Dodo Marmarosa
b. Michael Marmarosa, 6 December 1925, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 17 September 2002, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. After formal studies and gigging with local bands, Marmarosa played piano with a succession of name big bands of the early and mid-40s, including those of Johnny "Scat" Davis, Gene Krupa, Charlie Barnet, Tommy Dorsey and Artie Shaw. In 1946, he settled in Los Angeles. His position as house pianist for the Atomic label saw him playing and recording with several leading jazz musicians, including Barney Kessel, Lester Young and Charlie Parker. His affinity with bebop made him, briefly, one of the outstanding exponents of the form, but ill-health drove him from the scene around 1948. Marmarosa returned to music in 1961, recording alone and with Gene Ammons. Within a couple of years he was again forced into retirement, playing only the occasional concert before retreating from music altogether. He was briefly heard of in 1992 when two English newspapers mistakenly published his obituary. In actual fact, Marmarosa lived the final years of his life in a medical centre in Pittsburgh.
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