles Vigneault, and Ginette Reno.
From 1977 to 1990, Donato moved back to Montreal. In 1980, he started teaching bass at McGill University and the University of Montreal. [4]
In the 1980s, he played in trios with Lorraine Desmarais and Oliver Jones. In 1984, he played with Oscar Peterson and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. As well, he formed a duo with jazz singer Karen Young, playing bass and sometimes piano while she sang. [1] In the 1980s, he did two albums with Young: "Karen Young\ Michel Donato" (1985) and "Contredanse" (1988). [5]
In 1990, he collaborated with Young on another album, "En vol III". In the early 1990s, he did a duo collaboration with virtuoso Quebecois electric bassist Alain Caron from the jazz fusion band UZEB. [1]
He won FIJM's Concours de Jazz de Montréal in 1982, a Félix Award in 1988, the Oscar Peterson trophy in 1995, and a Jutras award in 2001. He became a member of the Order of Canada in 2007; his award notes that "His technique, virtuosity and mastery have gained him a reputation that extends well beyond our borders." [6]
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. Considered a virtuoso and one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won eight Grammy Awards, as well as a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy, and received numerous other awards and honours. He played thousands of concerts worldwide in a career lasting more than 60 years. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, simply "O.P." by his friends, and informally in the jazz community, "the King of inside swing".
The Montreal International Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz festival. Every year it features roughly 3,000 artists from 30-odd countries, more than 650 concerts, and welcomes over 2 million visitors as well as 300 accredited journalists. The festival takes place at 20 different stages, which include free outdoor stages and indoor concert halls.
UZEB is a Canadian jazz fusion band from Montreal, Quebec who were active from 1976 to 1992, and reunited in November 2016. The members are Alain Caron, Michel Cusson (guitar), and Paul Brochu (drums). The band won a number of Canadian awards during the 1980s. By 1989, international sales of UZEB's first eight recordings had exceeded 200,000 units, which the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada calls "an unprecedented figure for a Canadian jazz group".
Alain Caron is a Canadian jazz bassist.
Karen Young is a singer, lyricist, composer and arranger from Quebec, Canada who has explored several different musical styles, including world music, classical, jazz, Latin, traditional, and medieval music.
Irene Louise Rosnes, known professionally as Renee Rosnes, is a Canadian jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.
Oliver Theophilus Jones, is a Canadian jazz pianist, organist, composer and arranger.
Charles Reed Biddle, was an American-Canadian jazz bassist. He lived most of his life in Montreal, organizing and performing in jazz music events.
The Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir is a choir from Montreal, Quebec, Canada that sings primarily traditional and contemporary Gospel music. The choir's repertoire also includes a mix of music ranging from Gregorian chant to Bach chorales, traditional Zulu music and a modern Jazz: the oratorio.
Martin Drew was an English jazz drummer who played with Ronnie Scott between 1975 and 1995 and with Oscar Peterson between 1974 and 2007.
Lorraine Desmarais C.M. is a French-Canadian jazz pianist and composer.
Nelson Symonds was a Canadian jazz guitarist born in Upper Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia.
James Gelfand is a Canadian jazz pianist who has written scores for film and television.
Walking the Line is an album by Canadian jazz pianist and composer Oscar Peterson, released in 1970. Recorded at: MPS Tonstudio Villingen.
Brian Browne was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer.
Canadian jazz refers to the jazz and jazz-related music performed by jazz bands and performers in Canada. There are hundreds of local and regionally based Canadian jazz bands and performers. A number of Canadian jazz artists have achieved international prominence, including Oscar Peterson, Maynard Ferguson, and Gil Evans.
Exclusively for My Friends: Lost Tapes is a 1995 studio album by jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, part of his Exclusively for My Friends series.
Peter John Leitch is a Canadian jazz guitarist.
Nicholas ("Nick") Ayoub was a Canadian jazz saxophonist, oboist, English horn player, and composer. While he focused on jazz in his career, he also performed classical music at some points. He was born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec on September 7, 1926 and died on May 2, 1991.
Rémi Bolduc is a Canadian jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He teaches jazz at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
His technique, virtuosity and mastery have gained him a reputation that extends well beyond our borders
His technique, virtuosity and mastery have gained him a reputation that extends well beyond our borders