The jazz community lost a true legend with the passing of vocalist-bandleader Pat Yankee on Memorial Day, May 30, at the age of 94. The date was a sad coincidence, for it was on Memorial Day for so many years that Pat held court at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, particularly in 1999 when she was crowned Empress of the Jubilee.
Patricia Weigum was born in Lodi, California, of German-Russian ancestry on July 20, 1927. She took dance lessons as a child in both her home town and San Francisco, and by the tender age of 13, was tap dancing in shows at the Golden Gate Theater. Two years later, she went to New York, where she was signed by Ted Lewis, and spent the next few years touring the East Coast in Lewis’ variety show, appearing with Ben Blue, Sophie Tucker, and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.
Returning to San Francisco, she played numerous club dates before signing to appear at Goman’s North Beach Gay ’90s nightclub for five years. She then toured as a solo vocalist at major clubs around the country. In 1958, she joined the Turk Murphy band and sang with him at the famed Earthquake McGoon’s for five years before forming another band, Pat Yankee and the Sinners, that toured the Las Vegas/Tahoe/Reno circuit.
Pat Yankee and the Sinn
