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Donna Lee

Donna Lee has not been seen in 1209 Phish shows.
It was last played: 1993-07-25.
It was played at 1.25% of live shows.
It has been performed live 25 time(s).

Music: Miles Davis

Original Artist: Charlie Parker

Vocals: Instrumental

Debut: 1988-10-29

Historian: Phillip Zerbo

"Donna Lee" is a beloved bebop standard, long thought to be composed by Charlie Parker, but in fact is the work of Miles Davis. Phish debuted “Donna Lee” on 10/29/88 at the Goddard College’s Sculpture Room, assisted by Russ Remington on alto saxophone. Phish’s take on the standard is traditional, sincere, and probably better than you think for a straight-ahead jazz classic. Other horn-assisted versions include 10/20/89 with Russell Remington and Dave Grippo; 2/16/90 with Grippo; and on 7/12/91 with The Giant Country Horns, officially released as LivePhish 19. Those renditions without horns tended to be of the shorter variety, featuring Trey and Page weaving the intricate lines, and sometimes including a rare, traditional bass solo from Mike.



Watch Donna Lee on YouTube Charlie Parker, “Donna Lee”



As with most tunes traditional jazz tunes, “Donna Lee” faded from the Phish repertoire after 1991, as they started playing larger rooms, with an exploding roster of originals. Thought long-forgotten and 267 shows removed from its last performance, on 7/25/93 Waterloo Village, Stanhope, NJ, Phish weaved portions of “Donna Lee” into the “David Bowie” intro. While “Donna Lee” faded from the Phish song list, Bad Hat – featuring Trey, Fish, Stacy Starkweather and Jamie Masefield – offered two versions on 9/10/94 and 9/11/94.



Watch Donna Lee on YouTube Phish, “Donna Lee” – 6/23/89, Boston, MA


Albums: Live Phish 09, Live Phish 19

Stats for "Donna Lee"Back to Songs

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