Leon Joseph Roppolo (March 16, 1902 – October 5, 1943) was an American early

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 The clarinet is a single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest woodw ...

, best known for his playing with the

New Orleans Rhythm Kings The New Orleans Rhythm Kings (NORK) were one of the most influential jazz bands of the early to mid-1920s. The band included New Orleans and Chicago musicians who helped shape Chicago jazz and influenced many younger jazz musicians. They compos ...

. He also played

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

and

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

Life and career

Leon Roppolo (

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

d "Rap" and sometimes misspelled as "Rappolo") was born in

Lutcher, Louisiana Lutcher is a town in St. James Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the east bank of the Mississippi River. It is part of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area . The population was 3,559 at the 2010 U.S. census, and 3,127 at the 2020 population est ...

, United States, up-river from New Orleans. His family, of Sicilian origin, moved to the Uptown neighborhood of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

about 1912. At the age of fifteen he decided to leave home to travel with the band of

Bee Palmer Bee Palmer (born Beatrice Charlotta Palmer) was an American singer, dancer, and showgirl who achieved fame during the Jazz Age as the " Shimmy Queen." Early years Bee Palmer was born in Chicago, IL, to Charley A. Palmer and his wife, Anna (La ...

, which soon became the nucleus for the

. After the breakup of the Rhythm Kings in Chicago, Roppolo and Paul Mares headed east to try their luck on the

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 ...

jazz scene. Contemporary musicians recalled Roppolo making some recordings with Original Memphis Five and California Ramblers musicians in New York in 1924; these sides were presumably unissued, or if issued unidentified. Roppolo exhibited ever more eccentric behavior and violent temper. This was finally too much for his family to take, and Leon was committed to the state mental hospital in 1925. Roppolo died in New Orleans at the age of forty-one.

Compositions

Roppolo's compositions include the jazz standards "

Farewell Blues "Farewell Blues" is a 1922 jazz standard written by Paul Mares, Leon Roppolo and Elmer Schoebel. It was first released by the seminal jazz band New Orleans Rhythm Kings under the name the Friars Society Orchestra. Background The song was recor ...

" and "Milenberg Joys", "Gold Leaf Strut" or "Golden Leaf Strut", "

Tin Roof Blues "Tin Roof Blues" is a jazz composition by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings first recorded in 1923. It was written by band members Paul Mares, Ben Pollack, Mel Stitzel, George Brunies and Leon Roppolo. The tune has become a jazz standard and is one of ...

" (1923), and " Make Love to Me".

References

External links

Leon Roppolo and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings (1922-25)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roppolo, Leon 1902 births 1943 deaths Dixieland clarinetists Jazz musicians from New Orleans American jazz clarinetists Gennett Records artists People from Lutcher, Louisiana American people of Italian descent American jazz musicians 20th-century American musicians New Orleans Rhythm Kings members