Music & Culture

Dorothy Donegan On Piano Jazz

Dorothy Donegan, pictured here with the Camp Robert Smalls swing band, is featured on this episode of Piano Jazz.
Dorothy Donegan, pictured here with the Camp Robert Smalls swing band, is featured on this episode of Piano Jazz. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

This week's episode of Piano Jazz remembers NEA Jazz Master Dorothy Donegan (1922—1998) with a session from 1983. Donegan's technical command of the piano was nothing short of breathtaking, and she was known for her onstage antics and flamboyance. In the house with Marian McPartland, she attacks the piano, hammering away with her elbows and knuckles on "Darn That Dream" and "Stormy Weather." McPartland and Donegan play two pianos on "Lullaby of Birdland" and "Rosetta."

Originally broadcast in the fall of 1983.

Set List

  • "Stormy Weather" (Arlen, Koehler)

  • "Darn That Dream" (Van Heusen, DeLange)

  • "Lullaby Of Birdland" (Shearing, Weiss)

  • "Shadow Of Your Smile" (Mandel, Webster)

  • "Just In Time" (Comden, Green, Styne)

  • "I Can't Get Started" (Duke, Gershwin)

  • "Lady Is A Tramp" (Rodgers, Hart)

  • "It's The Talk Of The Town" (Livingston, Neiburg, Symes)

  • "Rosetta" (Hines, Woode)

  • "Little Rock Getaway" (Sullivan)

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