Lighthouse

Jack's debut CD, Lighthouse, celebrates the music of the greatest singer-songwriters working today-- from Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Webb and Mary Chapin Carpenter, to Burt Bacharach, Hal David and Adam Guettel. The Chicago Sun-Times calls the CD wholly enchanting, and Show Business Weekly wrote (Lighthouse) is astonishing, revealing a singer of enormous depth and range . . .. Equally comfortable singing theater pieces as well as pop songs, Donahue exhibits a vocal assuredness and a focused intensity that vault him into the big leagues. TimeOut NY named Lighthouse CD Pick of the Week and wrote leave it to an Irishman to make sorrow sing. Lighthouse is distributed by LML Music and is available at record stores nationwide and at www.jackdonahue.com

Vocalist Jack Donahue returned to the recording studio in 2003 with Grammy® award-winning artist/producer Peter Eldridge to begin work on his second CD, entitled Strange Weather. On this new CD Jack collaborates with an all-star lineup of jazz musicians including Johnny Frigo, Loston Harris, Andy Ezrin, David Finck and Ben Wittman. Strange Weather will feature fresh jazz takes on classic songs by Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, and others. Like Jack's debut recording, Lighthouse, this new effort will pair these well-known standards with songs by contemporary writers such as Suzanne Vega, Kenny Rankin, and Peter Eldridge. Strange Weather is scheduled for release in May 2004. In the meantime Mr. Donahue continues to perform club dates across the country to critical acclaim. Rex Reed, in The New York Observer, wrote: There is a bright new talent in our midst . . . with a rich and enchanting voice and a stylish act full of fine songs that are as sad, funny and beautiful as they are unhackneyed . . .. (Mr. Donahue) already has more polish and taste than a lot of performers twice his age, with half of the inflated self-importance of many over-praised kids who are even younger. Handsome and personable, with his musical pores wide open, there is a strong indication that Mr. Donahue is going places fast. Jack most recently played the Plush Room in San Francisco, has performed at the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel and the Triad Theater in New York, and has made numerous guest appearances at Town Hall.

In addition to his performing and recording career, Jack has appeared in the world premieres of The Ballad of Little Jo at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, directed by Tina Landau (Bells Are Ringing), and What The World Needs Now at the Old Globe Theatre, directed by Gillian Lynne (Cats). Jack also worked with Ms. Landau on the national tour of Adam Guettel's Floyd Collins. His work in Of Melodrama and Murder, a piece centered on the music of Kurt Weill that was performed at New York's Joyce Theater and HERE, was glowingly reviewed by The New York Times.

Jack has received numerous awards and honors including the Manhattan Association of Club and Cafes' (MAC) prestigious Hanson Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist and Backstage magazine's Bistro Award for Best Male Vocalist. Jack has also garnered MAC nominations for Best Male Vocalist and Best Debut CD.

Jack Donahue performed his act My Foolish Heart onboard the QE II for one of its famed World Cruises, and was a featured singer is six musical reviews at the Williamstown Theater Festival.
10 items found

Song(s)