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Dodo Marmarosa : Up in Dodo’s Room - The Complete Dial Sessions
Label: Jazz Classics
Recorded ; 1946-1947
Released : 1996
Format : [email protected]
If jazz ever had a little boy genius lost, it was Dodo Marmarosa. One part classical music boy wonder, one part Art Tatum reincarnated in a tiny, hawk-nosed Italian kid, Marmarosa burst onto the jazz scene in the mid-'40s, playing his way through a spate of legendary bands and recording configurations before heading back to his native Pittsburgh and self-imposed obscurity ever since. Much of his legendary status derives from the fact that he was Charlie Parker's piano man of choice on all his legendary Dial sessions and, indeed, the young Marmarosa could keep up with Bird when Miles Davis was still struggling. But the musical schizophrenia between his classical flights of fancy and his ties to both bop and the older style of Tatum is on open display in every one of these tracks. Kicking off with a pair of solo tracks ("Tea for Two" and "Deep Purple"), one can clearly hear that while he lacked some of Tatum's complexities, Marmarosa's instincts for phrasing and clear execution are on a par with his mentor. An outtake of "Ornithology" ("Bird Lore") with Dodo taking Bird's solo spot is next up, along with two alternates -- "Dialated Pupils" and the title cut -- from the Howard McGhee Sextet October 1946 session. But the real treasure trove is the two experimental solo takes of "Tone Paintings" and the master and alternate takes of the famous Dial trio session with Jackie Mills on drums and Harry Babasin on cello, a jazz first. Rounding up all the Dial material and privately recorded California works, this 18-track collection from 1946 and 1947 may well be the lasting epitaph of this talented bebop enigma.
~ Cub Koda, All Music Guide
Tracklist
01 Deep Purple 2:14
02 Tea for Two 1:30
03 Bird Lore 3:03
04 Dialated Pupils 2:30
05 Up in Dodo’s Room 3:07
06 Tone Paintings I 3:00
07 Tone Paintings II 2:56
08 Bopmatism 2:56
09 Dodo's Dance 3:08
10 Trade Winds 3:10
11 Dary Departs 2:35
12 Cosmo Street 2:53
13 Bopmatism (alt) 3:06
14 Dodo's Dance (alt) 3:05
15 Trade Winds (alt) 3:07
16 Dary Departs (alt) 2:45
17 Dary Departs (alt) 2:45
18 Cosmo Street (alt) 3:28
Personnel and Dates:
Tracks 1-2: Dodo Marmarosa (p). Los Angeles, early 1946.
Tracks 3 & 9: Miles Davis (tr), Charlie Parker (as), Lucky Thompson (ts), Dodo Marmarosa (p), Arvin Garrison (g), Vic McMillan (b), Roy Porter (d). Hollywood, March 28, 1946.
Tracks 4-5: Howard McGhee (tr), Teddy Edwards (ts), Dodo Marmarosa (p), Bob "Dingbod" Kesterson (b), Roy Porter (d).Hollywood, Oct. 18, 1946.
Tracks 6-7: Dodo Marmarosa (p), prob. Los Angeles, early/mid 1947.
Tracks 8, 10-18: Dodo Marmarosa (p), Harry Babasin (cello), Jackie Mills (d). Hollywood, Dec. 3, 1947.
Michael "Dodo" Marmarosa (December 12, 1925 – September 17, 2002) American bebop pianist.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a child prodigy, Marmarosa was a trained classical pianist, but familiarised himself with jazz in parallel and practised with school mate Erroll Garner, another pianist from Pittsburgh. He received the uncomplimentary nickname, "Dodo", as a child because of his large head and short body.
He began his professional career in 1941, joining the Johnny "Scat" Davis Orchestra at the age of 15, which led him to joining Gene Krupa's band shortly after. The early 1940s brought a stint in Charlie Barnet's big band, where he first met Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, the luminaries of bebop. In 1944, he joined Tommy Dorsey, playing alongside Buddy Rich. In November 1944, Marmarosa joined Artie Shaw's combo, known as the Gramercy Five, that also featured guitarist Barney Kessel and fellow Pittsburgher, trumpet player Roy Eldridge.
He recorded as a sideman in the late 1940s, notably with Lester Young, Charlie Parker and Howard McGhee. He also featured in Gene Norman's Just Jazz concerts, and in 1947 won Esquire magazine's New Star (piano) award. His recordings with Charlie Parker in 1946 in Hollywood are regarded as some the finest Jazz records ever made.
Marmarosa recorded a 78-rpm single for Savoy Records on July 21, 1950. The recording featured Marmarosa's trio, with Thomas Mandrus on bass and Joe "Jazz" Wallace on drums. The four tunes recorded for the session were reissued by Savoy on the double album, The Modern Jazz Piano Album (1980).
After 1950, his only recordings were a 1961 session for Argo Records under the supervision of Chicago producer Jack Tracy (Dodo's Back!) and a 1962 Chicago studio date featuring him in trio and, with Gene Ammons, quartet settings (available as Prestige CD Jug & Dodo). He continued to perform in Pittsburgh, albeit irregularly, and a CD containing amateur recordings of his performances has been issued by Uptown Records. His low profile has been attributed to mental illness: Marmarosa was drafted in 1954, given electric shock treatment, and discharged in poor psychological condition.
Marmarosa last performed in public at the Colony Restaurant in Pittsburgh in 1968. Despite his intermittent career, he is generally considered to have been in the top rank of jazz pianists. At the time of his death, Marmarosa resided at the VA Medical Center in Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, Pittsburgh, occasionally playing piano and organ for residents and guests of the center.
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