Bobbe Gorin "Beegie" Adair ( Long, December 11, 1937 – January 23, 2022) was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. In a career that spanned 60 years, she played on more than 100 recordings. More than a third of her recordings were with the Beegie Adair Trio.

Early life

Bobbe Gorin Long was born in

Cave City, Kentucky Cave City is a home rule-class city in Barren County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 2,240 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Glasgow Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Cave City is located in the northwestern port ...

, on December 11, 1937. Her parents, Bobbe (Martin) Long and Arthur Long, owned a gas station. Adair began playing the piano at the age of five. She graduated from

Caverna High School Caverna High School is a small public high school located in Horse Cave, Kentucky, United States. Built in 1950, the school is operated by the Caverna Independent Schools, one of only a handful of school districts in Kentucky that are known to ope ...

in 1954. Adair earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in music education at

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...

in 1958. Adair worked as a children’s music teacher for three years before relocating to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, in 1961.

Career

In 1961, Adair played in

Printer's Alley Printer's Alley is a famous alley in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., between Third and Fourth Avenues, running from Union Street to Commerce Street. The portion of the alley between Union and Church Street is the home of a nightclub district ...

and became a member of a jazz band led by

Hank Garland Walter Louis Garland (11 November 1930 – 27 December 2004), professionally Hank Garland, was an American guitarist and songwriter. He started as a country musician, played rock and roll as it became popular in the 1950s, and released a jazz al ...

. She was employed as a session musician at the ''Noon Show'' on

WSM-TV WSMV-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WTNX-LD (channel 15). The two stations share studios on Knob Road i ...

and on ''

The Johnny Cash Show ''The Johnny Cash Show'' is an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969, to March 31, 1971, on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. ...

'' from 1969 to 1971. On the Cash show, Adair accompanied performers such as

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

, Peggy Lee,

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings " Everything Is Beautiful" and " Misty", as well as novel ...

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music ...

Cass Elliott Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Mama Cass and later on as Cass Elliot, was an American singer and voice actress. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas. After the group bro ...

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...

and

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

. She partnered with Denis Solee in 1982 to establish the Adair–Solee Quartet, which became the sextet Be-Bop Co-Op. Adair released her first solo album in her name with ''Escape to New York'' (1998). She formed the Beegie Adair Trio, which has sold more than 1.5 million albums. Adair appeared on more than 100 recordings throughout her 60-year career. Of these, 35 were recorded by her eponymous trio which included Adair, bassist Roger Spencer and percussionist Chris Brown. Among Adair’s influences were

George Shearing Sir George Albert Shearing, (13 August 1919 14 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 ...

, Bill Evans,

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards ...

, and

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad " Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first r ...

. In 2002, Adair released a six-CD centennial collection, ''The Great American Songbook Collection,'' with tunes by American composers such as Richard Rodgers,

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in ove ...

, Duke Ellington,

Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the first ...

and

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

. Adair was an adjunct professor of jazz studies at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

’s Blair School of Music. She was a faculty and board member of the Nashville Jazz Workshop, where she often performed. In 2002, Adair was named a Steinway Artist. She was inducted into Western Kentucky University’s Hall of Fame and Cave City's Hall of Fame. She was the inaugural recipient of Nashville Jazz Workshop’s Heritage Award.

Personal life

Adair lived in Franklin,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. She was married to Billy Adair for 38 years until his death in February 2014. He was an associate professor of jazz studies at the Blair School of Music. Adair died at her home in Franklin on January 23, 2022, at the age of 84.

Discography

* 1997 ''Frank Sinatra Collection: A Musical Tribute'' (Green Hill) * 1998 ''Nat King Cole Collection: A Jazz Piano Tribute'' (Spring HIll) * 1998 ''Escape to New York'' (Cap Records) * 1999 ''Jazz Piano Christmas'' (Green Hill) * 2000 ''Love, Elvis'' (Beegie Adair Trio) (Spring Hill) * 2001 ''Dream Dancing: Songs of Cole Porter'' (Spring Hill) * 2002 ''I'll Take Romance'' (Spring Hill) * 2002 '' Centennial Composers Collection'' (Green Hill) * 2003 ''Days of Wine and Roses'' (Village Square) * 2004 ''Embraceable You'' (Green Hill) * 2004 ''Quiet Christmas'' (Village Square) * 2004 ''Sentimental Journey'' (Village Square) * 2004 ''The Way You Look Tonight: The Romantic Songs of Jerome Kern'' (Green Hill) * 2005 ''An Affair to Remember: Romantic Movie Songs of the 1950s'' (Green Hill) * 2005 ''The Nearness of You'' (Spring Hill) * 2005 ''Sinatra on Sax'' (Beegie Adair Trio and Denis Solee) (CD Baby re-release 2012) * 2006 ''Cheek to Cheek'' (Spring Hill) * 2008 ''Dream Dancing'' (Spring Hill) * 2008 ''Dancing in the Dark: A Tribute to Fred Astaire'' (Green Hill) * 2008 ''Dinner Music: Light Jazz'' (Green Hill) * 2008 ''In a Sentimental Mood'' (Green Hill) * 2008 ''My Romance: Romantic Songs of Richard Rodgers'' (Green Hill) * 2008 ''Yesterday: A Solo Piano Tribute to the Music of the Beatles'' (Green Hill) * 2009 ''Moments to Remember: Timeless Pop Hits of the 1950s'' (Green Hill) * 2009 ''Parisian Café'' (with David Davidson) (Green Hill) * 2009 ''Winter Romance'' (Green Hill) * 2009 ''Jazz Piano Christmas'' (Chordant Music Group) * 2010 ''Swingin' with Sinatra'' (Green Hill) * 2010 ''Christmas Jazz: Instrumental Jazz for the Holidays'' (Green Hill) * 2011 ''Cocktail Party'' (Green Hill) * 2011 ''I Love Being Here with You: A Jazz Piano Tribute to Peggy Lee'' (Green Hill) * 2011 ''Into Somethin' '' (Green Hill) * 2011 ''Love Letters'': ''The Beegie Adair Romance Collection'' (Green Hill) * 2011 ''Piano Music for Quiet Moments'' (Spring Hill) * 2012 ''After the Ball'' (with Jaimee Paul) (Green Hill) * 2012 ''Christmas and Cocktails'' (Green Hill) * 2012 ''Christmas Elegance: Elegant Holiday Instrumentals Featuring Piano and Violin'' (Green Hill) * 2012 ''Cocktail Party Piano: Elegant'' (Green Hill) * 2012 ''Jazz and the Movies'' (Green Hill) * 2012 ''Jazz for the Road'' (Green Hill) * 2012 ''Trav'lin' Light: Instrumental Jazz for the Open Road'' (Denis Solee and the Beegie Adair Trio) (Burton Avenue Music) * 2012 ''Days of Wine and Roses: Songs of Johnny Mercer'' (Green Hill) * 2012 ''Piano Music for Moms: Mother's Day Music Collection'' (Green Hill) * 2012 ''Piano Music for Weddings'' (Green Hill) * 2012 ''Save the Last Dance for Me: A Jazz Trio Salute to Timeless Pop Hits of the 1960s'' (Green Hill) * 2012 ''The Real Thing: Live'' (Green Hill/Adair Music Group) * 2013 ''As Time Goes By: Silver Screen Classics From The Golden Age Of Cinema'' (Green Hill) * 2013 ''A Time for Love: Jazz Piano Romance'' (Green Hill) * 2013 ''Jazz on Broadway'' (Beegie Adair Trio with Jack Jezzro) (Green Hill) * 2013: ''Sentimental Journey: Saluting the Greatest Generation With Classic Gems of the World War II Era'' (Green Hill) * 2014 ''The Good Life: A Jazz Piano Tribute to Tony Bennett'' (Green Hill) * 2014 ''Vintage Jazz'' (Green Hill) * 2014 ''By Myself'' (Green Hill) * 2015 ''Too Marvelous for Words'' (with Don Aliquo) (Adair Music Group) * 2015 ''Quiet Christmas: Solo Piano'' (Green Hill) * 2016 ''Some Enchanted Evening'' (with Monica Ramey) (Green Hill) * 2016 ''Jazz Romance'' (Green Hill) * 2017 ''By Request'' (Green Hill) * 2018 ''Gershwin on Sax'' (Beegie Adair Trio and Denis Solee) (Green Hill) * 2019 ''Grover's Hat Project'' (CD Baby) * 2020 ''Beegie Adair Collection'' * 2020 ''Best of Beegie Adair: Solo Piano Performances'' * 2020 ''Best of Beegie Adair: Jazz Piano Christmas Performances'' * 2021 ''Valentine's Day Jazz'' * 2021 ''Best of Beegie Adair: Jazz Piano Performances'' * 2021 ''Beegie Adair: The Collection

021 021 is: * in Brazil, the telephone area code for the city of Rio de Janeiro and surrounding cities (Greater Rio de Janeiro) * in China, the telephone area code for the city of Shanghai. * in Indonesia, the area code for the city of Jakarta ...

' * 2021 ''Winter Wonderland'' * 2021 ''Christmas Fireplace'' * 2022 ''Deep Cuts''

References

External links

Beegie Adair's website
* *
Appearance on NPR's ''Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz''Nashville Jazz Workshop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adair, Beegie 1937 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women pianists 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American women pianists People from Barren County, Kentucky Jazz musicians from Kentucky American jazz pianists Western Kentucky University alumni Kentucky women musicians Women jazz pianists