I have often wondered why Ireland hasn’t produced more gifted jazz musicians like Cork pianist John Donegan. Researching Irish jazz history, I learned that during the 1930s a vigorous campaign led by the Gaelic League with support from the Catholic Church tried to banish jazz from Ireland. In 1934, Leitrim’s puritanical zealot Fr. Peter Conefrey launched an overtly racist campaign against this “wicked “art form. Conefrey accused jazz of being “borrowed from the African savages by the anti-God movement with the object of destroying morals and religion.” Conefrey even led a march through Mohill, Co. Leitrim, in which his supporters shouted, “down with jazz,” and called on the government to close the dance halls and ban all foreign dances in Ireland. To them Jazz was an “engine of hell” played to do the devil’s work.
Thankfully Conefrey and his anti-jazz zealots failed, and they would be spinning in their graves if they knew how popular Donegan’s devilishly good hard bebop jazz rhythms have become. Luckily for jazz fans, Donegan grew up in a musical household where jazz was not considered satanic. Donegan’s father sparked John’s love of jazz as a young boy by introducing him to the St. Louis Blues at an early age and exposing the boy to different kinds of American music. An interesting aside, Donegan’s father played the guitar, a rarity in Cork in the 1950s and '60s. The legendary guitarist Rory Gallagher confessed to Donegan that his father inspired him to take up the instrument.
Donegan’s mother was a pianist and by age 6 1/2, Donegan had already started to master the piano. He received his formal musical education by attending the Cork Municipal School of Music. The great classical giants of the keyboard became inspirations for Donegan, including Chopin, Bach, Ravel and Debussy amongst others. In his late teens, he played in rock groups and started in-house bands in theatres, particularly the Cork Opera House, which exposed him to many different types of music. He became heavily influenced by jazz legends like Bill Evans, Kenny Barron, Wynton Kelly, Bud Powell, Chic Corea and Keith Jarrett.
In the early 1970s, Donegan became a regular at the Cork Jazz Society where he jammed with other city-based jazz musicians. He formed a quartet in Cork but eventually found his way to Dublin where he went on to become a regular during jazz nights at the Baggot Inn, where icons like U2, Sinead O’Connor and Thin Lizzy all cut their musical teeth in their time.
He befriended one of the legends of Irish jazz, guitarist Louis Stewart, who had already achieved international fame. Stewart became a mentor for him. He also met and played with many musicians there and formed a group with Dick Buckley, Ray Dempsey, Mark Chapman, Dave Fleming and John Murray. Another musician who left a lasting influence on Donegan was jazz pianist Noel Kelehan who gained fame for conducting five Irish winning Eurovision entries. In 1978, Donegan played in the inaugural Cork Jazz festival, an event he returned to for decades. During these formative years Donegan developed into a first-rate bebop style jazz pianist.
Banking, though, not jazz, paid the bills and his career necessitated a move to England where Donegan continued to play and develop his talent. In London he got to meet and play with some of the greats of the British jazz scene including Gordon Beck, Ron Mathewson; Alan Ganley, Martin Taylor and Digby Fairweather.
Ten years later, he moved to Bristol with its vibrant jazz scene. He formed a band there and his eight and a half years in the city proved to be a particularly productive time for him. He recorded his first album, dedicated to his eldest daughter, “Song for Ciara,” with that quintet in 1997. The album featured a mix of standards and originals and was recorded in a variety of instrumental formats with a pool of Bristol-based musicians. The album received critical acclaim and was featured on the BBC, Jazz FM, RTE and local radio stations in the UK, Ireland and Scotland. Those Bristol-based musicians would also play many of the songs on his third album “Amarie.”
John Donegan on stage, left.
Donegan returned to greater London and played with many of the best British jazz musicians including his great friend and mentor Jeff Cline, with whom he worked until Cline’s untimely death in November 2009. In the years since his return to London, Donegan raised three daughters and retired from banking, allowing him to focus exclusively on playing and composing jazz. He has proven to be prolific, recording nine albums, all of which have garnered critical acclaim.
Many of his works are inspired by his love for his wife and family. “Amarie" was dedicated to his wife Marie. “Jen’s Progress,” released in 2016, a solo piano album that is comprised entirely of original material, is dedicated to his second daughter. His third daughter Catherine sings on a “A Kite for Kate,” a song he composed and dedicated to her.
Donegan has dedicated pieces for all of his grandchildren on his various albums. Though he has lived in England for decades, Donegan has not forgotten his Irish musical roots. He composed a suite consisting of 21 short pieces that combine elements of jazz and Irish traditional music. They have been released on two separate CDs, “Siamsa, Volumes One and Two.” The recordings include solo, duo and trio performances with contributions coming from Tommaso Starace on saxophones, Bernard O'Neill on bass and Donegan's daughter Catherine singing on one piece. The suite mixes jazz and traditional Irish music while honoring the influence of Sean O'Riada on his musical development. Just before the outbreak of Covid, Donegan began exploring the idea of forming an Irish sextet featuring the elite of Irish jazz musicians including saxophonists Michael and Richie Buckley, the sons of Dick Buckley, with whom Donegan played with long ago in Dublin. The sextet also includes trumpeter Linley Hamilton, a highly respected composer and band leader, drummer John Daly and bassist Dan Bodwell. He spent the time during lockdown writing the material and arranging for sextet. They recorded “Shadows Linger” in April 2022; “Light Streams” in April 2023 and “We Will Meet Again,” “Sometime,” in March 2024. They added Hugh Buckley, cousin of Michael and Richie, as guitarist on four tracks from “We Will Meet Again, Sometime.” Since the release of his Siamsa recordings, Donegan has explored this musical mix further by composing and recording a suite of new works entitled “Aontacht,” the Irish word for “unity.” The suite reflects the coming together of three styles of music: jazz, classical and traditional Irish. “Aontacht” features a mixture of instrumentation for jazz musicians, solo violinist, string quartet and singers. The themes are similar in structure to traditional Irish tunes.
His producer has encouraged Donegan expand the principal piece into a concerto for sextet, string quartet, solo violinist and singers and solo violinist and this has now been developed into three movements. He attributes one of his influences as O'Riada, in the development of this type of ensemble music. With sufficient funding support, he hopes to record this body of work and ultimately tour it.
As if he did not have plenty on his plate already, Donegan continues to work on jazz arrangements of Chopin pieces and jazz interpretations of Irish composer John Field as well as his own nocturnes. Donegan continues to strive to bring his music to a wider audience and the years have not dimmed his passion for composing and playing. His music is available on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music and on his own website - johndoneganjazz.com.
