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During the 1950’s Donegan played clubs from coast to coast. She married John McClain and had a son who is also a musician. The relationship, unfortunately, ended in a divorce, with Donegan mentioning in an interview years later, “I think artists should be by themselves.”
Nov 25, 1993 · Donegan is many things, but she’s no minimalist. “There’s a boy, John McClain Jr., who’s an executive at Interscope, who said that on recordings I should play less notes, that I never met ...
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- At A Glance…
- Defined Her Own Style
- Performed Nationally in Intimate Clubs
- Troubled by Recording Difficulties
- Selected Discography
- Sources
Born Dorothy Donegan, April 6, 1922 in Chicago; died May 19, 1998, in Los Angeles; daughter of Donazell Donegan, a railroad chef, and Ella (Day) Donegan; married and divorced to John McClain, Walter Eady, and William Miles; children: John, Donovan. Education:Studied at the Chicago Conservatory of Music; Chicago Music College, 1942-44; University of...
In defining her own style, Donegan remarkably blended her varied musical talents, often putting together spontaneous melodies from unrelated songs. She moved easily between the worlds of jazz and classical music, often blending them within a single composition. As Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times pointed out, Donegan was best known “for her ver...
Bedecked in opulent gowns and turbans, Donegan had a natural rapport with her audiences. Her playing style and showmanship were well-suited for intimate clubs, and it was in this venue where she most often performed. Following a stint in Hollywood, where she turned down a five-year contract with MGM Studios to appear in the United Artists film Sens...
There is much debate surrounding the existence of Donegan’s early recordings. McClane confirmed, for instance, that she had recorded a number of albums for the Decca, Continental, and Capitol labels during the 1950s. However, neither he nor Donegan knew what happened to them. As Placksin recounted in American Women in Jazz, Donegan believed Decca s...
Piano Boogie,Bluebird, 1942. Dorothy Donegan’s Musical Compositions, 1942–1954, 1954. Dorothy Donegan,1959. Makin’ Whoopee,Black and Blue, 1979. Brown Gal,Krazy Kat, 1987. Dorothy Donegan Live!,Capitol, 1990. Incredible Dorothy Donegan Trio,Chiaroscuro Records, 1991. Live at the 1990 Floating Jazz Festival,Chiaroscuro Records, 1991. Dorothy Donegan...
Books
Dahl, Linda, Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazz Women,Pantheon Books, 1984, pp. 72-73. Grouse, Leslie, Madame Jazz, Oxford UniversityPress, 1995, pp. 8, 10, 15-17, 21, 183-89. Handy, D. Antoinette, Black Women in American Bands and Orchestras,The Scarecrow Press, 1981, pp. 184-85. Hine, Darlene, Brown, Elsa, Terborg-Penn, Rosalyn, eds., Black Women in America,Indiana University Press, 1993, pp. 345-46. Placksin, Sally, American Women in Jazz,Seaview Books, 1982, pp. 193-...
Articles
Ebony,July 1958, pp. 15-19. Los Angeles Times,May 21, 1998, p. B10; May 22, 1998, p. F23. New Yorker,February 18, 1991, pp. 37-38, 40-41. New York Times,May 22, 1998, p. A23. Northeast Ohio Jazz Society Jazz Central,July 1998, pp. 7-8. Record Notes from Live at the Floating Jazz Festival,1991. Time,November 3, 1958, p. 78. —Lisa S. Weitzman
Dorothy Donegan (April 6, 1922 – May 19, 1998) was a classically trained American jazz pianist and occasional vocalist, primarily known for performing stride and boogie-woogie, as well as bebop, swing, and classical.
Dorothy Donegan was born on April 6, 1924 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Sensations of 1945 (1944), The Blues (2003) and Playboy's Penthouse (1959). She was previously married to Walter Eady and John T. McClain. She died on May 19, 1998 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- April 6, 1924
- May 19, 1998
Dorothy Donegan was born on 6 April 1924 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Sensations of 1945 (1944), The Blues (2003) and Playboy's Penthouse (1959). She was married to Walter Eady and John T. McClain. She died on 19 May 1998 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Feb 10, 1991 · Jazz. WONDER WOMAN. By Whitney Balliett. February 10, 1991. The New Yorker, February 18, 1991 P. 37. PROFILE of Dorothy Donegan--a virtuoso jazz pianist, an electric performer, and a...
