Jazz queen remembered
Cairns Museum recognises Dulcie Pitt/ Georgia Lee (above), an internationally recognised jazz, blues and folk singer born in Cairns.
GEORGIA Lee was an internationally recognised jazz, blues and folk singer.
Born Dulcie Pitt into a family of mixed Jamaican, Indian, Scottish, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, she grew up in Cairns’ Malaytown.
The extended Pitt family loved music and often sang harmonies on the front veranda – a perfect counterpoint to the frugality of existence in the mangrove shanty village.
During World War II, Dulcie and her siblings, performing as The Harmony Sisters, entertained troops stationed in Cairns.
The black American soldiers she encountered introduced her to jazz music.
After the war, she went solo under the stage name Georgia Lee.
In 1953, following success in Sydney and Melbourne, she headed off to London, where she became the highest paid vocalist with Geraldo’s Dance Band, one of the most popular British groups of the day.
In 1957 Georgia Lee supported Nat King Cole’s Australian tour.
Five years later, she became one of the first artists in Australia to be recorded in stereo. Georgia Lee Sings the Blues Down Under (1962) is believed to be the first full-length studio album put out by an indigenous Australian artist.
Auntie Dulcie inspired singers such as Shirley Bassey and her own niece, Wilma Reading, who also became a world-acclaimed entertainer.
In 1977 she was crowned Australia’s Queen of Jazz.
But fame never lessened her disquiet over the blight of racial discrimination.
Once, after performing the famous Billie Holiday song Strange Fruit, written in protest over the lynching of AfricanAmericans, Auntie Dulcie stated: “This song is true and the truth hurts.” Story and photos courtesy of Cairns Museum. For more on the history and identities of Cairns, visit Cairns Museum, Cairns School of Arts building, cnr Lake & Shields streets, 10am-4pm Monday to Saturday.