She studied music at Louisiana State University, holding a major, and worked as a house pianist at a local radio station.

During the 1940s she led her own Dardanelle Trio, with various collaborators, initially with bassist Paul Edenfield and guitarist Tal Farlow.

During this time she was featured in the 1946 short theatrical musical Soundies Presents Happy Cat directed by William Forest Crouch and distributed by RCA Records.

She relocating to the East Coast and formed a new trio including her son, the drummer Skip Hadley.

Now she worked with the likes of Bucky Pizzarelli and George Duvivier, contributing on records, and appearing in a number of venues including the Carnegie Hall, until the 1990s.