Donald William Ashworth (born March 16, 1931) is a musician who was a member of ''

The Tonight Show Band 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 ...

'' 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 Lyle Russel "Skitch" Henderson (January 27, 1918 – November 1, 2005) was a pianist, conductor, and composer. His nickname "Skitch" came from his ability to "re-sketch" a song in a different key. Bing Crosby suggested that he should use the ...

(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 Thomas Penn Newsom (February 25, 1929 – April 28, 2007) 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 dir ...

filling in for him when Doc was absent). While playing for ''The Tonight Show Band'', he also played woodwinds for ''

The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Har ...

'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

for 8 years. He also played for a variety of other television shows, including ''

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

'', ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'', '' Trapper John M.D.'', Perry Como's '' Kraft Music Hall'', and ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 ...

''. 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 The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra was an American swing jazz band popular in the 1950s. The orchestra was led by Eddie Sauter and Bill Finegan, who were both experienced big band arrangers. Sauter played mellophone, trumpet, and drums, and had atten ...

'', led by two of the best arrangers of the big band era, ''

Eddie Sauter Edward Ernest Sauter (December 2, 1914 – April 21, 1981) was a composer and arranger during the swing era. Biography Sauter studied music at Columbia University and the Juilliard School. He began as a drummer and then played trumpet profession ...

'' and ''

Bill Finegan William James Finegan (April 3, 1917 – June 4, 2008) was an American jazz bandleader, pianist, arranger, and composer. He was an arranger in the Glenn Miller Orchestra in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Life and career Born in Newark, New Jer ...

'', which one reviewer described as a "band which had enormous popularity in the Fifties but has all but vanished from public consciousness." 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."

1960–1994

Ashworth has played in numerous Broadway musicals, including ''

Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbilly, hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written a ...

'' (870 shows), '' Do Re Mi'', Goldilocks, and ''

I Can Get It for You Wholesale ''I Can Get It for You Wholesale'' is a musical, produced by David Merrick, music and lyrics by Harold Rome, and book by Jerome Weidman, based on his 1937 novel of the same title. It marked the Broadway debut of 19-year-old Barbra Streisand ...

''. 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'', ''

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

'', ''

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

'', and '' George Clinton''. 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 ''Life Stinks'' is a 1991 American comedy film co-written, produced, directed by and starring Mel Brooks. It is one of the few Mel Brooks comedies that is not a parody, nor at any time does the film break the fourth wall. It co-stars Lesley Ann ...

Discography

'' Particular People'' (Upstairs Records, 1981) ;With

Johnny Hodges Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on soprano ...

*'' Blue Notes'' (Verve, 1966) With

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...

*''

Holliday with 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.Dugelay, G & Hallqvist, KGerr ...

'' (DRG, 1961 980 with

Judy Holliday Judy Holliday (born Judith Tuvim, June 21, 1921 – June 7, 1965) was an American actress, comedian and singer.Obituary '' Variety'', June 9, 1965, p. 71. She began her career as part of a nightclub act before working in Broadway plays and mus ...

;With Bernard Purdie *'' Stand By Me (Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get)'' (Mega, 1971) ;With

Walter Wanderley Walter Wanderley (born Walter Jose Wanderley Mendonça, May 12, 1932 – September 4, 1986) was a Brazilian organist and pianist, best known for his lounge and bossa nova music and for his instrumental version of the song ''Summer Samba'' whic ...

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

Early career

1960–1994

Discography

References

Further reading