{{Short description|American jazz pianist and vocalist (1922–1998)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Dorothy Donegan | background = | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|4|6}} | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1998|5|19|1922|4|6}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | genre = {{hlist|Jazz|blues|classical|boogie-woogie}} | occupation = Musician | instrument = {{hlist|Piano|vibraphone|vocals}} | years_active = 1936&ndash;1998 | label = {{hlist|MGM|Capitol}} | associated_acts = {{hlist|Lionel Hampton|Brook Benton}} }} '''Dorothy Donegan''' (April 6, 1922 &ndash; May 19, 1998)<ref name=nytobit /><ref name=":0" /> was an American classically trained jazz pianist and occasional vocalist, primarily known for performing stride and boogie-woogie, as well as bebop, swing, and classical.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web|last1=Yanow|first1=Scott|title=Dorothy Donegan| url= https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dorothy-donegan-mn0000191515/biography|website=AllMusic|access-date=1 September 2011}}</ref><ref name= Fascinating>{{cite news| work= Smithsonian| title= Fascinating Women| first= Ted| last= Scheinman| page= 20| publisher= Smithsonian Institution | date= January–February 2021}}</ref>

==Biography== ===Early life, family and education=== Donegan was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois,<ref name= Fascinating /> and began studying piano in 1928.<ref name=":0">{{cite book| last1= Travis |first1= Dempsey J.|title=An Autobiography of Black Jazz|date=1983| publisher= Urban Research Institute| location= Chicago |isbn=0-941484-03-3|edition=1st |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofb00trav}}</ref> She took her first lessons from Alfred N. Simms, a West Indian pianist who also taught Cleo Brown.<ref name=balliett>{{cite encyclopedia |last= Balliett |first= Whitney| author-link=Whitney Balliett|title= Dorothy Donegan| encyclopedia= American Musicians II: Seventy-One Portraits in Jazz |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=aDbbGIyPCOEC&pg=PA232| access-date =September 14, 2011|date=February 15, 2006 |publisher= University Press of Mississippi| isbn=978-1-57806-834-0|pages=232–238}}</ref> Donegan graduated from DuSable High School, where she studied with Walter Dyett, a teacher who also worked with Dinah Washington, Johnny Griffin, Gene Ammons, and Von Freeman.<ref name=nytobit /> She also studied music at the Chicago Musical College<ref name= Fascinating /> and the University of Southern California.<ref name=jetobit /> ===Career=== [[File:Dorothy Donegan Great Lakes Naval Station.jpg|thumb|left|Donegan performing with American sailors at Camp Robert Smalls within Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, 1943]] Donegan was known for her work in Chicago nightclubs.<ref name="AMG"/> In 1942 she made her recording debut. She appeared in ''Sensations of 1945'' with Cab Calloway, Gene Rodgers, and W. C. Fields.<ref name="AMG"/> She was a protege of Art Tatum, who called her "the only woman who can make me practice".<ref name=ebony /> (She said that Tatum "was supposed to be blind...I know he could see women."<ref name=balliett />) In 1943, Donegan became the first African American to perform at Chicago's Orchestra Hall.<ref name=ebony>{{cite web|last=Waldron|first=Clarence|title=Dorothy Donegan: Bouncy as ever at age 61|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0tgDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA87|access-date=September 14, 2011| date= December 1983| work=Ebony |pages=87–90|issn=0012-9011}}</ref><ref name= Fascinating /> She later said of this pathbreaking performance: <blockquote> In the first half I played Rachmaninoff and Grieg and in the second I drug it through the swamp &ndash; 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.<ref name=balliett /> </blockquote> 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.<ref name="Memorial">{{cite web|title=Earl Hines Memorial Service|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/05/arts/earl-hines-memorial-service.html|website=The New York Times|access-date=9 November 2017|date=5 May 1983}}</ref> 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 jazz world.<ref name="AMG"/> 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."<ref name=nytobit>{{cite journal |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/22/arts/dorothy-donegan-76-flamboyant-jazz-pianist.html |journal=The New York Times |date=May 22, 1998 |last=Ratliff | first = Ben | title = Dorothy Donegan, 76, Flamboyant Jazz Pianist | access-date =September 14, 2011}}</ref> In 1992, Donegan received an "American Jazz Master" fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/dorothy-donegan|title=Dorothy Donegan {{!}} Pianist, Vocalist, Educator|website=NEA Jazz Masters|publisher=National Endownment for the Arts|access-date=April 5, 2021}}</ref> and in 1994, an honorary doctorate from Roosevelt University.<ref name=jetobit>{{cite news| title= Dorothy Donegan, Famed Jazz Pianist, Dies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2MMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA38|access-date=September 14, 2011 |date=June 8, 1998 |work=Jet |pages= 38–39 |issn=0021-5996| via= Google Books}}</ref> ===Personal life and death=== 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.<ref name=nytobit /> Donegan died of cancer in 1998, aged 76, in Los Angeles, California.<ref name=jetobit />

==Discography == ===As leader=== {| class="wikitable sortable" !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 | |- |1959 |''Dorothy Donegan Live!'' |Capitol |Album liner notes claim this trio recording was made at "The Embers on Manhattan's elegant East Side." |- |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 |- |1975 |''Dorothy Donegan'' |Four Leaf Clover (Sweden) |Trio, with Red Mitchell (bass), Lars Beijbom (drums); some tracks add Jan Allan (trumpet) - recorded live at "The Best of Harlem" in Stockholm, Sweden; expanded CD re-issue released in 1994 adds 3 tracks |- |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 | |- |1981 |''The Explosive Dorothy Donegan'' |Progressive |Trio, with Jerome Hunter (bass), Ray Mosca (drums) |- |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 To Sing'' |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''

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading== * {{cite book|last=Doerschuk|first=Bob|title=88: the giants of jazz piano|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=odQy4t6U5wIC&pg=PA54|access-date= September 14, 2011|date=November 1, 2001|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=978-0-87930-656-4|pages=54–57}}

==External links== {{commons category}} * {{IMDb name|0232392}} * {{discogs artist|Dorothy Donegan}} * [http://www.jazzhouse.org/gone/lastpost2.php3?edit=920665948 Obituary] at JazzHouse.org

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donegan, Dorothy}} Category:1922 births Category:1998 deaths Category:African-American jazz pianists Category:African-American women pianists Category:American women jazz pianists Category:American jazz pianists Category:Boogie-woogie pianists Category:Stride pianists Category:Jazz musicians from California Category:Jazz musicians from Chicago Category:Deaths from cancer in California Category:20th-century American women pianists Category:Storyville Records artists Category:Black & Blue Records artists Category:Chiaroscuro Records artists Category:African-American women musicians Category:Chicago Musical College alumni Category:USC Thornton School of Music alumni Category:20th-century African-American women Category:20th-century African-American musicians Category:NEA Jazz Masters Category:African-American classical pianists Category:20th-century American classical pianists