Dorothy Donegan
| Dorothy Donegan | |
|---|---|
Donegan in a 1944 advertisement
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|
| Background information | |
| Born |
April 6, 1922 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | May 19, 1998 (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, blues, bop, swing jazz, classical music |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Piano, vibraphone |
| Years active | 1936–1998 |
| Labels | MGM, Capitol |
| Associated acts |
Lionel Hampton Brook Benton |
Dorothy Donegan (April 6, 1922 – May 19, 1998) was an American classically trained jazz pianist primarily known for performing in the stride piano and boogie-woogie style. She also played bebop, swing jazz, and classical music.
Donegan was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and began studying piano at the age of eight. She took her first lessons from Alfred N. Simms, a West Indian pianist who also taught Cleo Brown. She graduated from Chicago's DuSable High School, where she studied with Walter Dyett, a teacher who also worked with, among others, Dinah Washington, Johnny Griffin, Gene Ammons, and Von Freeman. She also studied at the Chicago Musical College and, later, the University of Southern California. 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. She was a protégée of Art Tatum, who once called her "the only woman who can make me practice." (She said that Tatum "was supposed to be blind...I know he could see women.") In 1943, Donegan became the first African American to perform at Chicago's Orchestra Hall. She later said of this pathbreaking performance:
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