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

The Tonight Show Band The Tonight Show Band refers to the house band on the American television variety show ''The Tonight Show'', which has created an important showcase for jazz on American television. The Tonight Show Band has changed in form and composition since ...

'' for thirty years before retiring in 1995. Ashworth played woodwind instruments with the group starting from

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, and writer best known as the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson is a cultural phenomenon and w ...

'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 an American 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 sho ...

(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 Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen (born July 7, 1927) is an American retired jazz trumpeter who led the NBC Orchestra on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. Early life Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon, to Minnie Mae (1897–1998) ...

(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, Harv ...

'' on

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

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

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

'', ''

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'', '' Trapper John M.D.'', Perry Como's ''

Kraft Music Hall ''The Kraft Music Hall'' was a popular old-time radio variety show, variety program, featuring top show business entertainers, which aired first on NBC radio from 1933 to 1949. Radio ''The Kraft Program'' debuted June 26, 1933, as a musical- ...

'', and ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series had runs on two different networks on NBC (1962–1963) and CBS (1969–1972) but is most known for its run on first-run syndication from 1965 to 1 ...

''. 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 attende ...

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

Eddie Sauter Edward Ernest Sauter (December 2, 1914 – April 21, 1981) was an American 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 trumpe ...

'' 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 Jers ...

'', 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 ''

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

I Can Get It for You Wholesale ''I Can Get It for You Wholesale'' is a musical originally produced by David Merrick, with music and lyrics by Harold Rome, and book by Jerome Weidman, based on his 1937 novel of the same title. Its 1962 production marked the Broadway debut ...

''. His concert work also included stints with the ''

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

'' and His Orchestra. His studio work includes well-known albums by artists such as ''

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

'', ''

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

'', ''

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

'', 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 (apart from a dance sequ ...

Discography

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

Johnny Hodges Johnny Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophone, 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 sop ...

*'' 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, pianist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing t ...

*''

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, KGerry ...

'' (DRG, 1961

980 Year 980 ( CMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Peace is concluded between Emperor Otto II (the Red) and King Lothair III (or Lothair IV) at Margut, ending the Franco-Germa ...

with

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

;With

Bernard Purdie Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie (born June 11, 1939) is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul, funk and jazz musician. He is known for his precise time-keeping and his signature use of Tuplet, triplets against a half-time backbeat: the P ...

*''

Stand By Me (Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get) ''Stand By Me (Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get)'' is an album led by jazz drummer Bernard Purdie which was recorded for the Mega label in 1971 and released on their Flying Dutchman Series.

'' (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'' wh ...

*''

When It Was Done ''When It Was Done'' is an album by Brazilian keyboardist Walter Wanderley featuring performances recorded in 1968 and released on the CTI label.

'' (A&M/CTI, 1968)

Early career

1960–1994

Discography

References

Further reading