Born in Lake Charles, Louisiana on October 11th, 1956, tenor saxophonist Doug Lawrence has become one of the most accomplished musicians of his generation. After growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he got his start playing in his father's band, Doug was soon off to North Texas State University and later to Las Vegas, Nevada before settling in New York City in 1978.

In New York, Doug quickly started making a name for him self working and recording with the giants of jazz, including among others: Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Buck Clayton, Wild Bill Davis, The Count Basie Orchestra, Mel Lewis, Grover Mitchell's All-Star Orchestra, Loren Schoenberg's Orchestra, Jimmy Cobb's Mob, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and Dennis Mackrel's Manhattan Jazz Orchestra. He has appeared on over 100 recordings including four critically acclaimed leader dates: Soul Carnival (#3 USA-Gavin 2/98), High Heel Sneakers (#11 USA-Gavin 4/99), Big Band Swing and Street Wise.

Doug has toured the world playing at the most renowned concert halls, jazz clubs and jazz festivals including: Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, The Hollywood Bowl, The Village Vangaurd, The Blue Notes in New York City, Osaka, Tokyo, Fukuoka and Okinawa, Ronnie Scott's in London, Blues Alley in Washington D.C., The JVC Jazz Festivals in New York, Saratoga, Philadelphia, The Playboy Jazz Festival in Los Angeles, The New Orleans Jazz Festival, The Chicago Jazz Festival, The North Sea Jazz Festival and many more. He has also played for four American Presidents including both inaugural balls for President Clinton, and the Royal families of England, Monaco, Spain and Sweden. In 2002 Doug traveled to Portugal and played a command performance for their President with the Count Basie Orchestra and Patti Austin. Other 2002 highlights included a tour to Malaysia where Doug was a featured soloist for two sold out nights at the Dewan Filharmonik in Kuala Lampur with the Count Basie Orchestra and the Kennedy Center Awards as featured soloist with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra. 2003 highlights also included a 12 week tour of Europe and Japan with the Count Basie Orchestra. In 2004 Doug continues the Basie Centennial world tour that will take him to every continent on the planet.

In August of 1999, Doug was offered a job leading his big band on a weekly basis at the famous Black Orchid Showroom in Chicago. The Doug Lawrence Orchestra opened to rave reviews and sold out audiences. What began as a six- week engagement turned into three months and then into a steady stream of engagements at the club and around Chicago. Some of the headliners who have appeared with Doug and his orchestra are: Cleo Laine, Diane Schuur, Ann Hampton Callaway, Jennifer Holliday, Joe Piscopo, Don Rickles, Cybill Shepard and Riva Rice. Doug's success in Chicago is not only related to his orchestra but as a freelance artist as well. He turns up on the best gigs in town, including dates with The Neville Bros., Aretha Franklin, Rosemary Clooney, Michael Feinstein, Clyde Stubblefield and the B3 Bombers, Frank Sinatra, Jr. and Celine Dion.

Doug's most important work comes from his prestigious special events orchestra (weddings, corporate parties, galas, benefits). This orchestra (from 7 to 30 musicians and singers) has a stellar reputation for making events come alive. The orchestra's phenomenal success in the Chicago, New York, Santa Fe and Los Angeles markets continues to grow with every successful engagement. Doug keeps a very busy schedule with The Doug Lawrence Orchestra, but also finds time to freelance with some of the greatest entertainers in the business as well as touring the world under his own name and with the Count Basie Orchestra.

Street Wise, Doug Lawrence Quartet, Alltribe Records
Big Band Swing, Doug Lawrence Orchestra, DLM Records
High Heel Sneakers, Doug Lawrence Sextet, Fable-Lightyear WEA Records
Soul Carnival, Doug Lawrence Quintet, Fable-Lightyear WEA Records
Straight On Till Morning, Butch Miles Band, Nagel-Hayer Records
Sing, Sing, Sing, New York Voices, Concord Records
Kielwerth Sax Sampler, Moody, Leibman, Watts, Brignola, B+H Records
Live At The Green Mill, Clyde Stubblefield & The B3 Bombers, Alltribe Records
You're The Top: Love Songs Of Cole Porter, Bobby Short, Telarc Records
Salute To Duke Ellington, DMP All-Star Big Band, DMP Records
Live At The Village Vanguard, Buck Clayton Swing Band, Nagel-Hayer Records
Live In Tokyo, The Count Basie Orchestra, Sony Records
Hip Shaken', The Grover Mitchell All-Star Orchestra, Ken Records
A Swingin' Dream, Buck Clayton Swing Band, Stash Records
A Good Reed, Ken Peplowski, Concord Records
Out Of This World, The Loren Schoenberg Orchestra, TCB Montreux Jazz Records
Truckin', The Grover Mitchell All-Star Orchestra, Stash Records
In Full Swing, The Tony Corbiscello Big Band, Alanna Records
Manhattan Work Song, The Loren Schoenberg Orchestra, Music Masters Label
Swing Thing, Jeff Jerolamon Quintet, Candid Records
Solid Ground, The Loren Schoenberg Orchestra, Music Masters Label
Time Waits For No One, The Loren Schoenberg Orchestra, Music Masters Label

The Doug Lawrence Orchestra - 190 North Chicago ABC
Rosemary Clooney - Live at Ravinia (Ravinia Under The Stars) PBS
Rosemary Clooney - The Rosemary Clooney Story A&E
The Count Basie Orchestra w/Benny Carter - Live At Theatre Antique Vienne France TV
The Count Basie Orchestra w/Sadao Watanabe - Live In Tokyo NHK Japan
Buck Clayton Swing Band - Live At Theatre Antique Vienne France Public TV
Buck Clayton Swing Band - New York City, Joe Temperley's Town Channel 4 England
Jeff Jerolamon Quintet - Live at Costa Del Sol Jazz Festival Spain Public TV

Doug Lawrence Orchestra 1979-present (MD)
Count Basie Orchestra 1993-present
Rosemary Clooney 1999-2001
Aretha Franklin 1999-present
Grover Mitchell Orchestra 1984-2003
Buck Clayton Swing Band 1984-1991 (MD)
Dizzy Gillespie Band 1986
Benny Goodman 1981-1986
Butch Miles Band 2002-present
Loren Schoenberg Orchestra 1982-present
DMP Big Band 1997
Tony Corbscello Big Band 1997-1999
Dave Leonhardt Band 1992-2001
Frank Wess All-Star Orchestra 1990-1992
Bobby Short 1998-2000
Smithsonian Masterworks Orchestra 1995-1996
Dennis Mackrel Big Band 1988-present
Clyde Stubblefield & The B3 Bombers 2001-present
Jimmy Cobb's Mob 1997-1999
Teri Thornton 1985-1999 (MD)
Diane Schuur 1999-2000 
Cleo Laine 1999
Jennifer Holliday 1999-2001 (MD)
Ann Hampton Callaway 1999-2002 (MD)
Frank Sinatra, Jr. 2001
Michael Feinstein 2000-2001
Dakota Staton 1986-1989
Nancy Wilson 1988
Billy Eckstein 1988
Wild Bill Davis 1984-1989
Joe Piscopo 1988-2000 (MD)
Don Rickles 2001
Sarah Vaughan 1986-1988
Tony Bennett 1982-1988
Stevie Wonder 2000
Anita O'Day 1989
Kay Starr 1988
Ruth Brown 1988
Diana Ross 1991
Donna Summer 1982-1983
Cab Calloway 1986
Mel Lewis 1982-1989
The Dukes Men 1988-1989
Eddie Durham Big Band 1986
Chicago Jazz Orchestra 2000-2001
Art Davis Quintet 2001-present
Bill Porter Orchestra 2001-present
Savoy House Band 1998-1999 (MD)
Supper Club House Band 1991-1992
Hudson Valley Swing Band 1998
Jay McShann 1986
Swing Street 1982-1992
Vic Damone 1991
Milton Berle 1981
Margaret Whiting 1985-1987
Dinah Shore 1982
George Kirby 1985
George Carlin 1979
Dick Hyman 1986
West Point Band 1978-1986
Tilden Lawrence Orchestra 1972-1974
Sunship 1976-1978 (MD)

(MD) musical director

John Wilson, New York Times
"Commanding tenor saxophonist...1st rate."

Jazz Legend Buck Clayton to Peter Watrous, New York Times
"Doug Lawrence is a great tenor man, a natural, like Lester Young."

Howard Reich, The Chicago Tribune
"The Doug Lawrence Orchestra is claiming its place among the elite. By hiring exceptional saxophonist-bandleader Doug Lawrence to create a state of the art swing machine, Black Orchid owner Marc Curtis has given Chicagoans something this city has not enjoyed in decades: a supremely elegant dance club with a brilliant house band. On a recent Saturday night, as the orchestra unspooled one glorious swing number after another, the sizeable crowd never really left the dance floor."

Dan Morgenstern, Director, Institute of Jazz, Rutgers - Former Editor in Chief of Downbeat Magazine
"I've been a fan of Doug Lawrence since a night in 1983 when he uncurled his lanky frame to play a solo that swung and told a story from the first note to last. It was clear that he had that special something that is the mark of a true jazz musician. Today, as then, there's nothing forced about Doug's playing: it flows as naturally as speech. It is, as they say, the real thing."

Paul Weideman, The Santa Fe New Mexican
"Modern master of the jazz tenor saxophone."

Greg Lyons, Malaysian Arts Scene
"The Count Basie Orchestra exploded with their very first number at the Dewan Filharmonik in Kuala Lampur Saturday night. Largely made up of younger players with a few veterans from the Count's day, this modern band still retains a hard-swinging, riff-oriented quality and a couple of star soloists, including the famous drummer Butch Miles. It became clear that tenor saxophonist Doug Lawrence was the real star soloist here--largely because out of all the younger members of the band he seemed most comfortable within the stylistic setting. This is not to detract from his magnificence as a musician--his sound and phrasing are muscular but elegant and his solos are never in a hurry, but always exciting. No small feat to be outstanding in a band this good."

Reese Davis, Jazziz Magazine
"Bluesy, soul-drenched bebop tenor sax at it's very best."

Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times Magazine
"There's tone, facility, repertoire, choice of notes. After that it all comes down to phrasing. Some got it and some ain't. The great ones had it. Think of Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra. They were able to touch our collective soul with their voices, due largely in part to their extraordinary sense of phrasing. Tenor man Doug Lawrence has got it. His phrasing is fluid, relaxed, conversational and charming, just like his easy going, seductive Southern drawl. Plus, he's got a wide open tone that simply commands your attention--two very nice assets for any tenor player."

David Steinberg, The Albuquerque Journal
"Like a river, Doug Lawrence's big sound rushes effortlessly, naturally, shifting from smooth to raucous. His tone is always rich in a Dexter Gordon way."

Dick Zander, New York Newsday
"Scott Hamilton and Doug Lawrence underscore the fact that not all the swinging tenor saxophonists are playing with the proverbial big band in the sky."

Howard Reich, The Chicago Tribune
"Now that bands as accomplished as Wynton Marsalis' Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and The Doug Lawrence Orchestra are taking up the cause, swing dancing may finally be outgrowing the somewhat campy efforts of the recent years."

Chip Deffaa, The New York Post
"A rising star. It's always a pleasure to hear Doug Lawrence."

Andrew Patner, The Chicago Sun-Times
"Outstanding Entertainment."

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