John Doheny

John Doheny
John Doheny at the Vancouver Jazz Festival '07. Photo by Raquel Dennett
Background information
Born	(1953-12-17) December 17, 1953 (age 63) Seattle, Washington, United States
Genres	Jazz
Instruments	Saxophones, Flute, Clarinet

John Steven "Pip" Doheny (born December 17, 1953), is a jazz tenor saxophonist and band leader, who also plays flute, clarinet, and alto saxophone.

Born in Seattle, Washington, Doheny studied with prominent Canadian saxophonist and bandleader Fraser MacPherson, whom he credits as a major influence. He spent his early career in the 1970s primarily in Vancouver, Canada, playing in local rhythm and blues bands and strip clubs, as well as spending large parts of each year on exhaustive road trips to taverns throughout rural British Columbia and Alberta. By the late 1970s and into the mid 1980s he was appearing as a sideman with artists such as Albert Collins, Doug and the Slugs, the Coasters, the Platters, the Temptations, and Buddy Knox. In the late 1980s he relocated to Toronto, Canada, and then New York City, working with the bands of Lloyd Williams, Solomon Burke, Danny B, and Kenny Margolis. The 1990s saw Doheny doing extensive touring and studio work, both with jazz ensembles and pop groups, including Bell Biv Devoe.

He released his first CD as a leader One Up, Two Back in 2002, featuring his band the John Doheny Quintet, and vocalist Colleen Savage. In 2003 he relocated to New Orleans to pursue a master's degree in jazz history at Tulane University.

Doheny is noted as a colorful raconteur (no small accomplishment in a city like New Orleans). A 2002 interview with him can be found here, courtesy of smoothjazz.com, which includes an explanation of how he came to acquire the middle name "Pip", and an account of his early days as a struggling musician.