OPEN POST: Manor Music Monday With Kitty White!

Greetings from DJ Li'l Scratch, who's thrilled to be back at the Manor's Beeftube Lounge. Moreover, he's delighted to be spinning tunes from the fabulous Kitty White. 

"Hey, ya'll, Kitty's here!" I really hope someone called that out when Kitty played a gig at their local jazz club. She looks like an approachable, fun-loving star, doesn't she? The kind of gal who's "just folks" - until she opens her mouth and sings. Then you know; there's nothing "just" about her at all. Kitty, as you may know, never achieved great fame, but on the West Coast in the 1930s and early 40s, she was "it."

Born in 1923, and likely influenced by the burgeoning jazz scene on Central Avenue, the nerve center of the Black community where visiting luminaries stayed at the stylish Hotel Summerville, Kitty and her twin sister Maudie started their careers in vaudeville at the age of three - three! - and while Maudie later sang with Duke Ellington's band, only Kitty continued her career into adulthood.

Kitty was quite popular with all the sophisticated West Coast hepcats at supper clubs and other venues and eventually hit the road where was noticed by Mercury records. But not before she sang and danced with Elvis in the movie "King Creole." Oh, and if you've seen "Night Of The Hunter," you've heard her before. She performs "The Lullaby Song" in this brief, haunting scene:

It's a wonder she's not talked about more, since, by anyone's measure, she was a remarkable vocal stylist. Her delivery, elegantly aloof, yet subtly ornate, is in full flower in her 1955 LP, "Kitty White: A New Voice in Jazz." I love the seeming informality of her delivery, an ingratiating facade which masks her perfect pitch, stunning breath control and finely-controlled vibrato. It's gorgeousness, I promise.

What are you listening to right now? DJ L'il Scratch wants to know. 🐾

BTW, looking for Peckerwood's Weekly Lunocracy Post? It's RIGHT HERE.

Photo Credits: Getty Images/Mercury Records