Dodo Marmarosa was a pianist who was active in many big bands of the 1940s notably those of Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey and Boyd Raeburn. In the middle and late 1940s he seemed to be the favorite pianist of every modern jazzman in Los Angeles. He was among the most recorded musicians of the era. Then it stopped. Dodo returned to the Pittsburgh area in 1950 and with rare exception has remained there ever since. In the early 60s he played some gigs in the Chicago area. Joe Segal and Jack Tracy got him a record deal at Argo which resulted in four plus albums of material. One Trio and one Quartet (with Gene Ammons) are available on Prestige. One trio album (now deleted) was issued on Argo. A second quartet date (with Bill Hardman) and a few additional trio items remain unissued. Apart from recordings for Atomic (collected on Onyx) and Dial (available on Spotlite) these are the last major recordings by Dodo to be issued on LP. Four Savoy sides from 1950 have yet to be reissued.
If you haven't heard the Spotlite, Onyx and Prestige sides you should. Once you listen to these performances you will realize that Dodo Marmarosa was a jazz pianist of the first rank !
Liner Notes
Dodo Marmarosa
Piano Man
(Phoenix LP 20)
Tracks
1 Opus #5 (Marmarosa) 1:50
2 You Thrill Me So (Marmarosa) 2:48
3 Compadoo (Marmarosa) 2:21
4 I'm in Love (Kreisler, LeBaron) 2:39
5 Cosmo Street (Marmarosa) 1:24
6 Lover Come Back to Me (Hammerstein, Romberg) 2:53
7 Raindrops (Marmarosa) 2:13
8 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Harbach, Kern) 2:44
9 Dodo's Bounce (Marmarosa) 1:44
10 Escape (Marmarosa) 1:45
11 Dodo's Bounce (Marmarosa) 2:42
12 Dodo's Lament (Marmarosa) 2:53
13 Slam's Mishap (Thompson) 2:32
14 Scuffle That Ruff (Thompson) 2:33
15 Smooth Sailing (Thompson) 2:41
16 Commercial Eyes (Thompson) 2:41
*
Personnel
[# 1-10]
Dodo Marmarosa - p
Barney Kessel - g
Gene Englund - b
Recorded in Hollywood, California ; July 16, 1957
[# 11-16]
Lucky Thompson - ts
Dodo Marmarosa - p
Red Callender - b
Jackie Mills - dr
Recorded in Los Angeles ; September 13, 1946