Dorothy Donegan

Dorothy Donegan (April 6, 1922 – May 19, 1998)

Biography Early life, family and education Donegan was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, She took her first lessons from Alfred N. Simms, a West Indian pianist who also taught Cleo Brown. 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. 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. 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. 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. Donegan died of cancer in 1998, aged 76, in Los Angeles, California.

Discography As leader

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