Lorraine Geller at the Piano

Lorraine Geller’s career as a jazz pianist was all too brief. Most of her recordings were made alongside her husband Herb (a fine saxophonist), but on this 1954 date she’s accompanied by bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Buzz Freeman. Although she is mainly associated with the “cool” style of the 1950s, here you’ll catch more than a hint of bebop powerhouse Bud Powell and some of the lushness of Errol Garner in her sound. But she’s entirely herself on these performances, and her sudden death at age 30 just a few years after this release was one of the great tragedies of jazz history.