DESIGN WEB - Key Persons
Donny Osborne found himself behind his first set of drums at age four. The Chicago native recalls that there was a lot of music around his house; all jazz. "HI-FI Drums" by Woody Herman's Herd featuring Buddy Rich is the earliest recording that he remembers. He acquired his amazing drumming skill set by ear, spending hours playing to records from the family album collection. With the exception of music reading lessons from big band drummer Roy Burns, Osborne never had a formal drum lesson in his life. He was first and foremost influenced by the amazing genius and technique of Buddy Rich, and also by the skill of drumming greats Gene Krupa, Dave Tough, and Chick Webb. Donny's primary and middle schools had no formal music programs. Unlike other kids who participate in youth music ensembles or garage bands, Donny first started with the Buddy Rich Orchestra.
Donny started a love affair with the Pacific Northwest while conducting drum clinics at Vancouver Washington's Clark College, and University of Idaho at Moscow, Idaho. He enrolled in the Mount Hood Community College Music Curriculum in 1971. "That was a great band, and a once in a life time opportunity" Osborne reminisces, "The Director, Larry McVey, and the members of the band were committed to performance excellence!" Drummer for Mel Torme.
Here are a few words about Donny from DANNY SERAPHINE the great former drummer from the multi-platinum selling mega group CHICAGO and current leader of CTA..."Steve it's true what you are saying about Donny, we should all be so lucky to be able to play Buddy's licks as good as Donny does, he deserves to be championed. BTW we're all Buddy imitators, or at least we try and eventually give in to the fact that Buddy was a one of a kind and we best do our own interpretation of him."