Donal Richard Leace (May 6, 1939 – November 21, 2020) was an American musician and educator.

Early life and education

Leace was born in Huntington, West Virginia, and raised in Philadelphia, later moving to New York City and Washington D.C. He received a degree from Howard University and graduate degrees from Georgetown University and George Washington University. He was also honored as both a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

and US Presidential Scholar.

Career

During the 1960s, he worked and lived at

The Cellar Door The Cellar Door was a 163-seat music club located at 34th & M Street NW in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. from 1964 through January 7, 1982. It occupied the location of a former music club called The Shadows. One of the premie ...

in Georgetown. For a while a sign at the club read “The Home of Donal Leace”. He performed with

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...

, Nina Simone, Odetta,

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

, Muddy Waters, Ramsey Lewis, The Staple Singers, The Chad Mitchell Trio, Manhattan Transfer, Take 6,

Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and oc ...

, Brownie McGhee,

Big Mama Thornton Willie Mae Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), better known as Big Mama Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B genres. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's " Hound Dog", in 1952, which becam ...

and

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

. He toured nationally with Nancy Wilson and worldwide with Roberta Flack. He also appeared and recorded with comedians Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, Mort Sahl and Dick Gregory. Leace had notable Television appearances on The Today Show, Sunday Morning, and the

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ' ...

show. Leace is mentioned in the discography of

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American jazz and classical music pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also been a ...

. Leace was Chair of the Drama Department at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Washington, DC, where some of his notable students included

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of p ...

and Denyce Graves. Leace often appeared on

Dick Cerri Richard Anthony Cerri, known as Dick Cerri (June 1, 1936 – October 3, 2013) was a well known American folk music disc jockey in Washington, D.C. between 1960 and 1995. Cerri was born in Utica, New York on June 1, 1936, the younger of two child ...

's radio show, Music Americana and participated in World Folk Music Association (WFMA) events including their annual concerts. Leace’s recordings of “Oh! Alabama” and “The Death of Medgar Evers” on some of his many recordings captured the pathos of the 60’s Civil Rights era. His 1962 recording "At The Shadows" with Carol Hedin was groundbreaking featuring Leace, a black male folk singer-guitarist and Hedin, a white female singer and autoharpist, a racial crossover. It was recorded at "The Shadows" restaurant in Washington, D.C., on September 16, 1962.

Death

Leace died from COVID-19 in Washington D.C., on November 21, 2020, at the age of 81.Donal "Don" Leace
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Industry awards

Washington Area Music Association Hall of Fame – 200

Washingtonian Magazine's "Washington Music Hall of Fame" – 200

Discography

Leace made several recordings. Specific examples follow. *''At The Shadows'' with Carol Hedin (1962) - Franc *''Donal Leace At The Cellar Door'' (1965) - Gateway Recordings *''Donal Leace'' (1972) – Atlantic *''Leace On Life'' (1992) – JBL *''Freedom Is A Constant Struggle: Songs of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement'' (1994) - Folk Era Productions *''Leace Renewed'' (2001) – JBL

References

Notes

Sources

Donal "Don" Leace Obituary
''The Washington Post'' (29 Nov. 2020) * Christgau, Robert
“Growing by Degrees: Kanye West.”
in ''Is It Still Good to Ya?: Fifty Years of Rock Criticism, 1967-2017'' (Duke University Press, Durham; London, 2018), pp. 301–303. Accessed 10 Jan. 2021. * Epstein, Daniel Mark
''The Ballad of Bob Dylan: A Portrait''
(2011), p. 4. * Kalodner, John David
"Roberta Flack at the Academy: A Great Setting, a Great Singer,"
''

Philadelphia Bulletin The ''Philadelphia Bulletin'' was a daily evening newspaper published from 1847 to 1982 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the largest circulation newspaper in Philadelphia for 76 years and was once the largest evening newspaper in the United ...

'' (10 Oct. 1973) * Weinberg, Jack, et al
''Los Angeles Free Press'', vol. 6, no. 281, 1969
JSTOR; accessed 10 Jan. 2021. * Weinberg, Jack, et al
''Los Angeles Free Press'', vol. 6, no. 282, 1969
JSTOR; accessed 10 Jan. 2021.

External links

* Donal Leace – Rate Your Musi

* The education of Dave Chappelle: How a D.C. arts school prepared him for stardo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leace, Donal 1939 births 2020 deaths American folk singers American male singers Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C. Singers from West Virginia Musicians from Huntington, West Virginia