Dodo Marmarosa
Michael "Dodo" Marmarosa (December 12, 1925 – September 17, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Originating in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Marmarosa became a professional musician in his mid-teens, and toured with several major big bands, including those led by Tommy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, and Artie Shaw into the mid-1940s. He moved to Los Angeles in 1945, where he became increasingly interested and involved in the emerging bebop scene. During his time on the West Coast, he recorded in small groups with leading bebop and swing musicians, including Howard McGhee, Charlie Parker, and Lester Young, as well as leading his own bands. Marmarosa returned to Pittsburgh due to health reasons in 1948. He began performing much less frequently, and had a presence only locally for around a decade. Friends and fellow musicians had commented from an early stage that Marmarosa was an unusual character. His mental stability was probably affected by being beaten into a coma when in his teens, by a short-lived marriage followed by permanent separation from his children, and by a traumatic period in the army. He made comeback recordings in the early 1960s, but soon retreated to Pittsburgh, where he played occasionally into the early 1970s. From then until his death three decades later, he lived with family and in veterans' hospitals. |
Birth and Death Data: Born January 12, 1925 (Pittsburgh), Died September 17, 2002 (Pittsburgh)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1943 - 1947
Roles Represented in DAHR: piano
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 32 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | D5VB-0032 | 10-in. | 1/9/1945 | The grabtown grapple | Gramercy Five ; Artie Shaw | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | D5VB-0033 | 10-in. | 1/9/1945 | The sad sack | Gramercy Five ; Artie Shaw | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | D5VB-1102 | 10-in. | 7/31/1945 | Scuttlebutt | Gramercy Five ; Artie Shaw | Jazz/dance sextet | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | D5VB-1103 | 10-in. | 8/2/1945 | The gentle grifter | Gramercy Five ; Artie Shaw | Jazz/dance sextet | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | D5VB-1104 | 10-in. | 8/2/1945 | Mysterioso | Gramercy Five ; Artie Shaw | Jazz/dance sextet | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | D5VB-1105 | 10-in. | 8/2/1945 | Hop, skip and jump | Gramercy Five ; Artie Shaw | Jazz/dance sextet | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | D7VB-0511 | 10-in. | 4/22/1947 | From dixieland to be-bop (or Condon meets Gillespie) | Lucky Seven (Lucky Thompson) ; Lucky Thompson | Jazz/dance octet | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | D7VB-0513 | 10-in. | 4/22/1947 | Boppin' the blues | Lucky Seven (Lucky Thompson) ; Lucky Thompson | Jazz/dance octet | instrumentalist, piano | |
Decca | 71460 | 10-in. | 10/20/1943 | Strollin' | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | ||
Decca | 71461 | 10-in. | 10/20/1943 | The moose | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | ||
Decca | 71462 | 10-in. | 10/20/1943 | Pow-wow (Redskin rhumba) | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | ||
Decca | 71463 | 10-in. | 10/20/1943 | Sittin' home waitin' for you | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | ||
Decca | 71794 | 2/23/1944 | In there | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 71795 | 10-in. | 2/23/1944 | Saltin' away my sweet dreams | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | ||
Decca | 71796 | 10-in. | 2/23/1944 | Baby won't you please come home | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | ||
Decca | 71797 | 2/23/1944 | The great lie | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | |||
Decca | 71798 | 10-in. | 2/24/1944 | My heart isn't in it | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | ||
Decca | 71799 | 10-in. | 2/24/1944 | Drop me off in Harlem | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | ||
Decca | 71800 | 10-in. | 2/24/1944 | Gulf Coast blues | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | ||
Decca | 71801 | 10-in. | 2/24/1944 | Flat top flip hiss lid | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | ||
Decca | 72450 | 10-in. | 10/17/1944 | Into each life some pain must fall | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | ||
Decca | 72451 | 10-in. | 10/17/1944 | You always hurt the one you love | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | ||
Decca | 72452 | 10-in. | 10/17/1944 | West End blues | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | ||
Decca | 72453 | 10-in. | 10/17/1944 | Desert sands | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano | ||
Decca | L 3487 | 10-in. | 8/3/1944 | Skyliner | Charlie Barnet Orchestra | instrumentalist, piano |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Marmarosa, Dodo," accessed November 25, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/329797.
Marmarosa, Dodo. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 25, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/329797.
"Marmarosa, Dodo." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 25 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Dodo Marmarosa
Discogs: Dodo Marmarosa
Allmusic: Dodo Marmarosa
Grove: Dodo Marmarosa
IMDb: Dodo Marmarosa
Britannica: Dodo Marmarosa
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Marmarosa, Dodo - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n93052197
Wikidata: Dodo Marmarosa - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q720674
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/49408729
MusicBrainz: Dodo Marmarosa - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/fddce5c2-314e-4ae2-9a22-2886bdcc4615
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