Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Lorraine Winifred Geller was born Lorraine Walsh on September 11, 1928 in Portland, Oregon. She started out with the all-female big band Sweethearts of Rhythm, based in New York. She met saxophonist Herb Geller, married him in 1951, and together they moved to Los Angeles, California where they played with many musicians on the West Coast jazz scene, such as Shorty Rogers, Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, and Red Mitchell. She also did sessions with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

In 1957, she accompanied Kay Starr and the following year, concentrating on raising her daughter, she pared down her performances.  She did, however, play at the first Monterey Jazz Festival. On October 13, 1958 pianist Lorraine Geller transitioned in Los Angeles, attributed to heart failure or pulmonary infection.

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