John Mehegan

John Mehegan gigged around Massachusetts and in 1941 moved to NY. He documented four songs being a head for Savoy in 1945 and proved helpful being a pianist, educator (teaching at Juilliard beginning in 1947), and periodic writer through the entire 1950s. That 10 years was his most energetic period as a new player; he documented four albums for Savoy during 1954-1956 using a quartet, using a trio, being a piano soloist, and in a trio with fellow pianist Eddie Costa and bassist Vinnie Burke. In 1959 he teamed up with trumpeter Kenny Dorham for an archive time for the Demand label. That season he toured South Africa (saving with a Hugh Masekela for the obscure Gallo-Continental label) but ran into difficulty using the regulators for “fraternizing” with dark music artists. Mehegan’s last recordings occurred in 1960 (several titles using a trio) but he held energetic as an educator during his last 2 decades. John Mehegan released many instructional books on jazz, had written review articles for Down Defeat and other journals, and was a active lecturer on jazz and improvisation.