Dardanelle

Dardanelle Breckenbridge or Breckenridge (December 27, 1917 – August 8, 1997), was an American jazz musician known for performing with Lionel Hampton in the 1940s, and later as a solo artist under the name Dardanelle.

Dardanelle was a talented pianist, vibraphonist, and singer who was raised in a musical family. She studied music at Louisiana State University, 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 collaboraters, initially with bassist Paul Edenfield and guitarist Tal Farlow. 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 and distributed by RCA Records. By the 1950s Dardanelle moved to Chicago and paused music in favour of raising a family.

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