Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Kitty White was born Kitty Jean Bilbrew on July 7, 1923 in Los Angeles, California. Raised in a musical family, her parents were singers, and her uncle was a well-known vaudevillian and disc jockey. Her twin sister, Maudie Jeanette, also sang and briefly worked with Duke Ellington’s revue, Jump for Joy, but never pursued an active career. Their mother, known as A.C. Bilbrew, organized an all-black chorus that performed in the 1929 film Hearts of Dixie.

She started her career at the age of sixteen as a singer and a pianist, appearing in local nightclubs around Los Angeles. Branching out she opened at the Black Orchid in Chicago, Illinois and was introduced to the executives of Mercury Records, where she became a recording artist.

Kitty picked up her catchy jazz name legitimately by marrying songwriter Eddie White in the 1940s. She moved to Palm Springs, California in 1967 and sang at the Spa Hotel for sixteen years.

Recording mostly on the West Coast, she worked with Buddy Collette, Gerald Wiggins, Chico Hamilton, Bud Shank and Red Callender. She sang many demo recordings for her friend, Los Angeles blues composer Jessie Mae Robinson, including I Went To Your Wedding, a No. 1 hit for Patti Page in 1953. She was also the sole female voice on Elvis Presley’s song Crawfish from the King Creole film soundtrack.

Vocalist Kitty White, who recorded eight albums as a leader and had two compilations released, transitioned in Palm Springs, at the age of 86 on August 11, 2009 after suffering a stroke.

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