Dardanelle Breckenbridge or Breckenridge (December 27, 1917 - August 8, 1997), was an American jazz musician known for performing with

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...

in the 1940s, and later as a solo artist under the name Dardanelle.

Biography

Dardanelle was a talented pianist, vibraphonist, and singer who was raised in a musical family. She studied music at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

, holding a major, and worked as a house pianist at a local radio station. By the late 1930s she started to appear professionally on the national jazz scene. During the 1940s she led her own Dardanelle Trio, with various collaborators, initially with bassist Paul Edenfield and guitarist

Tal Farlow Talmage Holt Farlow (June 7, 1921 – July 25, 1998) was an American jazz guitarist. He was nicknamed "Octopus" because of how his large, quick hands spread over the fretboard. As Steve Rochinski notes, "Of all the guitarists to emerge in th ...

. The trio recorded much music and became a regular fixture at New York's Copacabana. During this time she was featured in the 1946 short theatrical musical “Soundies Presents Happy Cat” directed by

William Forest Crouch William Forest Crouch (January 16, 1904 – March, 1968) was an American director and writer of film, mostly Short film, shorts. His work includes ''Reet, Petite, and Gone'' (1947) made with an all-African-American cast. He was active during the 1 ...

and distributed by RCA Records. By the 1950s Dardanelle moved to Chicago and paused music in favour of raising a family. By the 1970s, Dardanelle reappeared at the jazz scene. She relocating to the East Coast and formed a new trio including her son, the drummer Skip Hadley. Now she worked with the likes of

Bucky Pizzarelli John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli (January 9, 1926 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz guitarist. He was the father of jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli and double bassist Martin Pizzarelli. He worked for NBC as a staffman for Dick Cavett (1971) ...

and

George Duvivier George Duvivier (August 17, 1920 – July 11, 1985) was an American jazz double-bassist. Biography Duvivier was born in New York City, the son of Leon V. Duvivier and Ismay Blakely Duvivier. He attended the Conservatory of Music and Art, where ...

, contributing on records, and appearing in a number of venues including the

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

, until the nineties.

Discography (in selection)

Solo albums

* 1950: ''Piano Moods'' (

Columbia records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

) * 1978: ''Songs For New Lovers'' (

Stash Records Stash Records was an American independent jazz record label based in New York City that flourished from 1975 through the late 1990s. Its name was drawn from the subject of its first album, ''Reefer Songs'' (1976). Bernie Brightman ''(né'' Berna ...

), with

Grady Tate Grady Tate (January 14, 1932 – October 8, 2017) was an American jazz and soul-jazz drummer and baritone vocalist. In addition to his work as sideman, Tate released many albums as leader and lent his voice to songs in the animated '' Schoolhou ...

* 1981: ''Echoes Singing Ladies'' (Audiophile) * 1982: ''The Colors Of My Life'' (

) * 1984: ''The Two Of Us'' (Stash Records), with Vivian Lord * 1987: ''A Woman's Intuition'' (Audiophile)

Collaborations

; With

and his Orchestra * 1946: ''Punch And Judy'' (

Decca records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

) * 1953: ''Hamp's Boogie Woogie'' (Brunswick) * 1963: ''Volume 2 - October 16, 1944 – January 30, 1946'' ( Ajazz Records) * 1983: ''Leapin' With Lionel'' (Affinity) * 1983 ''Gold Braid'' (

Audiophile An audiophile is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. An audiophile seeks to reproduce the sound of a piece of recorded music or a live musical performance, typically inside closed headphones, In-ear monitors, open ...

) – A compilation of 'The Dardanelle Trio' 1945 World Broadcasting recordings.

References

External links

The mystery of Dardanelle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breckenbridge, Dardanelle 1917 births 1997 deaths American jazz pianists American jazz vibraphonists American women jazz singers American jazz singers American women singer-songwriters Women jazz pianists People from Carroll County, Mississippi Jazz musicians from Mississippi Singer-songwriters from Mississippi Louisiana State University alumni 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century women pianists