Michel Donato

Michel Donato (born August 25, 1942) is a Canadian jazz double bass player, composer, and singer and pianist. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, "is association with both [Oscar] Peterson and [Bill] Evans marks Donato as one of Canada's foremost jazz bassists...". He was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2007.

Career Early years He grew up in a musical family, as his grandfather was a violinist and his father, Roland, was a saxophone, flute and piano player and dance band leader. Michel Donato studied accordion at age 10 and piano at age 12. He studied double bass from 1958 to 1961 at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal (CMM) with Roger Charbonneau. After leaving CMM, he took private lessons with Thomas Martin.

In the 1980s, he played in trios with Lorraine Desmarais and Oliver Jones. In 1984, he played with Oscar Peterson and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. As well, he formed a duo with jazz singer Karen Young, playing bass and sometimes piano while she sang.

In 1990, he collaborated with Young on another album, "En vol III". In the early 1990s, he did a duo collaboration with virtuoso Quebecois electric bassist Alain Caron from the jazz fusion band UZEB.

Discography Karen Young/Michel Donato with Karen Young (Justin Time, 1985) Contredanse (Justin Time, 1988) En Vol. III (Justin Time, 1990) Basse Contre Basse with Alain Caron (Avant Garde, 1992) De Toute Beauté with Alain Lamontagne (Transit, 1995) Maree Bass (Label Bleu, 1995) Setting the Standard with James Gelfand (DSM, 1996) Live (DSM/Unidisc, 1996) Second Time Around with Karen Young (Ursh, 1996) Setting the Standard Vol. 2 with James Gelfand (DSM, 1996) Matters of the Spirit with Reno De Stefano (DSM, 2001) Noel En Harmonie (Justin Time, 2004) Et Ses Amis Européens (Effendi, 2004) Happy Blue (2 Contrebasses) with Guillaume Bouchard (Zig Zag, 2006) Et Ses Amis Européens Vol. 2 (Effendi, 2007) Autour De Bill Evans with Frank Lozano (Effendi, 2011) Noel En Harmonie Vol. 2 (Justin Time, 2014)