Jeannie Cheatham

Cheatham was born and grew up in Akron, Ohio, the first child{{efn|Her parents later had two more daughters and three sons.{{harvp|Cheatham|2006|pp=[https://archive.org/details/meetmewithyourbl0000chea/page/2/mode/1up v,1–2,26,39,44,46–47]}}}} of Elizabeth ({{lang|fr|née}} Smart) and Ernest Evans.{{cite web |date=2022 |title=Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950, Record Group 29, Roll 728, ED 89-133, Sheet 10, Line 20 |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XBS-171L |location=Washington, DC |publisher=United States of America, Bureau of the Census |access-date=January 17, 2023 |via=FamilySearch}} At the age of five, she started having lessons on her aunt's newly-acquired piano, which was soon moved to Cheatham's home when it transpired that she had a talent for music her aunt lacked.{{sfnp|Cheatham|2006|pp=[https://archive.org/details/meetmewithyourbl0000chea/page/10/mode/1up 10–19]}} Not long after, she began playing for services at the church her family attended.{{sfnp|Cheatham|2006|pp=[https://archive.org/details/meetmewithyourbl0000chea/page/37/mode/1up 37–38]}} Throughout her school years, Cheatham's piano teacher also took her to play at weddings and social events, as well as to give recitals.{{sfnp|Cheatham|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/meetmewithyourbl0000chea/page/19/mode/1up 19]}}

Cheatham first played jazz music when, aged 14, she was asked to join a local 15-piece rehearsal orchestra. While still in high school, she began playing in smaller groups,{{cite magazine |last=Dance |first=Helen Oakley |author-link=Helen Oakley Dance |date=1987 |title=Jeannie Cheatham |magazine=Jazz Journal International |volume=40 |number=10 |location=London |publisher=Jazz Journal Ltd. |pages=12–14}} and found herself in demand professionally as most younger musicians were drafted into the US Army during World War II. In 1944, she was accepted as a student at the University of Akron,{{sfnp|Cheatham|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/meetmewithyourbl0000chea/page/48/mode/1up 48]}} but was unable to complete more than one year for financial reasons.{{sfnp|Cheatham|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/meetmewithyourbl0000chea/page/52/mode/1up 52]}}

Writing in the Los Angeles Times in 1992, Dirk Sutro (author of Jazz for Dummies) noted that "Jeannie Cheatham remains one of the under-appreciated greats of jazz and blues, both for her spare, tasteful piano playing, which ranges from boogie-woogie to Monk{{nbh}}ish surprises, and for her earthy but sensuous voice."{{cite news |last=Sutro |first=Dirk |date=April 7, 1992 |title=San Diego Spotlight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/177298582/ |url-access=subscription |volume=111 |number=126 |edition=San Diego County |location=Los Angeles |publisher=The Times Mirror Company |issn=0458-3035 |page=F2 |access-date=January 18, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}}

In 2006, Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham received a lifetime achievement award at the San Diego Music Awards,{{cite web |last=Trageser |first=Jim |date=September 13, 2006 |title=San Diego Music Awards set for Monday |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-san-diego-music-awards-set-for-monday-2006sep13-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128094107/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-san-diego-music-awards-set-for-monday-2006sep13-story.html |archive-date=January 28, 2023 |website=The San Diego Union–Tribune |location=San Diego, CA |access-date=January 28, 2023}} and in November 2022, were inducted into the San Diego Music Hall of Fame.{{cite web |last=Bell |first=Diane |date=November 8, 2022 |title=San Diego Music Hall of Fame has six new inductees |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/columnists/story/2022-11-08/san-diego-music-hall-of-fame-has-six-new-inductees |website=The San Diego Union-Tribune |location=San Diego, CA |access-date=January 13, 2023 }}

• Academy Awards in Jazz (1964){{cite magazine |date=May 2, 1964 |title=A Smash Album: Academy Awards in Jazz [Advert] |url=https://archive.org/details/cashbox25unse_32/page/n42/mode/1up |magazine=Cash Box |volume=25 |number=34 |location=New York |publisher=The Cash Box Publishing Co. |page=45 |access-date=January 14, 2023 |via=Internet Archive}}
  Roberta Como & Jean Cheatham
  {{small|with George Duvivier and Jo Jones}}
  Grenadier Records
  {{small|GLP-100 (Mono LP){{spaces|3}}GSLP-100 (Stereo LP)}}
• Changing with the Times (1993){{cite AV media notes |date=January 1, 1993 |others=George Lewis |title=Changing with the Times |url=https://nwr-site-liner-notes.s3.amazonaws.com/80434.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921084928/https://nwr-site-liner-notes.s3.amazonaws.com/80434.pdf |archive-date=September 21, 2020 |location=New York |publisher=New World Records |access-date=January 18, 2023}}
  George Lewis
  New World Records
  {{small|New World 80434-2 (CD)}}

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Category:1927 births

Category:20th-century American women musicians

Category:20th-century American musicians

Category:20th-century American pianists

Category:20th-century singers

Category:American blues pianists

Category:American blues singers

Category:Living people

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