About

Owner-Operator and Resident Performer

Los Angeles transplant Tracey Whitney began performing with her family singing group, The Whitney Family, debuting at the famed nightspot “The Coconut Grove” when she was just 11 years old. For the next 15 years her family toured and recorded - they received an Emmy Award nomination for "Early In The Morning" from the 1977 film "Minstrel Man", while their album, "Airways", featured "Let Me Be Your Woman", a Billboard magazine Top Singles Pick. They did numerous TV shows, most notably The Midnight Special, performed in Vegas, Tahoe and more before she was tapped to tour with "The Genius of Soul", Ray Charles as a “Raelette” for his 1991 Pepsi “You Got the Right One, Baby, Uh-Huh!” tour. She then spent 5 years singing solo in Tokyo, Yokohama, and Tokushima Japan before returning to her roots and the stage in L.A. 

Since relocating to Albuquerque in 2012, she’s been thrilling audiences throughout the city with her unique brand of classic jazz and sophisticated soul in some of the city’s most notable venues, including a residency with her band, 'The Art of Jazz with Tracey Whitney', in the Hotel Andaluz’s Casablanca Room, which was crowned “The Best Place for Jazz” by Albuquerque the Magazine. She’s also performed in concert for the Santa Fe Bandstand, St John’s College “Music on the Hill", Route 66 Summerfest, the New Mexico Jazz Workshop’s Women's Voices and Ladies Sing the Blues series' – including the curated concerts “A Dangerous Creation: A Tribute to Johnny Otis” and “A 60’s Summer Suite” both co-written, produced and performed with Babydoll’s “Hues of the Blues” host Zenobia, at the Albuquerque Museum Amphitheater. Her sold-out concert “Guess Who I Saw Today?” honoring family friend (and her vocal muse) Miss Nancy Wilson, was performed at both the African American Performing Arts Center and the Outpost Performance Space. 

Tracey is a voting member of The National Academy of Performing Arts and Sciences (aka The Grammy Awards) and has performed in concert with contemporary jazz stars Nathan East, Marc Antoine, Euge Groove, Will Donato, Brian Simpson, Darren Rahn and Julian Vaughn. She’s the winner of the 2024 New Mexico Entertainment Awards “Top Musical Artist Solo Jazz/Blues” and received a 2024 Albuquerque Film + Music Experience Festival (AFMX) award for her “Contributions to Music in Albuquerque”, while her 3rd CD, “Live at the Outpost Performance Space” was a New Mexico Music Awards nominee for Best Vocal Performance. 

Her exceptional career also includes serving as President of the Musicians Association of Albuquerque, Local 618 of the American Federation of Musicians, representing the musicians of the New Mexico Philharmonic, Santa Fe Symphony, Santa Fe Opera and El Paso Symphony Orchestra; President of the Board of Directors of the African American Performing Arts Center Foundation (AAPAC); Music Commissioner for the State of New Mexico appointed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham; Advisory Board member of the AFMX; and Community Advisory Committee member of KHFM Classical Radio. She was also the first Jazz Vocal Instructor at the New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe (she fell in love with teaching and was inspired to launch "Next Gen Jazz" at Babydoll’s where she’ll nurture the next generation of high school and college jazz singers and musicians). 

Through her partnership with Heritage Hotels & Resorts, Tracey has now realized a lifelong dream of owning her own nightclub, Babydoll’s House of Jazz & Blues, where she serves as both the owner-operator and resident performer with her band, The Art of Jazz with Tracey Whitney.

Bar Manager and Award-Winning Master Mixologist

Hospitality has always been about more than drinks - it’s about passion, connection, and an amazing guest experience. With over 10 years behind the bar and a lifelong passion for the food and beverage industry, Jessica O’Brien, known to many as “Jayo”, began her journey as a restaurant host and never left the industry! It wasn’t until she moved to San Francisco that she learned the foundations of thoughtful service, hospitality, and a creative bar culture. The Bay Area is where she also gained her first bar mentor and the rest is history! 

Her path led her back home to Albuquerque where, as Creative Director of Cocktails at Sister Bar, she built one of the first craft cocktail forward menus accessible at a neighborhood music venue downtown. That was followed by four years as owner and operator of Teddy Roe’s Speakeasy, where she shaped and created a space defined by intention, atmosphere, and craft that has set a standard for exceptional cocktail bars in Albuquerque. Combining her love of music with amazing hospitality is an experience she’s excited to share at Babydoll’s! 

Jessica is the winner of multiple New Mexico State cocktail competitions, is a Caravedo Pisco New Mexico Brand Ambassador, and a 2024 “Tales of the Cocktail” CAP Scholar.

Host of Hues of the Blues on Thursdays

Songwriter and recording artist Zenobia has had a truly remarkable career beginning with singing in her church choir in Los Angeles where she taught herself to play the piano at age 5 and wrote her first song at 8. After winning local talent shows and awards in acting, at 18, she debuted in the LA company of the rock musical, “HAiR”, then was sent to New York to join the original Broadway cast. While starring in HAiR, Zenobia became a studio singer on recording sessions and live gigs. She also toured in Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar. 

After she released a 12″ single, “In The Night” on Streetwise Records and co-produced a Billboard’s Dance charted, “Living For The Weekend” by Rockers Revenge, her friend Paul Jabara asked her to record a song he wrote, “It’s Raining Men”, which soon after became a Columbia Records disco hit featuring her as an original "Weather Girl". Additionally, recording artists Leon Ware, The Ritchie Family and Platinum Hook have recorded her songs. 

Zenobia co-wrote songs with the legendary Carol Bayer Sager, Marti Sharron, Denise Rich, and James (D-Train) Williams. An award-winning producer in advertising (receiving 1 CLIO, 3 CEBAS, 3 Tellys and a Black Achiever Award), she produced singers Patti Austin, Valerie Simpson, Michael Bolton, Lou Rawles, BJ Thomas, and Vickie Sue Robinson. She also directed actors Richie Havens, Ossie Davis, Busta Rhymes, Angela Bofill and Eddie Griffin for TV & Radio commercials. She released her first CD, “Home” in 2000, and in 2014 “One More Night” from her CD “Resurrection” won Best Gospel Song and in 2015 it also won CD of the Year at the New Mexico Music Awards. 

A former Music Commissioner for the State of New Mexico appointed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and former voting member of The National Academy of Performing Arts and Sciences (aka The Grammy Awards), Zenobia’s long-term collaboration, Jay Boy Adams & Zenobia, performs in concert many times a year in Texas as well as Evangelo’s Cocktail Lounge in Santa Fe. As a solo artist, she’s had long-standing gigs at Vanessie and Cowgirl in Santa Fe, performed in The New Mexico Jazz Workshop’s Under the Stars series “Women’s Voices” and “Ladies Sing the Blues,” including the curated concerts “A Dangerous Creation: A Tribute to Johnny Otis” and “A 60’s Summer Suite” both co-written, produced and performed with Tracey Whitney at the Albuquerque Museum Amphitheater. She performed in concert at the African American Performing Arts Center, in the Albuquerque Film + Music Experience “Tribute to Nathan East,” and with Blues superstar Keb’ Mo’ at the Lensic Theater in Santa Fe. She’s also hosted her own series “Front Porch Concerts” featuring some of Albuquerque’s favorite musicians. In addition to the piano, she plays guitar, Harmonium, Djembe drum, and other percussive instruments and is a vocal arranger and coach. 

Zenobia is the resident host and bandleader of “Hues of the Blues” on Thursdays with her trio.