Flo Garvin

Flo Garvin-Deakyne (b. Indianapolis, 1927 - d. Indianapolis, November 19, 2005) – Vocalist and pianist. Indianapolis native Flo Garvin got her start singing in the clubs of Indiana Avenue at age sixteen. She later became a fixture in top venues throughout the Midwest. In 1952, she made her first two recordings on King Records, while she was singing at Cincinnati’s Cotton Club with the Jimmy Coe band (which backs her on the two sides). Later in the 1950s, she hosted her own television show called Sentimental Journey, which was on WFBM. Musical performances on her show were backed by the Montgomery brothers (Wes, Buddy, and Monk). She is said to have been the first African American woman to appear live on television in Indiana. The mother of funky drummer Dewayne “Funky Buzzard” Garvin, Flo Garvin was inducted into the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation Hall of Fame in 1999.