Editing John Mehegan

{{Short description|American jazz pianist, lecturer and critic (1916–1984)}}
{{Infobox musical artist 
| name                = John Mehegan
| image                 = 
| image_size            = 
| caption            = 
| background          = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name          = 
| birth_place         = [[Hartford, Connecticut]], U.S.
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1916|6|6}}
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1984|4|3|1916|6|6}}
| death_place         = [[New Canaan, Connecticut]]
| genre               = [[Jazz]]
| occupation          = Musician, lecturer, critic
| instrument          = Piano
| years_active        = 
| label               = 
| associated_acts     = 
| website             = 
}}

'''John Francis Mehegan''' (June 6, 1916 – April 3, 1984) was an American [[jazz]] pianist, lecturer and critic.

==Early life==
Mehegan was born in [[Hartford, Connecticut]], on June 6, 1916, although he sometimes gave the year as 1920.<ref name="Grove">{{Citation |last=Kernfeld |first=Barry |date=2003 |title=Mehegan, John (Francis) |publisher=Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J638900 }}</ref> He began playing the violin in 1926 and played for seven years without enjoying it.<ref name="Grove" /> He initially taught himself to play the piano by matching his fingers to the notes played on a [[player piano]].<ref name="Grove" /> He went on to study at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford.<ref name="Grove" /> He had gigs in the [[Massachusetts]] area, and then moved to New York in 1941.<ref name="AM">{{cite web |last=Yanow |first=Scott |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-mehegan-mn0000811820/biography |title=John Mehegan |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |accessdate=December 19, 2018}}</ref>

==Later life and career==
In New York, Mehegan played in clubs.<ref name="Grove" /> He recorded four quartet tracks as a leader for [[Savoy Records]] in 1945.<ref name="Grove" /><ref name="AM" /> In the same year, he became teaching assistant to pianist [[Teddy Wilson]] in the jazz department at the [[American Institute of Applied Music|Metropolitan Music School]],<ref name="NYT" /> and became the head of its jazz department in 1946; a position he held for around a decade.<ref name="Grove" /> In the early 1950s, his ''From Barrelhouse to Bop'' album was the first release by Perspective Records; it consisted of spoken introductions followed by performances in the style of other jazz pianists.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=January 3, 1953 |title=Hot Jazz |magazine=The Billboard |page=32}}</ref> He also taught at the [[Juilliard School of Music]] (1947–64), [[Teachers College, Columbia University|Columbia University Teachers College]] (1958 to 1961 or 1962), the [[University of Bridgeport]] (1968–77) and [[Yale University]] (1974–83).<ref name="Grove" />

He wrote the incidental music for ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (play)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' which he performed on Broadway for two years.<ref name="NYT">Wilson, John S. (April 5, 1984) "John Mehegan, Jazz Pianist; Wrote 4-Volume Textbook" ''New York Times'' p D30</ref> Mehegan was questioned by the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], where he was an uncooperative witness.<ref>Porter, Russell (April 10, 1957) "Inquiry Charges Red Link in Music" ''New York Times'', p 18L</ref> He was the jazz critic for the ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' from 1957 to 1960.<ref name="NYT" /> "A summer concert, lecture, and research tour of South Africa in 1959 was cut short because he encouraged black musicians, but while there he recorded with the group which was about to become [[the Jazz Epistles]]".<ref name="Grove" /> His final recordings, as a trio, were made in 1960.<ref name="AM" />

He wrote numerous books on jazz, including the ''Jazz Improvisation'' series, which sets out the basic principles of jazz,<ref>Dunscomb, Richard J. & Hill Jr., Willie L. (2002) ''Jazz Pedagogy'' Alfred Music Publishing, p336</ref> and was published between 1959 and 1965.<ref name="Grove" />

The American composer [[Leonard Bernstein]] dedicated a piano composition to Mehegan in his 1948 collection ''Four Anniversaries''.<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/composition/anniversaries-13-for-piano-mc0002367722 Allmusic]</ref> Mehegan died in [[New Canaan, Connecticut]], on April 3, 1984.<ref name="Grove" />

==Discography==
* 1952 ''From Barrelhouse to Bop'' (Perspective)
* 1954 ''The First Mehegan'' ([[Savoy Records|Savoy]])
* 1955 ''The John Mehegan Trio/Quartet'' (Savoy) - with Charles Mingus & [[Kenny Clarke]]
* 1955 ''A Pair of Pianos'' (Savoy)- with [[Eddie Costa]] & [[Vinnie Burke]]
* 1956 ''How I Play Jazz Piano'' (Savoy)
* 1959 ''Casual Affair'' (T.J. Records)
* 1960 ''The Act of Jazz'' ([[Epic Records|Epic]]) - a lecture on various aspects of jazz improvisation, using "I Got Rhythm" to illustrate the aspects discussed.

'''With [[Chuck Wayne]]'''
*''[[The Jazz Guitarist]]'' (Savoy, 1954 [1956])

==Techniques, studies & etudes for piano==
* ''Contemporary Styles for the Jazz Pianist, in 3 books'' (1964–70)
* ''Famous Jazz Style Piano Folio - with instruction on how to play jazz piano'' (1958)
* ''Jazz Improvisation'' (1959-65)
*** Vol. 1: Tonal and rhythmic principles (1959)
*** Vol. 2: Jazz rhythm and the improvised line (1962)
*** Vol. 3: Swing and early progressive piano styles (1964)
*** Vol. 4: Contemporary piano styles (1965)
* ''The Jazz Pianist, in 3 books: Studies in the art and practice of jazz improvisation'' (1960–61)
* ''Styles for the Jazz Pianist, in 3 books'' (1962–63)
* ''Studies in Jazz Harmony'' (1962)
* ''Improvising Jazz Piano'' (1985, posthumous)

==Original compositions for piano==
* ''Jazz Bourree'' (1960)
* ''Jazz Preludes'' (1962)
* ''Vienna Woodshed, a jazz waltz for piano 4-hands'' (1965)
* ''Jazz Caper, jazz originals for piano 4-hands'' (1965)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehegan, John}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:American jazz pianists]]
[[Category:American male jazz pianists]]
[[Category:Musicians from Hartford, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Savoy Records artists]]
[[Category:20th-century American pianists]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Connecticut]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]