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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

clarinetist and songwriter. His younger brother was trumpeter Marty Marsala and he was married to jazz harpist Adele Girard.

Music career

He was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

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

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

and Wingy Manone. After moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

, 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 David Jarvis Tough (April 26, 1907 – December 9, 1948) was an American jazz drummer associated with Dixieland and swing jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. He has been described as "the most important of the drummers of the Chicago circle"., p. 2 ...

; 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. He also owned a self-named night club in New York City. Early ...

, pianist

Joe Bushkin Joseph "Joe" Bushkin (November 7, 1916 – November 3, 2004) was an American jazz pianist. Life and career Born in New York City, Bushkin began his career by playing trumpet and piano with New York City dance bands, including Frank LaMare ...

, trumpeter Max Kaminsky, his brother Marty Marsala, 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 vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western culture, 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 ...

songs, including " Don't Cry, Joe (Let Her Go, Let Her Go, Let Her Go)", which was recorded by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

. 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to find that their girlfriends had married someone else. He wrote "

And So to Sleep Again "And So to Sleep Again" is a popular song, written in 1951 by Joe Marsala and Sunny Skylar. It was popularized by Patti Page in 1951. The Page recording was issued by Mercury Records as catalog number 5706, and first reached the ''Billboard'' ...

" with

Sunny Skylar Sunny Skylar (October 11, 1913 – February 2, 2009) was an American music composer, singer, lyricist, and music publisher, often recognized as one of the most prominent songwriters of the Tin Pan Alley era. Sunny Skylar had written over 300 so ...

and it was recorded by

Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), better known by her stage name Patti Page, was an American singer. Primarily known for Pop music, pop and Country music, country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and b ...

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 owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. Marsala became Gordon's mentor and produced his records for

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

, including "Warm and Sentimental" and "Young Man's Fancy".

Arbors Records Arbors Records is a record company and independent record label in Clearwater, Florida. It was founded by Mat and Rachel Domber in 1989 and was initially devoted to the recordings of their friend, Rick Fay. Arbors became known in the 1990s for swi ...

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 Inflammation (from ) is part of the biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. The five cardinal signs are heat, pain, redness, swelling, and ...

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 (, meaning ) 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 Coast of the United States excepting A ...

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