She lived in California early in life, but moved to New York City when she was sixteen.
She found work with Pony Poindexter and later performed with Charles Mingus, Herbie Mann, Stan Getz, Roland Kirk, Jay Clayton, Charles Lloyd, and Pharoah Sanders.
[1] In the early 1970s, Getz returned to Los Angeles and became a studio musician.
She recorded country music for RCA under the name "Mother Hen" and appeared on albums by The Bee Gees, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Rick Roberts, and John Lennon.
She wrote the title track for the 1973 Jimmie Spheeris album The Original Tap Dancing Kid.