Don Shirley
Pianist, composer, and arranger Don Shirley was born in Pensacola, Florida, on January 29, 1927. He began playing piano at age two, and seven years later had developed his skills so rapidly, he was studying theory at the prestigious Leningrad Conservatory of Music. Shirley made his concert debut with the Boston Pops in 1945, while the following year, the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed one of his first major compositions. In the ensuing years between 1954 and 1968, Shirley performed as a soloist and as a member of several symphonies, including the Boston Pops, Detroit Symphony, Chicago Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington. Shirley also composed several organ symphonies, a piano concerto, two string quartets, and numerous pieces for piano. His musical language also encompassed tastefully mastered combinations of standards, show tunes, ballads, spirituals, and jazz performed with his own trio. Incredibly, Shirley also found time between performing and recording to obtain a PhD of Music, Psychology, and Liturgical Arts. Throughout the '50s and '60s, he released numerous albums on the Cadence label. In 1999, Collectables began reissuing several of those albums as two-for-one sets. Shirley died of heart disease on April 6, 2013.
© Al Campbell /TiVo
Similar artists
-
The Best Vintage Selection - Don Shirley
Jazz - Released by Retro Music Box on 15 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Orpheus in the Underworld (The Man of "Green Book")
Lounge - Released by Vinyle Numérique on 17 Oct 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
All the Best
Jazz - Released by Don't stop the music on 8 Mar 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don Shirley Plays Gerswhin
Jazz - Released by Synergie OMP on 17 Feb 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Perspectives
Pop - Released by Bridge Pa Digital on 15 Nov 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pianist Extraordinary
Alternative & Indie - Released by Cadence Records on 1 Jun 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don Shirley Works, Vol. 5
International Pop - Released by PROFOUND on 21 Jun 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tonal Expressions
Alternative & Indie - Released by Cadence Records on 3 Jan 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don Shirley Plays Standards (The Man of "Green Book")
Lounge - Released by Vinyle Numérique on 1 Dec 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Perspectives
Alternative & Indie - Released by Cadence Records on 1 Jun 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Drown in My Own Tears (The Man of "Green Book")
Lounge - Released by Vinyle Numérique on 20 Dec 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tonal Expressions
Miscellaneous - Released by Vinyle Numérique on 3 Jan 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don Shirley Works, Vol. 1
International Pop - Released by PROFOUND on 21 Jun 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Plays Show Tunes (Album of 1960)
Jazz - Released by Jazz Classics on 30 Apr 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don Shirley Plays Show Tunes
Lounge - Released by Vinyle Numérique on 21 Nov 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don Shirley Plays Gershwin (The Man of "Green Book")
Lounge - Released by Vinyle Numérique on 20 Dec 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don Shirley Works, Vol. 3
International Pop - Released by PROFOUND on 21 Jun 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don Shirley - Vintage Selection
Jazz - Released by Vintage Jukebox on 15 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don Shirley Works, Vol. 4
International Pop - Released by PROFOUND on 21 Jun 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don Shirley Plays Love Songs (The Man of "Green Book")
Lounge - Released by Vinyle Numérique on 13 Oct 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo