John Francis Mehegan was an American jazz pianist, lecturer and critic.
12 Facts About John Mehegan
1.
2.
John Mehegan began playing the violin in 1926 and played for seven years without enjoying it.
3.
John Mehegan initially taught himself to play the piano by matching his fingers to the notes played on a player piano.
4.
John Mehegan went on to study at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford.
5.
John Mehegan had gigs in the Massachusetts area, and then moved to New York in 1941.
6.
John Mehegan recorded four quartet tracks as a leader for Savoy Records in 1945.
7.
John Mehegan taught at the Juilliard School of Music, Columbia University Teachers College, the University of Bridgeport and Yale University.
8.
John Mehegan wrote the incidental music for A Streetcar Named Desire which he performed on Broadway for two years.
9.
John Mehegan was questioned by the House Un-American Activities Committee, where he was an uncooperative witness.
10.
John Mehegan was the jazz critic for the New York Herald Tribune from 1957 to 1960.
11.
John Mehegan wrote numerous books on jazz, including the Jazz Improvisation series, which sets out the basic principles of jazz, and was published between 1959 and 1965.
12.
John Mehegan died in New Canaan, Connecticut, on April 3,1984.