Life and Times: Tom Doran was much more than Edmonton's Godfather of Drums
Author of the article:Roger Levesque
Publishing date:Dec 09, 2021 •
On the beat
Doran was a consummate professional whose versatility put him in high demand and he appeared on dozens of recordings.
It was Paul Horn who turned Doran on to the benefits of meditation in the early 1970s and it’s no surprise the late American-born flautist hired him for extended tours of the U.S. and Canada in 1972. Horn had a thing for hiring great jazz drummers but at the time his career was shifting from jazz to pioneering meditative sounds in new age and world music. Doran fit that musical equation perfectly.
The drummer made room to work with countless younger players and briefly taught drums in the original MacEwan College jazz program. When Banks agreed to produce the debut recording of singer and radio (CKUA, CJSR, NPR) broadcaster Dianne Donovan in 1997, Doran signed on to fashion the grooves.
“I had heard so much about him,” Donovan recalls. “I was a little nervous or shy around him. However, he was the uber-pro, exacting, tasty and never overblown. It was an honour to have him on the album.”
Tom and Denyse Doran were both early advocates for the legalization of cannabis. He wasn’t one to shy away from saying so and aware enough to know the benefits of using everything in moderation. His wife observed that, “Tom had a tremendous interest in cannabis. He was really stoned a lot in the 1960s but he straightened himself out.”
She considered her husband to be, “an uncanny magnet for good fortune.”
Doran restored old automobiles as a hobby and his mechanical talents also put him in demand with Banks. As Denyse tells it, “When they went on road trips Tom Banks always made Tom (Doran) ride with him, because (Doran) was mechanical, and if something went wrong with the car, Banks knew that Tom could fix it.”
It’s difficult to sum up Doran’s life and work. His contribution to the city’s music scene will live like a subtle, stylish whisper of brushes on the snares, for years to come.
I interviewed Doran in 1999 when he announced one of several retirements from Banks’ band (it speaks volumes that Banks kept pushing him to come back). At the time, Doran pondered what a good musical situation was, saying, “Any band where the music (is) played with sincerity and a true sense of exploration in finding and going to new musical places. That’s my favourite thing, a musical adventure.”
Doran died Nov. 30 following a long struggle with renal failure. He’s survived by his wife of 50 years, Denyse, their children Leila, Thomas Jr. and Sara, and his brother Brian.
yegarts@postmedia.com
Author of the article:Roger Levesque
Publishing date:Dec 09, 2021 •
Tom Doran, Edmonton's Godfather of drums, died Nov.30, 2021.
PHOTO BY SUPPLIED
Article content
Edmonton’s musical community skipped a few beats following the recent death of groove master Tom Doran at the age of 78.
The Edmonton-born drummer, who enjoyed a side career as an entrepreneur, was best known as the man who kept time for late bandleader Tommy Banks through several decades but that only begins to sum up his multifaceted career.
As a first-call drummer to Banks and others, Doran tackled jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, country and other genres with grace, palpable enthusiasm and superior technique, going on to influence, encourage and occasionally teach younger generations of musicians. Lending his talents to several collectives, he also backed up the likes of David Foster, Paul Horn, Big Miller, George Blondheim, Lenny Breau, Cheryl Fisher, Kennedy Jensen and many more.
Doran was one of the last surviving members of Banks’ early variety band, The Banknotes, and the original Tommy Banks Big Band. The Big Band’s recorded appearance at the 1978 Montreux Jazz Festival won a Juno Award the following year.
Backing rock-pop units like The Original Caste, he joined Privilege for an extended U.S. tour performing Jesus Christ Superstar. Doran shared musical direction in projects like Wizard (later Blizzard) with other Edmonton music greats like Earl Seymour, The Jury with Mo Marshall and the Vancouver-based Django with Gaye Delorme and Hans Stammer.
During the 1970s and early 1980s when Banks’ groups figured in the hit television series Celebrity Review (later The Tommy Banks Show) and the ITV In Concert series with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Doran’s drumming helped anchor appearances with international celebrities like Aretha Franklin, Tom Jones and Tina Turner. Banks nicknamed him “Drum” and many considered him Edmonton’s Godfather of drums.
Doran’s business ventures reflected his spiritual and artistic interests. Based in and around Old Strathcona for the better part of 40 years, he and his wife Denyse founded the metaphysical Ananda Books in the mid-’70s, Jupiter Crystal in 1982, and Remedy Cafe (now under different owners) later that decade.
Jupiter gradually morphed into Jupiter Glass, a successful outlet for Doran’s handcrafted glass art, jewellery creations and later, glass pipes. Since closing the Whyte Avenue store in September this year, their kids Sara and Tom Doran Jr. continue to market through the Winnipeg-based online venture Jupiter Cannabis.
Everyone who knew him insists Doran had an especially friendly, gentle personality. His wife Denyse credits that agreeable demeanour to “the profound influence” of his daily five-decade practice of meditation.
In an interview for the Journal in 1999, Doran said he felt his real talent grew from “hands-on trial and error”. His first drum was actually the pot of an old banjo he played with tree twigs. Seeing Louis Armstrong at age 10 steered him in the right direction and the three Doran brothers made an amateur trio. He started lessons at Heinzmen’s Music at age 12, with private lessons from Art Darch, but working with Bernie Senensky and Winston Mays taught him the fundamentals of jazz.
After starting out in a teenage rock band with pal Mo Marshall, his first official gig came in 1957 with accordion-polka king Gaby Haas. The original Yardbird Suite jazz club had recently opened and within a year Doran was a regular patron, listening to the likes of Banks, Phil Shragge and Terry Hawkeye. Finally, one Saturday night he got to jam and, as he was earlier quoted, “I was hooked on jazz after that.”
Early stints in local bands like James and the Bondsman, and with Hank DeMarco led to work at The Jazz Door with Lenny Breau and P.J. Perry. Banks asked Doran to join his quartet in 1967 and the band played Expo ’67 in Montreal.
A late ’60s sojourn to Vancouver found Doran drumming in an experimental jazz fusion sextet Django, which played a club owned by the family of Tommy Chong, who became one of his best friends.
Django member and former Edmonton guitarist-singer Hans Stammer recalls Doran, saying, “I was always amazed by what a beautiful sound he had and his style of playing. He was a fantastic drummer, so easy to play with, adjusting when the band stretched out whatever the music involved. He always sounded great and he was such a nice person to be with.”
Long before the internet, Edmonton’s live music scene offered an abundance of venues. Doran put in regular work with Banks at clubs like The Embers and accompanied by vocalists like Judy Singh, and guests like David Foster, or with Bob Stroup at the Palms Cafe. Banks’ later television projects kept Doran busy with session work at multiple television studios here and in Vancouver.
Article content
Edmonton’s musical community skipped a few beats following the recent death of groove master Tom Doran at the age of 78.
The Edmonton-born drummer, who enjoyed a side career as an entrepreneur, was best known as the man who kept time for late bandleader Tommy Banks through several decades but that only begins to sum up his multifaceted career.
As a first-call drummer to Banks and others, Doran tackled jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, country and other genres with grace, palpable enthusiasm and superior technique, going on to influence, encourage and occasionally teach younger generations of musicians. Lending his talents to several collectives, he also backed up the likes of David Foster, Paul Horn, Big Miller, George Blondheim, Lenny Breau, Cheryl Fisher, Kennedy Jensen and many more.
Doran was one of the last surviving members of Banks’ early variety band, The Banknotes, and the original Tommy Banks Big Band. The Big Band’s recorded appearance at the 1978 Montreux Jazz Festival won a Juno Award the following year.
Backing rock-pop units like The Original Caste, he joined Privilege for an extended U.S. tour performing Jesus Christ Superstar. Doran shared musical direction in projects like Wizard (later Blizzard) with other Edmonton music greats like Earl Seymour, The Jury with Mo Marshall and the Vancouver-based Django with Gaye Delorme and Hans Stammer.
During the 1970s and early 1980s when Banks’ groups figured in the hit television series Celebrity Review (later The Tommy Banks Show) and the ITV In Concert series with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Doran’s drumming helped anchor appearances with international celebrities like Aretha Franklin, Tom Jones and Tina Turner. Banks nicknamed him “Drum” and many considered him Edmonton’s Godfather of drums.
Doran’s business ventures reflected his spiritual and artistic interests. Based in and around Old Strathcona for the better part of 40 years, he and his wife Denyse founded the metaphysical Ananda Books in the mid-’70s, Jupiter Crystal in 1982, and Remedy Cafe (now under different owners) later that decade.
Jupiter gradually morphed into Jupiter Glass, a successful outlet for Doran’s handcrafted glass art, jewellery creations and later, glass pipes. Since closing the Whyte Avenue store in September this year, their kids Sara and Tom Doran Jr. continue to market through the Winnipeg-based online venture Jupiter Cannabis.
Everyone who knew him insists Doran had an especially friendly, gentle personality. His wife Denyse credits that agreeable demeanour to “the profound influence” of his daily five-decade practice of meditation.
In an interview for the Journal in 1999, Doran said he felt his real talent grew from “hands-on trial and error”. His first drum was actually the pot of an old banjo he played with tree twigs. Seeing Louis Armstrong at age 10 steered him in the right direction and the three Doran brothers made an amateur trio. He started lessons at Heinzmen’s Music at age 12, with private lessons from Art Darch, but working with Bernie Senensky and Winston Mays taught him the fundamentals of jazz.
After starting out in a teenage rock band with pal Mo Marshall, his first official gig came in 1957 with accordion-polka king Gaby Haas. The original Yardbird Suite jazz club had recently opened and within a year Doran was a regular patron, listening to the likes of Banks, Phil Shragge and Terry Hawkeye. Finally, one Saturday night he got to jam and, as he was earlier quoted, “I was hooked on jazz after that.”
Early stints in local bands like James and the Bondsman, and with Hank DeMarco led to work at The Jazz Door with Lenny Breau and P.J. Perry. Banks asked Doran to join his quartet in 1967 and the band played Expo ’67 in Montreal.
A late ’60s sojourn to Vancouver found Doran drumming in an experimental jazz fusion sextet Django, which played a club owned by the family of Tommy Chong, who became one of his best friends.
Django member and former Edmonton guitarist-singer Hans Stammer recalls Doran, saying, “I was always amazed by what a beautiful sound he had and his style of playing. He was a fantastic drummer, so easy to play with, adjusting when the band stretched out whatever the music involved. He always sounded great and he was such a nice person to be with.”
Long before the internet, Edmonton’s live music scene offered an abundance of venues. Doran put in regular work with Banks at clubs like The Embers and accompanied by vocalists like Judy Singh, and guests like David Foster, or with Bob Stroup at the Palms Cafe. Banks’ later television projects kept Doran busy with session work at multiple television studios here and in Vancouver.
On the beat
Doran was a consummate professional whose versatility put him in high demand and he appeared on dozens of recordings.
It was Paul Horn who turned Doran on to the benefits of meditation in the early 1970s and it’s no surprise the late American-born flautist hired him for extended tours of the U.S. and Canada in 1972. Horn had a thing for hiring great jazz drummers but at the time his career was shifting from jazz to pioneering meditative sounds in new age and world music. Doran fit that musical equation perfectly.
The drummer made room to work with countless younger players and briefly taught drums in the original MacEwan College jazz program. When Banks agreed to produce the debut recording of singer and radio (CKUA, CJSR, NPR) broadcaster Dianne Donovan in 1997, Doran signed on to fashion the grooves.
“I had heard so much about him,” Donovan recalls. “I was a little nervous or shy around him. However, he was the uber-pro, exacting, tasty and never overblown. It was an honour to have him on the album.”
Tom and Denyse Doran were both early advocates for the legalization of cannabis. He wasn’t one to shy away from saying so and aware enough to know the benefits of using everything in moderation. His wife observed that, “Tom had a tremendous interest in cannabis. He was really stoned a lot in the 1960s but he straightened himself out.”
She considered her husband to be, “an uncanny magnet for good fortune.”
Doran restored old automobiles as a hobby and his mechanical talents also put him in demand with Banks. As Denyse tells it, “When they went on road trips Tom Banks always made Tom (Doran) ride with him, because (Doran) was mechanical, and if something went wrong with the car, Banks knew that Tom could fix it.”
It’s difficult to sum up Doran’s life and work. His contribution to the city’s music scene will live like a subtle, stylish whisper of brushes on the snares, for years to come.
I interviewed Doran in 1999 when he announced one of several retirements from Banks’ band (it speaks volumes that Banks kept pushing him to come back). At the time, Doran pondered what a good musical situation was, saying, “Any band where the music (is) played with sincerity and a true sense of exploration in finding and going to new musical places. That’s my favourite thing, a musical adventure.”
Doran died Nov. 30 following a long struggle with renal failure. He’s survived by his wife of 50 years, Denyse, their children Leila, Thomas Jr. and Sara, and his brother Brian.
yegarts@postmedia.com
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