Next in the The Playhouse Jazz Hub
John Donegan, UK based and originally from Cork, is a modern jazz pianist and composer. His music has been featured on the BBC, Jazz FM, RTE and independent radio stations in UK and Ireland. He has performed with a variety of UK, Irish and International artists, including Art Blakey, Art Farmer, Barney Kessel and Greg Abate, Louis Stewart and many more.
John’s major influences have been the likes of Bill Evans, Kenny Barron, Wynton Kelly, Bud Powell, Chic Corea and Keith Jarrett.
“An impressive offering from Donegan in which he demonstrates his command of a variety of styles, as both pianist and composer, As a writer he also demonstrates an unfailing gift for melody" The Jazz Mann
John more recently composed a suite of 21 contemporary pieces which have been released as 2 CDs, Siamsa, Vol 1 & 2.
“An intriguing combination of classic bebop laced with Irish folk melody, this album from pianist John and his saxophonist friend Tommaso Starace is full of sublime lyrical moments” Musicians Union Magazine
All 8 albums, under his own name, are available on his Website, johndoneganjazz.com and on all the usual sites: BandCamp; Tunecore: Spotify, iTunes etc.
The Line up
Bill Blackmore - Trumpet and Flugelhorn
Cathal Roche - Alto Sax/Soprano Sax.
Richie Buckley - Tenor Sax
Dan Bodwell - Double Bass
John Daly - Drums
John Donegan - Piano
CLICK HERE for full festival programme
John has also performed in France, Spain and Portugal and at Birdland in New York.
John more recently composed a suite of 21 contemporary pieces which have been released as 2 CDs, Siamsa, Vol 1 & 2. Recent review in Musicians Union Magazine
“An intriguing combination of classic bebop laced with Irish folk melody, this album from pianist John and his saxophonist friend Tommaso Starace is full of sublime lyrical moments”
He released a new Sextet album in Aug 2019, A Kite for Kate, dedicated to his youngest daughter. It comprises of totally original pieces and has already been featured on RTE, BBC, K 107FM and various other independent radio stations.
During Lockdown, John has written and arranged more than 20 new pieces which will comprise of two albums of new material for the Sextet. The first of these was recorded in 2022 with The Irish Sextet and recently released under the title of Shadows Linger. Ian Patterson has written in All About Jazz –
“Donegan and his sextet members do not set out to reinvent the wheel with Shadows Linger, which is just as well, because in s8cking to what they know and love, they have delivered a memorable straight ahead album of vintage calibre.”
Shadows Linger received a 4 star review from Peter Vacher for Jazzwise magazine.
“This is his Irish Band, drawn from all four corners of the island of Ireland and quite s8rring in both its energe8c responses to Donegan’s original composi8ons and the sheer panache of the solo extemporisa8ons His composi8onal flair is well demonstrated and his pianism intriguing yet poised. More please!”
The second of these albums was recorded in April 2023 with the same group and was released at end of October, 2023. The album is en8tled Light Streams and will be launched at The Jazz Cafe Posk, in London on 1st December, 2023. He has also written new pieces for Volume 3 of Siamsa and a Suite to commemorate all those who lost their lives in the pandemic called the Elegy Suite.
In 2022 John was asked to perform in The Chopin Festival at Café Posk in London. He arranged 5 pieces for a Jazz quartet and this was performed on 15th October to much acclaim. He has since arranged and written 5 further pieces and hopes to record these in due course and they have been more recently performed at Burford Jazz Club.
