Biography

Lorraine Winifred Geller (née Walsh; September 11, 1928, Portland, Oregon – October 13, 1958, Los Angeles, California) was an American jazz pianist. She started out with the all-female big band, Sweethearts of Rhythm, a successor to the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. She met alto saxophonist Herb Geller, then playing with Claude Thornhill, in 1950, and married him in 1951. Together they moved to Los Angeles, where 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. The Gellers' only child, Lisa, was born in September 1957. Lorraine Geller performed at the first Monterey Jazz Festival in 1958.