Barbara Kay Donald (September 2, 1942 – March 23, 2013) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trumpeter and bandleader.

Life and career

She was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, United States. Donald began playing trumpet aged eight in Minnesota, and her family relocated to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

when she was a teenager. Beginning in the early 1960s, she began touring with both

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

and jazz ensembles throughout the US, and played with

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

, Stanley Cowell, Richard Davis,

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians. Gordon's height was , so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" an ...

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Prince Lasha William B. Lawsha, better known as Prince Lasha (), (September 10, 1929 – December 12, 2008) was an United States of America, American jazz alto saxophonist, flautist, baritone saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist and English horn player. Life a ...

, and

Sonny Simmons Huey "Sonny" Simmons (August 4, 1933 – April 6, 2021) was an American jazz musician. Biography Simmons was born on August 4, 1933, in Sicily Island, Louisiana. He grew up in Oakland, California, where he began playing the English horn. (Along ...

. In 1964, Donald and Simmons married; one of their children, Zarak Simmons, became a percussionist. Starting in 1978, she began recording with her own ensembles, while living in Washington, for the label Cadence Jazz. Her sidemen at one time included her son Zarak,

Gary Peacock Gary George Peacock (May 12, 1935September 4, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist. He recorded a dozen albums under his own name, and also performed and recorded with major jazz figures such as avant garde saxophonist Albert Ayler, piani ...

, Carter Jefferson and Rahn Burton. After experiencing a series of strokes rendering her unable to actively play live, Donald lived in an assisted care facility in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...

, from 1998 until her death in 2013.

Discography

As leader * ''Olympia Live'' (Cadence Jazz, 1982) * ''The Past and Tomorrows'' (Cadence Jazz, 1983) With

* '' Staying on the Watch'' (ESP-Disk, 1966) * '' Music from the Spheres'' (ESP-Disk, 1968) * ''

Manhattan Egos ''Manhattan Egos'' is an album by saxophonist Sonny Simmons. It was recorded at Sierra Sound Studios in Berkeley, California on February 10, 1969, and was released on LP later that year by Arhoolie Records. On the album, Simmons is joined by trump ...

'' (Arhoolie, 1969) * '' Rumasuma'' (Contemporary, 1970) * '' Burning Spirits'' (Contemporary, 1971) * ''Reincarnation'' (Arhoolie, 2015)

References

Bibliography

*"Barbara Donald". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. Second edition, ed.

Barry Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Donald, Barbara 1942 births 2013 deaths American jazz trumpeters American jazz bandleaders Musicians from Minneapolis Jazz musicians from Minnesota