Lorraine Geller

Lorraine Geller (born Lorraine Winifred Walsh, September 11, 1928, Portland, Oregon - Oct. 13, 1958, Los Angeles, California) was an American jazz pianist.

Geller started out with the all-woman big band, Sweethearts of Rhythm, under Anne Mae Winburn; this group was a successor to the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. She met alto saxophonist Herb Geller, then playing with Claude Thornhill, in 1950, and married him in1951; together they moved to Los Angeles. There they played with many of the stalwarts of 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. She performed at the first Monterey Jazz Festival in 1958. Later that year, she died suddenly of heart failure.

Discography

;with Herb Geller
*"The Gellers", Mercury (EmArcy) (1955, with Red Mitchell on bass and Mel Lewis on percussion)
*"Herb Geller plays", Mercury (also Verve 1996, with Leroy Vinnegar bass, Larance Marable percussion)
*"The Herb Geller Sextette", Mercury (with e.g. Conte Candoli, Red Mitchell, 1955)

;Solo
*"Lorraine Geller at the Piano", Dot
*"Chet Baker, Miles Davis - Complete performances with Lighthouse All Stars", Jazz Factory 2004

References

*Scott Yanow, [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jifixqu5ldae~T1 Lorraine Geller] at Allmusic