Home » Jazz Musicians » Don Shirley

Don Shirley

Donald Walbridge Shirley was an American classical and jazz pianist and composer. He recorded many albums for Cadence during the 1950s and 1960s, experimenting with jazz with a classical influence. He wrote organ symphonies, piano concerti, a cello concerto, three string quartets, a one-act opera, works for organ, piano and violin, a symphonic tone poem based on the novel Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, and a set of "Variations" on the legend of Orpheus in the Underworld.

Born in Pensacola, Florida, Shirley was a promising young student of classical piano. Although he did not achieve recognition in his early career playing traditional classical music, he found success with his blending of various musical traditions.

During the 1960s, Shirley went on a number of concert tours, some in Deep South states. For a year and a half, he hired New York nightclub bouncer Tony "Lip" Vallelonga as his driver and bodyguard. Their story was controversially dramatized in the 2018 film Green Book. Source: Wikipedia

Tags

9
Film Review

Green Book: A Serious Comedy and Jazz Allegory

Read "Green Book: A Serious Comedy and Jazz Allegory" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer


Green Book DreamWorks Universal 2018 Starting perhaps in the 1930s, African American jazz musicians and bands from the north, midwest, and west toured the segregationist South. There they found to their dismay that as much as they were sought after for performances, they were compelled to live in separate hotels and use non-white bathrooms and restaurants, a humiliating experience for men and women who were just beginning to acquire self-respect through their music. After World War ...

14
Film Review

Green Book Directed By Peter Farrelly

Read "Green Book Directed By Peter Farrelly" reviewed by Mike Perciaccante


Green Book Directed by Peter Farrelly Universal Pictures 2018 For those unfamiliar with the guide or simply too young to know, the Green Book was a handbook for African American travelers seeking safe haven when trekking through the segregated Jim Crow South. The Green Book was an indispensable travel guide published (by Victor Green, a postal worker who worked in New Jersey but lived in Harlem) between 1936 and 1966 that listed hotels, bars, ...

Read more articles
Carl Cornwell
saxophone, tenor

Music

Videos

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.