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Bob Dorough

Bob Dorough is an NEA Jazz Master BOB DOROUGH, born in Arkansas and "raised" in Texas, immediately fell in love with music upon joining the Plainview Texas High School Band. He served three years in a Special Services Army Band Unit, gaining much professional experience as arranger, clarinetist, saxophonist, pianist, and entertainer (1943-45).

After earning a Bachelor Of Music degree at the University of North Texas (1949), he made a bee-line for New York City where he took classes at Columbia University and immersed himself in the volatile jazz scene then taking place there -the BeBop revolution. In 1952 he turned his back on the academic scene to devote himself to jazz performance, specializing in piano/vocals. After years of accompanying, conducting, arranging, and playing, he made his first recording as a leader (1956) for the Bethlehem label....DEVIL MAY CARE, having written the title tune three years earlier. He is known as "the only singer to record with Miles Davis". While this may not be 100% true, he did record two vocals with Davis, in 1962, "Nothing Like You" and "Blue Xmas," both of which he composed.

Davis also recorded an instrumental version of Bob's classic song, "Devil May Care," that same year.

In 1971 he received a commission to "set the multiplication tables to music." This led to a small industry, being the beginning of ABC-TV's SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK, Saturday morning cartoons that entertained and instructed unsuspecting children during the years 1973-1985. The impact of this media exposure was unpredictably immense. The show came back for another five years in the 90's and is now enjoying its 40th anniversary with a DVD edition of the entire, five-subject series, for which Dorough worked as the Musical Director.

In 1995 he signed a contract with the prestigious jazz label - Blue Note Records - and has done three CDs for them ("Right On My Way Home," "Too Much Coffee Man" and "Who's On First").

Now residing in Pennsylvania, he has received honors from that state (the Governor's Artist of the Year Award) and from his native state (the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame.)

In 2002 his trio was chosen to represent the State Department and Kennedy Center, as an Ambassador of Jazz and Blues. The one-month tour saw them play some 22 workshops and concerts in thirteen cities in six different countries.

Currently recording on Arbors, Candid and his own label, Bob Dorough continues to perform, often for children too, in Jazz Clubs and Schools, wherever he can.

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Album Review

Roseanna Vitro: Sing a Song of Bird

Read "Sing a Song of Bird" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


Roseanne Vitro is one of those jazz singers who falls into the category of “I recognize the voice, but I just can't seem to place her." She has more than a respectable discography which stretches back to 1982, when she released her debut album Listen Here for the Texas Rose label. Her fall 2021 album, Sing A Song Of Bird, is a combination of abundance of attitude and perseverance, since it is composed of two separate sessions (one recorded in ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Saluting the 2019 Jazz Masters Maria Schneider and Bob Dorough

Read "Saluting the 2019 Jazz Masters Maria Schneider and Bob Dorough" reviewed by Mary Foster Conklin


This broadcast includes new releases from vocalist Lauren White, pianist Sarah McKenzie and saxophonist Cory Weeds with birthday shout outs to Carmen McRae, Herbie Hancock, Marie Goudy, Marilyn Maye and Barbara Lea, among others, with a nod to the upcoming Jazz Masters Bob Dorough and Maria Schneider. Also who's in town this week and playing the clubs.Playlist David Murray, Geri Allen and Terri Lyne Carrington Power Trio “Geri-Rigged" from Perfection (Motema) 00:00 Marilyn Maye “You're Gonna Hear From ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Bob Dorough: NEA Jazz Master & More

Read "Bob Dorough: NEA Jazz Master & More" reviewed by Marc Cohn


We salute the late Bob Dorough, play a game, celebrate Newk with Miles from 1954, and have Tatum and Bud face off on “Yesterdays." There's recent music and a few gems from the vault, too. Enjoy the show. Playlist Carl Allen, Rodney Whitaker “What's Going On" from Work To Do (Mack Avenue) 00:00 Jeff Coffin “The Evil Boweevil" from Live! (Ear Up) 05:33 Thomas Marriott “The Tale Of Debauchery" from Urban Folklore (Origin) 15:18 Melissa Aldana “Visions" from ...

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Radio & Podcasts

For Today, Tomorrow and Always - A 2018 Retrospective

Read "For Today, Tomorrow and Always - A 2018 Retrospective" reviewed by Mary Foster Conklin


The final broadcast of the year remembered some of the great artists that left us in 2018, with birthday shout outs to Una Mae Carlisle, Cab Calloway, Rebecca Parris, Nancy LaMott and Annie Lennox, among others, plus a nod to more Grammy nominees. Happy New Year! Playlist Janice Friedman “Get Set" from Live at Kitano (Self released) 00:00 Tom Waits “New Year's Eve" from Bad As Me (Anti) 03:45 Una Mae Carlisle “Oh I'm Evil" from Divas, Vol. ...

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Album Review

Bob Dorough Trio featuring Michael Hornstein: But For Now

Read "But For Now" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


When But For Now first landed in 2015, it was a reminder of the good-natured brilliance behind the artistry of one of America's greatest living treasures. But with Bob Dorough's passing in April of 2018, the album's second coming plays more like a parting gift. Recorded in 2014, when Dorough was already a spry nonagenarian, this drummer-less trio date emphasizes his craggy cool. Right from the start, on an attractive “Baltimore Oriole," he matches those beloved pitted ...

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Profile

Bob Dorough: 1923-2018

Read "Bob Dorough: 1923-2018" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


"The South is what we started out with in this bizarre, slightly troubling, basically wonderful country--fun, danger, friendliness, energy, enthusiasm, and brave, crazy, tough people." --Bill Maxwell The American South has always existed in a most peculiar and conflicted dimension culturally. I believe that this state of being is what has enabled the South to act as that fecund and creative environment for developing every major popular music genre: jazz, blues, county, R&B, soul, and rock; each being ...

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Book Excerpts

Jazz Bursts Forth in Delaware Water Gap, PA

Read "Jazz Bursts Forth in Delaware Water Gap, PA" reviewed by Debbie Burke


The following is an excerpt is from Chapter 1 of The Poconos in B Flat by Debbie Burke (Xlibris, 2011). All Rights Reserved. The iconic image of your approach from Interstate 80 coming from New York City and going west is of the negative space between two massive mountains that form a backdrop behind the Delaware River. Delaware Water Gap--the first stop on the Pennsylvania side of the Interstate coming from New Jersey and NYC--has ...

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Recording

Famed Vocalist Roseanna Vitro Releases 'Sing A Song Of Bird Feat. Sheila Jordan, Bob Dorough, Marion Cowings

Famed Vocalist Roseanna Vitro Releases 'Sing A Song Of Bird Feat. Sheila Jordan, Bob Dorough, Marion Cowings

Source: Mouthpiece Music

Vocalist Roseanna Vitro is a favorite among jazz aficionados and musicians alike. That’s why Cedar Walton has said, “Roseanna Vitro, one of my favorite vocalists, sings with a great feeling for jazz. Her readings on major compositions are monumental.” Her outsized talents and passion for the music are matched only by the generosity of her spirit, which shines beautifully on her newest recording Sing a Song of Bird, a celebration of the great and inimitable Charlie Parker. Vitro conceived this ...

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Video / DVD

Bob Dorough (1923-2018)

Bob Dorough (1923-2018)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Bob Dorough, who began his jazz career in the early 1950s as a pianist and arranger and expanded to singing and songwriting laced with sardonic wit and puns, died on April 23. He was 94. Dorough in the late 1950s was part of an ever-expanding group of clever writers who wound up in comedy, television and advertising. Steeped in jazz, either as players or aficionados, and deft with words and dry observational humor, this generation of pithy writers included Dave ...

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Obituary

Bob Dorough Is Gone

Bob Dorough Is Gone

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

Word has arrived that Bob Dorough died today at his home in Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania. He was 94. Dorough’s greatest fame in popular culture stemmed from his central role in the enormously successful television series Schoolhouse Rock. The program informed and entertained children, and many adults, from 1973 to 1985. Within the jazz community, Dorough was a beloved singer of literate and witty songs that he wrote and performed, usually accompanying himself as a skilled and harmonically adept pianist. In ...

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Performance / Tour

Bob Dorough to Perform Sunday, January 15 at the Bistro at Grand Center

Bob Dorough to Perform Sunday, January 15 at the Bistro at Grand Center

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Singer, pianist and songwriter Bob Dorough (pictured), known for being one of the few vocalists ever to record with Miles Davis as well as for his compositions for the ABC-TV children's program Schoolhouse Rock, is returning to St. Louis to perform at 7:00 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. Sunday, January 15 at the Bistro at Grand Center, 3536 Washington Boulevard. The show is billed as a tribute to Fran Landesman, the late poet, songwriter and former St. Louisan who, with her ...

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TV / Film

Devil May Care: The Bob Dorough Movie

Devil May Care: The Bob Dorough Movie

Source: The Business Musician by Craig M. Cortello

We've written about Bob Dorough several times here before. Bob is a unique and wonderful jazz singer/songwriter, but he's best known as the musical director of Schoolhouse Rock, the cartoon vignettes set to music that taught children Grammar, Math, Science, Multiplication, History. Economics, and Environmental lessons. Bob composed such wonderful songs as “Conjunction Junction" and “Three is a Magic Number," and through DVDs his music is being passed along to future generations. He continues to perform well into his 80's. ...

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Recording

'Oliver!' Like You've Never Heard It Before

'Oliver!' Like You've Never Heard It Before

Source: All About Jazz

Inner City/Classic Jazz is proud to announce the re-issue of Bob Dorough's 1954 album An Excursion Through 'Oliver!'

While the arrangements and conceptions are credited chiefly to Dorough, a great deal of integrated creativity was brought to bear by quartet members Al Schackman (guitar), Ben Tucker (bass), and Bobby Thomas (drums).

Working at the time in (of all places) the Dickens Room in New York, they played through the music of 'Oliver!' each evening, weighing and shifting approaches, until arriving ...

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Performance / Tour

Singer/Pianist Bob Dorough Plays Jazz at Pearl's May 4-6

Singer/Pianist Bob Dorough Plays Jazz at Pearl's May 4-6

Source: Rocket Words

Swinging, whimsey and the beloved songs of “Schoolhouse Rock" on tap in North Beach

“[Bob Dorough] is one of the great joys of modern music. A true force of nature, standard bearer of the concept of 'heart and soul' - hipster saint . . . and all around righteous teacher. He's like some kind of giant smile that rose with the sun seventy-some years ago and stayed up there in the sky, shining down for all to see"--Mike Zwerin, International ...

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Performance / Tour

The Great Bob Dorough at Sweet Rhythm Tonight! Tuesday, March 20th

The Great Bob Dorough at Sweet Rhythm Tonight! Tuesday, March 20th

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

"One of the last hipsters standing"--Gary Giddins, Village Voice

One of many Bebop emigres who flocked to NYC from all over the country, Bob hit the Apple in the summer of 1949 after receiving his Bachelor of Music degree from North Texas University. While taking more classes at Columbia, he practiced the new repertoire with his peers, and sometimes with the Masters. By 1952 he was through with the academic world and became a “pro," devoting his talent to piano/ ...

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Technology

Bob Dorough & Skip Heller Pay Tribute to Phila Pianist Eric Spiegel in Podcast

Bob Dorough & Skip Heller Pay Tribute to Phila Pianist Eric Spiegel in Podcast

Source: All About Jazz

TO ERIC SPIEGEL WITH LOVE FROM SKIP HELLER & BOB DOROUGH should be a disc, but some things are done for love, not money. The venerated singing pianist (83 years young) and the critically-lauded maverick jazz guitarist play a handful of tunes performed often by Spiegel and Heller, when the latter was making his bones under the former's watchful eye.

Spiegel, who was one of Philadelphia's great jazz talents, died last summer after years of failing health. Both as jazz ...

173

Recording

Blossom Dearie & Bob Dorough LIVE CD!

Blossom Dearie & Bob Dorough LIVE CD!

Source: All About Jazz


Ori Dagan
vocals
Val Hawk
vocals
The Royal Bopsters
band / ensemble / orchestra

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Sing a Song of Bird

Skyline Records
2021

buy

But For Now

Enja Records
2018

buy

Eulalia

Self Produced
2014

buy

Duets

Self Produced
2013

buy

As You Spend Your Life

Southport Records
2011

buy

Small Day Tomorrow

Candid Records
2006

buy

Videos

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