Dodo Marmarosa

Among the finest pianists from the bop period, Dodo Marmarosa’s profession was cut brief by mental disease. He playeed locally initially and then produced strong contributions towards the orchestras of Gene Krupa (1942-1943), Tommy Dorsey (1944), Charlie Barnet (acquiring the starting piano solo for the strike “Skyliner”), and Artie Shaw (using his Gramercy Five). Marmarosa was frequently teamed with Barney Kessel (with whom he previously been with Barnet and Shaw) and both resolved in LA by 1946. Marmarosa documented with Boyd Raeburn and Lester Youthful, became the home pianist for the Atomic label, produced an important program with Charlie Parker in 1947 (which led to “Relaxin’ in Camarillo”), and caused his trio. But after a Savoy time in 1950, nothing at all was noticed from him for ten years. Mamarosa resurfaced in Chicago during 1961-1962 to record two trio outings and a program with Gene Ammons (for Argo and Prestige) but he disappeared, completely retiring in Pittsburgh. Dodo Marmarosa’s 1946-1947 recordings have already been partly reissued by Onyx and Dial, while live times surfaced on Jazz Display, Swing Home, and Phoenix.