Don Shirley, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Don Shirley

American-Jamaican jazz pianist and composer

Date of Birth: 29-Jan-1927

Place of Birth: Pensacola, Florida, United States

Date of Death: 06-Apr-2013

Profession: composer, pianist, jazz musician

Nationality: United States, Jamaica

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius


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About 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 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 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.

Read more at Wikipedia