Donald Dean

Donald Dean (born June 21, 1937) is a jazz drummer who has worked with Kenny Dorham, Les McCann and others. A collection related to him is led by the Los Angeles Jazz Institute.

He appears, alongside Les McCann and Eddie Harris, on the soul jazz album Swiss Movement, recorded live on June 21, 1969 at The Montreux Jazz Festival.

His son Jamael Dean is a musician who has worked, and performed, with Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Carlos Niño. Jamael is signed to Stones Throw Records on which he released his debut record, Black Space Tapes, in November 2019.

Discography

With Les McCann

• Much Les (Atlantic, 1968)
• Swiss Movement (Atlantic, 1969) - with Eddie Harris
• Comment (Atlantic, 1970)
• Second Movement (Atlantic, 1971) - with Eddie Harris
• Invitation to Openness (Atlantic, 1972)
• Talk to the People (Atlantic, 1972)
• Live at Montreux (Atlantic, 1972 [1973])
• Layers (Atlantic, 1972 [1974])

With Jimmy Smith

• Bluesmith (Verve, 1972)

Sources

• Richard Cook & Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings, 8th Edition, London, Penguin, 2006 ISBN 0-14-102327-9
• Leonard Feather & Ira Gitler, The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford/New York, 1999, ISBN 978-0-19-532000-8