Description
Norma Teagarden was a jazz pianist and music instructor. Born in 1911 in Vernon, Texas, she studied piano with her mother and began her career in music in 1926. In 1935, Teagarden started her own band and began touring with her brother Jack Teagarden’s band. In 1955, she married John Friedlander and settled in San Francisco. She remained active on the jazz scene, playing alongside artists such as Turk Murphy, Kass Malone, Dick Cary, and Walter Page. In the 1970s and 1980s, Teagarden taught piano and played period engagements in San Francisco. In 1983, she was honored as “Empress of Jazz” at the Sacramento Dixieland Jubilee. In this interview, Teagarden discusses her early childhood in Texas and Oklahoma, jazz in the 1920s and 1930s, memorable jazz artists, and life in northern California.