Jeannie Cheatham is an American blues and jazz singer, pianist, and arranger born Jean E. Evans on August 14, 1937, in Akron. She performed in a gospel choir from age five and received classical piano training. Cheatham performed jazz from age 15 and received her first professional engagement with Big Mama Thornton. During the 1950s, she performed with vocalists including Al Hibbler and Dinah Washington. She taught at the University of Wisconsin alongside her husband, trombonist Jimmy Cheatham, whom she married in 1961. In 1984, the couple established the Sweet Baby Blues Band and recorded for the label Concord Jazz. Her repertoire included the recording “Meet Me with Your Black Drawers On”. She toured with Cab Calloway and performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Cheatham received the ASCAP Popular Music Award between 1984 and 1991. She published her autobiography, Meet Me with Your Black Drawers On: My Life in Music, in 2006.
