Biography
John Mehegan performed regularly across Massachusetts before relocating to New York in 1941. Four years later he cut four tracks under his own name for Savoy, and during the 1950s he balanced work as a pianist with teaching duties that began at Juilliard in 1947 and occasional writing assignments. His busiest stretch as a performer fell within that same decade, when he completed four Savoy albums between 1954 and 1956—one with a quartet, one with a trio, one unaccompanied, and one featuring fellow pianist Eddie Costa alongside bassist Vinnie Burke. In 1959 he joined trumpeter Kenny Dorham for a session issued on the Request label and also visited South Africa, where he documented several pieces with a young Hugh Masekela on the little-known Gallo-Continental imprint; the trip ended abruptly after officials detained him for “fraternizing” with Black musicians. Although a handful of trio titles from 1960 marked his final studio work, Mehegan remained engaged as an educator for the remainder of his life. He authored numerous jazz instruction manuals, contributed reviews to Down Beat and additional periodicals, and maintained a full schedule of lectures on jazz and improvisation.
Albums