John Doheny
Encyclopedia
John Steven "Pip" Doheny (born December 17, 1953), is a jazz tenor saxophonist and band leader, who also plays flute, clarinet, and alto saxophone.
Born in Seattle, Washington
, Doheny studied with prominent Canadian saxophonist and bandleader Fraser MacPherson
, whom he credits as a major influence. He spent his early career in the 1970s primarily in Vancouver
, Canada
, playing in local rhythm and blues bands and strip clubs, as well as spending large parts of each year on exhaustive road trips to taverns throughout rural British Columbia
and Alberta
. By the late 1970s and into the mid 1980s he was appearing as a sideman with artists such as Albert Collins
, Doug and the Slugs
, the Coasters
, the Platters
, the Temptations
, and Buddy Knox
. In the late 1980s he relocated to Toronto, Canada, and then New York City
, working with the bands of Lloyd Williams
, Solomon Burke
, Danny B, and Kenny Margolis. The 1990s saw Doheny doing extensive touring and studio work, both with jazz ensembles and pop groups, including Bell Biv Devoe
.
He released his first CD as a leader One Up, Two Back in 2002, featuring his band the John Doheny Quintet, and vocalist Colleen Savage. In 2003 he relocated to New Orleans to pursue a masters degree in jazz history at Tulane University
.
Doheny is noted as a colorful raconteur (no small accomplishment in a city like New Orleans). A 2002 interview with him can be found here, courtesy of smoothjazz.com, which includes an explanation of how he came to acquire the middle name "Pip", and an account of his early days as a struggling musician.
Doheny is also a jazz historian, and historian. He has written articles on Jelly Roll Morton
, and also achieved notoriety for transcribing the music of Charles Mingus
from audio form into written musical scores. Having transcribed the music of Mingus, he adapted the scores to a series of performances entitled 'Mingus Mania,' parts of which appeared on the Bravo television network in the early 1990s as musical interludes. Doheny also composed and performed source music for the soundtrack for the 1998 Bruce Sweeney
film Dirty, as well as appearing with his band in the 1997 Brian Dennehy
TV movie A Father's Betrayal.
He is now a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana
, where he is professor of practice at Tulane University
. While many New Orleans residents were displaced by Hurricane Katrina
, Doheny was one of the first to return after the flood waters subsided, and is one of the most enthusiastic and vocal advocates for the rebuilding of New Orleans to its original form, history, and traditions. He is currently dedicating his efforts to rebuilding the jazz culture in New Orleans, including the creation of a jazz performance program at Tulane University. The program has recently produced a regular act at the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and has featured international guest clinicians. Though the rebirth of jazz performance at Tulane is still in its infancy, Doheny's program has already produced several full-time jazz musicians; most notably New Orleans bassist Will Buckingham, touring keyboardist Adam Matasar, and Boston-based drummer and band leader Max Behrens.
The Real Cool Killers: Parades and Saints-Independent-2010
John Dohneny (tenor saxophone)
Geoff Clapp (drums)
Rob Kohler (bass)
Parades and Saints
In the Hive
Cuts and Courts
1963
The Split
For Booker Ervin
The Matrix is Not Real
Brother Brown
Cissy Takes a Train
Slightly Stella
Rhythm-a-ning
John Doheny presents The Professors of Pleasure, Volume Two-Independent-2010
John Doheny (tenor and soprano saxophone)
Jim Markway (acoustic and electric bass)
Geoff Clapp (drums)
Jesse McBride (acoustic and electric piano)
John Dobry (elctric guitar)
Allen L. Dejan Jr. (alto, tenor and soprano saxophone)
Andrew Baham (trumpet)
Don't Know About That
Child Playing
Half Nelson
Nancy with the Laughing Face
Funky B
Beautiful Old Ladies
Elysian Fields
Cautious Optimism
This I Dig of You
Tulane Fight Song
John Doheny and The Professors of Pleasure: Tulane University Faculty Quintet-Independent-2007
John Doheny (tenor and alto saxophone)
Fredrick Sanders (piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hammond B-3 organ)
John Dobry (guitar)
Jim Markway (electric and acoustic bass)
Kevin O'Day (drums)
Jackson Square
Padrino
Cottontail
Your Majesty
The Rainbow People
A Greasy One
Halifax
Big G's Love
One Up, Two Back - JDQ Records CD618551 - 2002
John Doheny (tenor sax)
Norm Quinn (trumpet and flugelhorn)
Ridley Vinson or Tony Foster (piano)
Al Johnston (bass)
Stan Taylor (drums)
Colleen Savage (vocals)
One Up, Two Back
We Knew
Attack of the Killer Chalmations
Player's Inn
Dindi
Killer Chalmations . . Slight Return
Time After Time
Once in a While
Perdido
Appears on the following recordings:
Hot Air Volume 3. CBC Radio Compilation. CBC Records. HACD0052 (2002)
Martin Ferr - Dubious - Independent Cassette - 001 (1995)
Terraced Garden - Within - Melody And Menace Records LP - CT - 1960 (1988)
Downtown Kenny Brown and the Pervaders - Willin' and Ready - Razor Records/Blue Wave Records LP - 017 (1982)
Albert Collins - When The Welfare Turns Its Back On You - Sonnet Records - LP - 14107 (1979)
Douglas College Night Band - It's Just Talk-CD- DC 1007 (1998)
VCC Jazz Orchestra - Revelation-Cassette (1995)
VCC Jazz Orchestra - Let Me Off Uptown-Cassette (1993)
Original compositions, "If I Only Had A Brain" and "Uncle Jim's Blues", to the soundtrack of the 1998 Bruce Sweeney film Dirty
Born in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Doheny studied with prominent Canadian saxophonist and bandleader Fraser MacPherson
Fraser MacPherson
John Fraser MacPherson, CM was a Canadian jazz musician born in St. Boniface, Manitoba.He moved to Victoria, British Columbia as a child, where he learned piano, clarinet, alto and tenor saxophones...
, whom he credits as a major influence. He spent his early career in the 1970s primarily in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, playing in local rhythm and blues bands and strip clubs, as well as spending large parts of each year on exhaustive road trips to taverns throughout rural British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
. By the late 1970s and into the mid 1980s he was appearing as a sideman with artists such as Albert Collins
Albert Collins
Albert Collins was an American electric blues guitarist and singer whose recording career began in the 1960s in Houston and whose fame eventually took him to stages across the US, Europe, Japan and Australia...
, Doug and the Slugs
Doug and the Slugs
Doug and the Slugs are a Canadian new-wave/power-pop band based in Vancouver. The group was formed in 1977 and was most active throughout the 1980s. They are best remembered for the Canadian top 40 hits "Too Bad" , "Making It Work" and "Tomcat Prowl"...
, the Coasters
The Coasters
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller...
, the Platters
The Platters
The Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
, the Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
, and Buddy Knox
Buddy Knox
Buddy Knox was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1957 rockabilly hit song, "Party Doll".-Biography:...
. In the late 1980s he relocated to Toronto, Canada, and then New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, working with the bands of Lloyd Williams
Lloyd Williams
Lloyd W. Williams was an officer in the United States Marine Corps who served and died in World War I.A famous saying is attributed to Captain Williams, who was serving as a company commander in the 5th Marines...
, Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke was an American singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, mortician, and an archbishop of the United House of Prayer For All People. Burke was known as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", and as the "Bishop of Soul", and described as "the Muhammad Ali of soul", and as "the most...
, Danny B, and Kenny Margolis. The 1990s saw Doheny doing extensive touring and studio work, both with jazz ensembles and pop groups, including Bell Biv Devoe
Bell Biv DeVoe
Bell Biv DeVoe is an American R&B musical group which branched off from New Edition. It consists of three of New Edition's previous members, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe...
.
He released his first CD as a leader One Up, Two Back in 2002, featuring his band the John Doheny Quintet, and vocalist Colleen Savage. In 2003 he relocated to New Orleans to pursue a masters degree in jazz history at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
.
Doheny is noted as a colorful raconteur (no small accomplishment in a city like New Orleans). A 2002 interview with him can be found here, courtesy of smoothjazz.com, which includes an explanation of how he came to acquire the middle name "Pip", and an account of his early days as a struggling musician.
Doheny is also a jazz historian, and historian. He has written articles on Jelly Roll Morton
Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe , known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer....
, and also achieved notoriety for transcribing the music of Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
from audio form into written musical scores. Having transcribed the music of Mingus, he adapted the scores to a series of performances entitled 'Mingus Mania,' parts of which appeared on the Bravo television network in the early 1990s as musical interludes. Doheny also composed and performed source music for the soundtrack for the 1998 Bruce Sweeney
Bruce Sweeney
Bruce Sweeney is a Canadian film director. Born in Sarnia, Ontario, he won the 2002 Canadian Comedy Award for Pretty Funny Film Direction for the film Last Wedding...
film Dirty, as well as appearing with his band in the 1997 Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy
Brian Mannion Dennehy is an American actor of film, stage and screen.-Early years:Dennehy was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Hannah and Edward Dennehy, who was a wire service editor for the Associated Press; he has two brothers, Michael and Edward. Dennehy is of Irish ancestry and was...
TV movie A Father's Betrayal.
He is now a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, where he is professor of practice at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
. While many New Orleans residents were displaced by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, Doheny was one of the first to return after the flood waters subsided, and is one of the most enthusiastic and vocal advocates for the rebuilding of New Orleans to its original form, history, and traditions. He is currently dedicating his efforts to rebuilding the jazz culture in New Orleans, including the creation of a jazz performance program at Tulane University. The program has recently produced a regular act at the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and has featured international guest clinicians. Though the rebirth of jazz performance at Tulane is still in its infancy, Doheny's program has already produced several full-time jazz musicians; most notably New Orleans bassist Will Buckingham, touring keyboardist Adam Matasar, and Boston-based drummer and band leader Max Behrens.
Discography
As Leader:The Real Cool Killers: Parades and Saints-Independent-2010
John Dohneny (tenor saxophone)
Geoff Clapp (drums)
Rob Kohler (bass)
Parades and Saints
In the Hive
Cuts and Courts
1963
The Split
For Booker Ervin
The Matrix is Not Real
Brother Brown
Cissy Takes a Train
Slightly Stella
Rhythm-a-ning
John Doheny presents The Professors of Pleasure, Volume Two-Independent-2010
John Doheny (tenor and soprano saxophone)
Jim Markway (acoustic and electric bass)
Geoff Clapp (drums)
Jesse McBride (acoustic and electric piano)
John Dobry (elctric guitar)
Allen L. Dejan Jr. (alto, tenor and soprano saxophone)
Andrew Baham (trumpet)
Don't Know About That
Child Playing
Half Nelson
Nancy with the Laughing Face
Funky B
Beautiful Old Ladies
Elysian Fields
Cautious Optimism
This I Dig of You
Tulane Fight Song
John Doheny and The Professors of Pleasure: Tulane University Faculty Quintet-Independent-2007
John Doheny (tenor and alto saxophone)
Fredrick Sanders (piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hammond B-3 organ)
John Dobry (guitar)
Jim Markway (electric and acoustic bass)
Kevin O'Day (drums)
Jackson Square
Padrino
Cottontail
Your Majesty
The Rainbow People
A Greasy One
Halifax
Big G's Love
One Up, Two Back - JDQ Records CD618551 - 2002
John Doheny (tenor sax)
Norm Quinn (trumpet and flugelhorn)
Ridley Vinson or Tony Foster (piano)
Al Johnston (bass)
Stan Taylor (drums)
Colleen Savage (vocals)
One Up, Two Back
We Knew
Attack of the Killer Chalmations
Player's Inn
Dindi
Killer Chalmations . . Slight Return
Time After Time
Once in a While
Perdido
Appears on the following recordings:
Hot Air Volume 3. CBC Radio Compilation. CBC Records. HACD0052 (2002)
Martin Ferr - Dubious - Independent Cassette - 001 (1995)
Terraced Garden - Within - Melody And Menace Records LP - CT - 1960 (1988)
Downtown Kenny Brown and the Pervaders - Willin' and Ready - Razor Records/Blue Wave Records LP - 017 (1982)
Albert Collins - When The Welfare Turns Its Back On You - Sonnet Records - LP - 14107 (1979)
Douglas College Night Band - It's Just Talk-CD- DC 1007 (1998)
VCC Jazz Orchestra - Revelation-Cassette (1995)
VCC Jazz Orchestra - Let Me Off Uptown-Cassette (1993)
Original compositions, "If I Only Had A Brain" and "Uncle Jim's Blues", to the soundtrack of the 1998 Bruce Sweeney film Dirty