Dorothy Donegan

Dorothy Donegan (April 6, 1922 – May 19, 1998)[1][2] was an American jazz pianist and vocalist, primarily known for performing in the stride piano and boogie-woogie style. She also played bebop, swing jazz, and classical music.[3]

Dorothy Donegan
Donegan circa 1960s
Background information
Born(1922-04-06)April 6, 1922
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedMay 19, 1998(1998-05-19) (aged 76)
Los Angeles, California
GenresJazz, blues, classical, boogie-woogie
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsPiano, vibraphone, vocals
Years active1936–1998
LabelsMGM, Capitol
Associated actsLionel Hampton, Brook Benton

Life and career

Donegan was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and began studying piano in 1928.[2] She took her first lessons from Alfred N. Simms, a West Indian pianist who also taught Cleo Brown.[4]

She graduated from Chicago's DuSable High School, where she studied with Walter Dyett, a teacher who also worked with Dinah Washington, Johnny Griffin, Gene Ammons, and Von Freeman.[1] She also studied at the Chicago Musical College and the University of Southern California.[5] In 1942 she made her recording debut. She appeared in Sensations of 1945 with Cab Calloway, Gene Rodgers, and W. C. Fields and was known for her work in Chicago nightclubs.[3] She was a protege of Art Tatum, who called her "the only woman who can make me practice."[6] She said that Tatum "was supposed to be blind...I know he could see women."[4]) In 1943, Donegan became the first African American to perform at Chicago's Orchestra Hall.[6] She later said of this pathbreaking performance:

In the first half I played Rachmaninoff and Grieg and in the second I drug it through the swamp – played jazz. Claudia Cassidy reviewed the concert on the first page of the Chicago Tribune. She said I had a terrific technique and I looked like a Toulouse-Lautrec lithograph.[4]

Donegan performing with American sailors at Camp Robert Smalls within Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, 1943.

In May 1983, Donegan, along with Billy Taylor, Milt Hinton, Art Blakey, Maxine Sullivan, Jaki Byard, and Eddie Locke, performed at a memorial service for Earl Hines, held at St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church in New York City.[7]

Her first six albums proved to be obscure compared to her successes in performance. It was not until the 1980s that her work gained notice in the recorded jazz world.[3] In particular, a recorded appearance at the 1987 Montreux Jazz Festival and her live albums from 1991 were met with acclaim. Even so, she remained best known for her live performances. She drew crowds with her eclectic mixture of styles and her flamboyant personality. Ben Ratliff argued in The New York Times that "her flamboyance helped her find work in a field that was largely hostile to women. To a certain extent, it was also her downfall; her concerts were often criticized for having an excess of personality."[1]

Donegan was outspoken about her view that sexism, along with her insistence on being paid the same rates as male musicians, had limited her career.[1] In 1992, Donegan received an "American Jazz Master" fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 1994, an honorary doctorate from Roosevelt University.[5] Donegan died of cancer in 1998 in Los Angeles, California.[5]

Discography

As leader
Year recorded Title Label Notes
1946? September Song Jubilee
1954? Dorothy Donegan Piano MGM
1955? Dorothy Donegan Jubilee
1957? Dorothy Donegan at the Embers Roulette
1957? Dorothy Donegan Live! Capitol
1959? Donnybrook with Dorothy Capitol
1961 It Happened One Night Roulette
1963? Swingin' Jazz in Hi Fi Regina
1975 The Many Faces of Dorothy Donegan Mahogany Trio, with Arvell Shaw (bass), Panama Francis (drums); reissued by Storyville with trio tracks from 1961
1978 Live at the King of France Tavern LiSem released 2015
1979? Makin' Whoopie Black & Blue
1980? Sophisticated Lady Ornament
1980 Live in Copenhagen 1980 Storyville Trio, with Mads Vinding (bass), Ed Thigpen (drums); in concert
1980? Live! CNR
1986? Live at the Widder Bar Timeless
1990 Live at the 1990 Floating Jazz Festival Chiaroscuro Trio, with Jon Burr (bass), Ray Mosca (drums); in concert
1991 The Incredible Dorothy Donegan Trio Chiaroscuro Most tracks trio, with Jon Burr (bass), Ray Mosca (drums); some tracks quartet, with Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet) added; in concert
1992 Dorothy Donegan Trio with Clark Terry Chiaroscuro Most tracks trio, with Jon Burr (bass), Ray Mosca (drums); some tracks quartet, with Clark Terry (trumpet) added; in concert
1995? I Just Want Audiophile

Filmography
  • 1944: Sensations of 1945 - musical performer, United Artists
  • 1980: North Sea Jazz Classics 1980 - live performance registration by NOS/NPO
  • 1995: Jazz at Newport 95' – featured performer, concert for PBS
  • 2008: Dorothy Donegan: Pandemonium
gollark: And yet this has command arguments as UTTER STRINGS.
gollark: Nonsense. All 8 parts of that are fully necessary.
gollark: Umnikos is, I mean.
gollark: Under the GTech™ classification system, Λ-3625158-57c15-STARCH-AIUI.
gollark: These are likely to be inaccurate, due to limited observational coverage by LyricTech™.

References
  1. Ratliff, Ben (May 22, 1998). "Dorothy Donegan, 76, Flamboyant Jazz Pianist". The New York Times. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  2. Travis, Dempsey J. (1983). An Autobiography of Black Jazz (1 ed.). Chicago, Ill.: Urban Research Institute. ISBN 0-941484-03-3.
  3. Yanow, Scott. "Dorothy Donegan". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  4. Balliett, Whitney (February 15, 2006). American Musicians II: Seventy-One Portraits in Jazz. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 232–238. ISBN 978-1-57806-834-0. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  5. "Dorothy Donegan, Famed Jazz Pianist, Dies". Jet. June 8, 1998. pp. 38–39. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  6. Waldron, Clarence (December 1983). "Dorothy Donegan: Bouncy as ever at age 61". Ebony. pp. 87–90. ISSN 0012-9011. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  7. "Earl Hines Memorial Service". The New York Times. 5 May 1983. Retrieved 9 November 2017.

Further reading
  • Doerschuk, Bob (November 1, 2001). 88: the giants of jazz piano. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 54–57. ISBN 978-0-87930-656-4. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
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