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.
Donald Walbridge Shirley Was Born On January 29 1927 In Pensacola Florida To Jamaican Immigrants Stella Gertrude 1903–1936 A Teacher And Edwin S. Shirley 1885–1982 An Episcopal Priest. His Birthplace Was Sometimes Given As Kingston Jamaica Because Promoters Advertised Him As Being Jamaican-Born.
Shirley Was Married To Jean C. Hill In Cook County Illinois On December 23 1952. But They Later Divorced.
He Died Of Heart Disease April 6 2013 At The Age Of 86.
During The 1960s Shirley Went On A Number Of Concert Tours Some In Deep South States Hiring New York Nightclub Bouncer Tony "Lip" Vallelonga As His Driver And Bodyguard. Their Story Is Dramatized In The 2018 Film Green Book. . User-Contributed Text Is Available Under The Creative Commons By-SA License Additional Terms May Apply.