Dardanelle developed her skills playing with several bands along the East coast in the late-'30s and early-'40s, before teaming up with Paul Edenfield and Tal Farlow. In 1945, the trio started a year-long residency at the Copacabana club in New York. After taking off time to raise a family, Dardanelle returned to performing in the early-'60s, forming a new trio with her son, Skip Hadley, on drums. In the mid-'70s she performed with leading jazz artists including Bucky Pizzarelli and George Duvivier. In 1978 she returned to the recording studios for an album with Duvivier, Pizzarelli and Grady Tate; in the late-'80s she was artist-in-residence at the University of Mississippi.