Don Shirley
Donald Walbridge Shirley (January 29, 1927 – April 6, 2013) was an American classical and jazz pianist and composer. He recorded many albums for Cadence Records 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 poem based on the 1939 novel Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, and a set of "Variations" on the 1858 opera Orpheus in the Underworld.
Don Shirley | |
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| Born | Donald Walbridge Shirley January 29, 1927 Pensacola, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | April 6, 2013 (aged 86) Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Prairie View A&M University Virginia State University Catholic University (BM) University of Chicago |
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| Spouse |
Jean C. Hill
(m. 1952, divorced) |
| Musical career | |
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| Years active | 1945–2013 |
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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 time, he hired New York nightclub bouncer Tony "Lip" Vallelonga as his driver and bodyguard. Their story was dramatized in the 2018 film Green Book, in which he was played by Mahershala Ali.