Don Coates
Donald Denison "Don" Coates (born March 23, 1935 in Orange , New Jersey, † May 16, 2017 in Naples , Florida) was an American jazz pianist .
Coates grew up in Verona, New Jersey and attended Williams College. During this time he played in the Dixieland formation The Spring Street Stompers . His main job was as a journalist for Courier News in Plainfield (New Jersey) , and later for Look magazine . He also played in the 1950s and '60s in New York City with jazz greats such as Jack Teagarden , Roy Eldridge , Doc Cheatham , Ruby Braff , Warren Vache , Billie Holiday and Maxine Sullivan , also in the big bands of Bob Crosby , Richard Maltby and Stan Rubin .
In 1968 Coates moved to Warren, Vermont , where he founded an advertising agency and continued to work as a musician. He returned to New York in the late 1970s and performed as a soloist in city hotels like the Ritz and clubs like Jimmy Ryan’s , Eddie Condon’s, Village Corner, Peacock Alley and Hanratty's in the years that followed. For several years he had an engagement in the Windows on the World nightclub in the World Trade Center . His piano playing was in the tradition of Art Tatum , Earl Hines and Teddy Wilson , with borrowings from Thelonious Monk . Discographer Tom Lord lists his participation in the two Muse albums by Earle Warren ( Earle Warren and The Count's Men , 1985) and Benny Waters ( From Paradise (Smalls') to Shangri-la , 1987). Most recently he lived in Florida, where he worked as a real estate agent and musician.
Individual evidence
- ^ Obituary in Legacy.com
- ↑ Jay Anderson: Solo Jazz Piano by Don Coates in The New York Times (1978)
- ↑ Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed May 24, 2017)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Coates, Don |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Coates, Donald Denison |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 23, 1935 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Orange , New Jersey |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 16, 2017 |
| Place of death | Naples , Florida |