she sang in her church choir, leading her own group when she was 13, both as a singer and as a pianist. her first experience singing jazz professionally was at age 20 with a shade mellow, a washington, d.c., group consisting of five voices. she knew she wanted to be a professional vocalist when her sister, shirley heard, who was performing at a club, invited her to sit in. her sister wilhelmina was a member of the john & wilhelmina richburg singers. after singing the first song that is all it took. she knew then the music had chosen her. her first single gig was in 1960 at the tallyrand where she sang for 1 ½ years before she was approached by bert coleman, proprietor at the top of the foolery where she performed for 9 ½ years.