Jazz Live Blog
Pat McMinn
Entertainer
Singer, dancer and all-round entertainer Pat McMinn died last weekend aged 91. She was one of the last musical connections to the Swing Era and to some of our most iconic (and ear-wormy) novelty songs. McMinn was also one of the last old-school multitalented vaudeville entertainers.
Born in 1926 ‘Pretty Pattie (or Paddie’) McMinn was a singer and dancer from a young age, and began working on the vaudeville stage at about age 7 touring on the J.C.Williamson circuit. By age 9 she was a young radio star on the 1ZB children’s show Neddo’s Jolly Pirates. In 1942 she became a young cabaret star after winning a competition that her grandmother had signed her up for. The prize was an engagement singing at the Dixieland Cabaret (this was the third iteration of that cabaret, back in the original Queen Street premises) with Johnny Madden and Jack Thompson- two of Auckland’s big name swing musicians at the time. She was paid a respectable 10 shillings 6 pence a night, and this shot her into the adult entertainment world.
After the Dixieland gig ended she moved down the hill to the Trocadero and Len Hawkins Band. In addition to being the girl singer for the cabaret band she utilised her dance skills and regularly took part in floorshows at the cabaret.
