Joseph Francis Marsala (January 4, 1907 – March 4, 1978) was an Italian-American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

clarinetist and songwriter. His younger brother was trumpeter

Marty Marsala Marty Marsala (2 April 1909 – 27 April 1975) was an American jazz trumpeter born in Chicago, perhaps best known for working from 1926-1946 with his brother Joe Marsala in a big band in New York City and Chicago. He had also toured with variou ...

and he was married to jazz harpist Adele Girard.

Music career

He was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

, United States. In the 1920s, Marsala played guitar in clubs in his hometown of Chicago with

Ben Pollack Ben Pollack (June 22, 1903 – June 7, 1971) was an American drummer and bandleader from the mid-1920s through the swing era. His eye for talent led him to employ musicians such as Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Glenn Miller, Jimmy McPartland, ...

and

Wingy Manone Joseph Matthews "Wingy" Manone (February 13, 1900 – July 9, 1982) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, singer, and bandleader. His recordings included "Tar Paper Stomp", "Nickel in the Slot", "Downright Disgusted Blues", "There'll Come a ...

. After moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, he recorded and performed with Manone in the 1930s. As a

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...

, he worked with drummers

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York ...

Shelly Manne Sheldon "Shelly" Manne (June 11, 1920 – September 26, 1984) was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, ...

, and

Dave Tough Dave Tough (April 26, 1907 – December 9, 1948) was an American jazz drummer associated with Dixieland and swing jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. Biography Born in Oak Park, Illinois, United States, Tough was a friend of Bud Freeman, who was p ...

; guitarist

Eddie Condon Albert Edwin Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang. Early years Condon was born in Goodland, Indiana, the son of ...

, pianist Joe Bushkin, trumpeter Max Kaminsky, his brother

, and his wife, jazz harpist Adele Girard. In 1948, he left professional performing and entered music publishing. By 1949, he was writing

traditional pop Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

songs, including " Don't Cry, Joe (Let Her Go, Let Her Go, Let Her Go)", which was recorded by Frank Sinatra. The song led friends to the unfounded fear his marriage was over when in fact it was written for GIs who had returned home from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

to find that their girlfriends had married someone else. He wrote " And So to Sleep Again" with

Sunny Skylar Sunny Skylar (October 11, 1913 – February 2, 2009) was an American composer, singer, lyricist, and music publisher. He was born Selig Sidney Shaftel in Brooklyn, New York, one of four children, to Sarah and Jacob Shaftel (or Schaftel), Jewish im ...

and it was recorded by

Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), known professionally as Patti Page, was an American singer and actress. Primarily known for pop and country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female ar ...

in 1951. Marsala taught clarinet to Bobby Gordon, the son of Jack Gordon, who worked for

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

. Marsala became Gordon's mentor and produced his records for Decca, including "Warm and Sentimental" and "Young Man's Fancy". Arbors Records released ''Bobby Gordon Plays Joe Marsala, Lower Register'' in 2007 and ''The Bobby Gordon Quartet Featuring Adele Girard Marsala, Don't Let It End'', which featured Adele's last session for Arbors in 1992. According to his wife, Marsala suffered from an allergy to nickel and had a rash on his hands from the nickel-plated keys on the clarinet. He was also bothered by

colitis Colitis is swelling or inflammation of the large intestine ( colon). Colitis may be acute and self-limited or long-term. It broadly fits into the category of digestive diseases. In a medical context, the label ''colitis'' (without qualification ...

and was unable to drink alcohol for a time. Although his younger brother Marty was drafted, Marsala was an unacceptable candidate because of cartilage and ligament tears in his knee. He and his wife entertained stateside for the

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

during the war years. Marsala died of cancer in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coa ...

on March 4, 1978, aged 71.

References

Sources

* Atteberry, Phillip D. "The Sweethearts of Swing: Adele Girard and Joe Marsala." ''The Mississippi Rag''. April 1996 * Marsala Trampler, Eleisa, "Don't Let It End Pt. I: Joe Marsala". ''The Clarinet''. June 2007 * Marsala Trampler, Eleisa, "Don't Let It End Pt. II: Bobby Gordon". ''The Clarinet''. September 2007 * Marsala-Trampler, Eleisa, "Adele Girard Marsala: First Lady of the Jazz Harp". ''The American Harp Journal''. Winter 2005 * Liner Notes: ''Bobby Gordon Plays Joe Marsala: Lower Register''. Arbors. 2007

External links

Bio from ArtistDirect.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsala, Joe 1907 births 1978 deaths Dixieland clarinetists Swing clarinetists American jazz clarinetists American people of Italian descent American jazz musicians 20th-century American musicians Deaths from cancer in California