Catherine Jane Whitney (born in Chicago, Illinois) is an American jazz singer, composer, and lyricist. She was a lyricist for trumpeter Freddie Hubbard.[1]
Whitney learned about music as a child, since her mother, Dorothy Brady, made a living as a vocalist and bandleader in Chicago in the 1950s and '60s. Her stepfather was George E. Lescher, a pianist who played with the Spike Jones Band during World War II and was a longtime Chicago resident. In later years, he led the George Lescher Ballroom Orchestra.[2]
Whitney began her professional jazz singing career in the early 1990s under the mentoring of Von Freeman, a tenor saxophonist in Chicago.[3] Jerry Brown and Gloria Cooper have recorded her work and three songs (in collaboration with Curtis Fuller, Rodgers Grant, and Milton Sealey).[4] In October 2010, New York jazz vocalist Suzanne Pittson recorded a rendition of Freddie Hubbard's song "Our Own" (based on "Gibraltar"), which contained lyrics by Whitney.[5] She has collaborated with Johnny Griffin, Houston Person, Clifford Jordan, Stanley Turrentine, Ray Brown, and Pete Cosey. She is also a Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) affiliated writer.[6]
