Home » Jazz Musicians » Will Donato
Will Donato
Will Donato is one of music’s most dynamic performers, gifted with the ability to bond and connect with his audiences. His latest radio single “Infinite Soul”, released in January 2019 and dedicated to his hero father Joseph, a retired military man and Will’s inspirational wife Diana, reached the coveted #1 spot on the Billboard smooth jazz airplay chart.
A cancer survivor who truly celebrates each day and each person he meets, Will has headlined or shared the stage as a special guest at the Blue Note in New York City, The Seabreeze Jazz Festival, The Algarve Groove International Jazz Festival in Portugal, The Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival, Humphrey's By The Bay, The Capital Jazz Cruise, and Rick Braun's New Year's Eve.
Will has performed with some of the best known musicians of the groove / smooth jazz genre, namely Al McKay of Earth Wind and Fire, Richard Elliot, Bruce Conte of Tower of Power, Steve Reid of The Rippingtons, Brian Simpson, Steve Oliver, Gregg Karukas and Nick Colionne. He has worked in the pop music genre as well - most notably with Gerald Levert, Wynonna Judd, Toni Childs, and superstar Richard Marx. His music can be heard on the number one contemporary jazz legacy hit from Steve Oliver, “High Noon” as well as on the soundtracks from several movie scores including Thelma and Louise, The Wedding Planner, Under the Boardwalk, and No Man’s Land.
In the studio working on his next full-length album to be released in late 2019, Will Donato was quoted by NewJazz.com as "A Must See Show!”
Tags
João Donato (1934-2023)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
João Donato, one of Brazil's original bossa nova pianist-composers who stood out among a sea of extraordinarily talented peers by integrating jazz and Latin chord voicings and rhythms into his playing style, died on July 17. He was 88. Donato's contemporaries included Brazilian musician-composers Johnny Alf, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Carlos Lyra, Roberto Menescal, João Gilberto, Eumir Deodato and others who softened the samba with a West Coast jazz feel. Born and raised initially in Rio Branco, in western Brazil near ...
read more
Jerry Donato and Pete Jolly
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
At the end of April, my dear friend and arranger Bob Freedman sent along the following email about the late pianist Pete Jolly: “A few years ago, I wrote a few arrangements for a CD being recorded by Jerry Donato, a wonderful Phoenix-area reed player. Among the other local players was a pianist named Pete Jolly. Pete was very ill the entire time he was here, but he played typically beautifully throughout the three days of recording, and his spirits ...
read more
