1. Mary Osborne began performing at a young age and was featured on a radio program in North Dakota, where she grew up.
18 Facts About Mary Osborne
1. 2.
Mary Osborne was born in Minot, North Dakota, the tenth of eleven children.
3.
Mary Osborne's family was musically inclined; her mother played guitar and her father, in addition to constructing violins, allowed his barbershop to be the meeting place for the town's musicians.
4.
Mary Osborne came to be featured on her own radio program, which she would continue to perform on twice weekly until she was fifteen.
5.
At the age of fifteen, Mary Osborne joined a trio led by pianist Winifred McDonnell, for which she played guitar, double bass, and sang.
6.
Mary Osborne was enthralled by his sound, at first mistaking the electric guitar for a saxophone.
7.
Mary Osborne had a relaxed, even beat that would sound modern even today.
8.
Mary Osborne sat in with Christian, learning his style of guitar.
9.
Mary Osborne married trumpeter Ralph Scaffidi, who encouraged her musical career.
10.
In 1945, Mary Osborne headlined a performance with Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum, Coleman Hawkins, and Thelonious Monk in Philadelphia, to reviews and audiences that praised her specifically.
11.
Mary Osborne's trio lasted from 1945 to 1948 and played in clubs on 52nd street, had a year-long engagement at Kelly's Stables, and made several recordings.
12.
Shortly after, Mary Osborne felt that she had been doing the same thing musically for too long and wanted a change.
13.
Mary Osborne used classical techniques, such as pick-less playing, in her jazz playing.
14.
In 1968, Mary Osborne moved to Bakersfield, California, where she lived the rest of her life.
15.
Mary Osborne taught music and continued to play jazz locally and in Los Angeles.
16.
Mary Osborne played in the Newport and Concord festivals in the early 1970s, and in the Kool Jazz Festival in New York in 1981.
17.
In 1991, in what would be her final performances, Mary Osborne returned to the Village Vanguard in New York for a week-long engagement.
18.
Mary Osborne died in March 1992 at the age of 70, the result of chronic leukemia.