Biography
1933, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Pitts began playing piano at the age of six, encouraged by her musician mother. She played piano in church, later adding organ at the same venue. Pitts also worked with the church’s senior choir before going on to study at Philadelphia’s Musical Academy, then at Connecticut College for Women, Temple University and the Juilliard School of Music. She taught for a while in Philadelphia, then in the mid-50s began playing jazz gigs with vocalist and drummer Bill Carney, whom she later married. With Carney at times were musicians such as John Coltrane, Benny Golson, Al ‘Tootie’ Heath and organist Shirley Scott. It was the latter whom Pitts replaced and jazz eventually became her primary interest. With Coltrane’s departure, others who played in Carney’s group included Jimmy Oliver and Musa Kaleem. In 1967 Pitts was proclaimed a rising star by The Boston Globe and through the following decades she...
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