Mary Osborne

American jazz guitarist
Born July 17, 1921 in Minot, North Dakota
Died March 4, 1992 in Bakersfield, California
Osborne began in the Winifred McDonnell Trio in 1938 and it believed she adopted her modified name at this time; because of her age McDonnell became her legal guardian. She first heard the electric guitar when she saw Charlie Christian and recognized the chord changes Django Reinhardt used on St Louis Blues when Christian played the tune. He invited her to sit in and the two became close friends for the rest of his life. She married trumpeter, Ralf Scaffidi in 1942 and had her own radio program on NBC in 1948. In 1967, she and her family moved to Bakerfield in California and established the Rosac Electronics Company which then morphed into the Osborne Guitar Company and then into Osborne Sound Laboratories. The company manufactured guitars, basses, and amplifiers until it folded in 1980. During her career as a guitarist, she worked with Coleman Hawkins, Stuff Smith, and The Beryl Booker Trio as well as her own group, The Mary Osborne Trio.