Trudy Pitts distinguished herself as a capable soul-jazz organist in the 1960s yet drew comparatively little notice beside the handful of other Philadelphians who established themselves on the Hammond B-3 during the same era. Her preferences tilted toward a pop-leaning approach that set her apart from most peers, lending certain recordings a romantic, lounge-inflected atmosphere even as she drove uptempo numbers with real fire and occasionally supplied her own supper-club-style vocals.
After attending Juilliard she earned a music degree from the Connecticut College for Women. Engaged at the time in club singing and teaching, she received an invitation in 1955 from drummer Bill Carney to assume the organ chair in his ensemble, a seat previously occupied by Shirley Scott; Tootie Heath and John Coltrane were then also members of the group. Although she had accumulated little experience in the jazz idiom and the position went to another player, Carney continued to nurture her growth on jazz organ and helped her obtain gigs. By 1958 she was working regularly with Carney’s band and had married him; the outfit began billing itself as Trudy Pitts & Mr. C.
Her style remained less rooted in blues conventions than that of most Hammond organists, a distinction traceable both to her classical schooling and to her habit of supplying bass lines with her foot rather than her left hand.
During the late 1960s she cut several albums for Prestige, the earliest of which featured Pat Martino on guitar and Carney on drums. Although some selections were overt pop adaptations—Herb Alpert’s “The Spanish Flea,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” from Fiddler on the Roof, and “A Whiter Shade of Pale”—these numbers were handled with inventive flair and a firm soul-jazz pulse. Carney and Pitts also contributed original pieces in a more straight-ahead jazz direction, and she demonstrated her ability to swing convincingly through fluid, passionate lines on her treatment of “Take Five.”
Once their family began to grow, Pitts and Carney (known professionally as Mr. C) withdrew from touring in the early 1970s. She still performs on keyboard in theatrical and restaurant settings, though her instrument of choice these days is piano rather than organ.
