Dorothy Donegan

Dorothy Donegan was an American classically trained jazz pianist primarily known for performing in the stride piano and boogiewoogie 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 Chicagos 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 protge of Art Tatum, who once called her the only woman who can make me practice. In 1943, Donegan became the first African American to perform at Chicagos Orchestra Hall. She later said of this pathbreaking performance

Source: Wikipedia