New York City-based saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer: Live and in the studio

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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Live and in the studio

I get to spend some time this week in two very cool studios: Pedernales, 25 miles west of Austin, and 1916, in Kyle. Working in the studio is one of my favorite things in the world, especially when I get to work with extremely talented songwriters and musicians. Pedernales Studio deserves all the hype it gets, but Studio 1916 is very new and also very happening. Blake knows what he's doing.

The spring is really gearing up with tons of shows. Not all of them are public, but here are some that are, and I'm going to add more soon:

4/16: Nelo at the Berry Street Block Party and Filthy McNasty's, Fort Worth, TX
4/20: Monster Big Band at the Elephant Room, Austin, TX
4/21: Nelo at the Blue Light, Lubbock, TX
5/6: Nelo at Schotzi's, College Station, TX
5/7: Nelo at River Road Ice House, New Braunfels, TX
5/14: Nelo at the Executive Surf Club, Corpus Christi, TX

Bio

Initiate third-person voice.

Brian Donohoe was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and took an early interest in composing and performing on the piano, woodwinds, and guitars. Originally inspired by soundtracks from movies, cartoons, and video games, he soon became fascinated with British and American rock, pop, soul, funk, and jazz. By high school he was playing bass in rock bands, piano and saxophone in jazz and funk bands, and clarinet in the Albuquerque Youth Symphony.

While attending the University of North Texas College of Music jazz studies program, Brian recorded and toured internationally with the Grammy-nominated One O’Clock Lab Band and won Down Beat Magazine awards as a soloist and band leader. He developed friendships with the UNT community that would eventually evolve into the Grammy-winning group Snarky Puppy under the direction of Michael League. He also worked with prominent members of the Dallas music scene, including Robert “Sput” Searight (Snoop Dogg/Kendrick Lamar), Shaun Martin (Kirk Franklin/Kim Burrell), TaRon Lockett (Erykah Badu/Funk Apostles), Wes Stephenson (The Funky Knuckles), and Bobby Sparks (Prince/Marcus Miller).

After composing music for and performing on three Snarky Puppy albums, Brian moved from Dallas to Austin, spending several years as a touring and session musician while forming and developing his own group, Progger. He currently serves as Progger’s band leader, saxophonist, keyboardist, and primary composer.

In 2013, Brian relocated to New York City while keeping ties to Austin and Dallas strong. In 2016, Progger released its third record, “Scattering,” under the auspices of Ropeadope Records, using musicians from both Texas and New York. “Scattering” was released to warm critical reception by the international jazz and progressive music communities, and it continues to garner praise in publications and podcasts in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

In addition to Progger and Snarky Puppy, Brian has performed and recorded with many critically acclaimed artists including Okkervil River, Myron Butler & Levi, Nelo, Bill Laurance, The ClubCasa Chamber Orchestra, and The MK Groove Orchestra. His compositions appear in multimedia productions around the world.