Ray Brown,Lionel Hampton are gone;now Dodo left us too.
JEAN-MARIE JUIF | BESANCON France | 09/28/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Michael "Dodo" Marmarosa,born Pittsburgh,December 12,1925,died September 17,2002,jazz piano player, a link between swing and bebop, recorded with (among others) Lester Young,Charlie Parker,Lucky Thompson,Barney Kessel,Charlie Barnet and Slim Gaillard;retired from music,early sixties;died 76,a few days ago.
That's what you surely will read in many books about him.
Of course,Dodo disappeared from music when he was only 36;but he'll forever remain as one essential link between the swing era and bebop.Maybe he was one of the founders of bebop.Just a great musician.
Coming from an Italian family,he started his professionnal career while he was in his teens;please,note the fact that he came from Pittsburgh,a town who gave jazz some of its greatest piano players: Erroll Garner,Earl Hines.But Dodo's main influence certainly was Teddy Wilson.It's obvious in his playing,even if there are some Garner's phrases,too.Dodo can be compared to musicians like Hank Jones,or even Tommy Flanagan,or Clyde Hart;they allways were just between swing and bop,just between Wilson,or Tatum,or Chittison, and Bud.
This session is one of the last (and maybe the last one) Dodo ever recorded.This happened May 9 and 10,1961;the trio includes Richard Evans,bass,and Marshall Thompson,drums.And Dodo plays great,of course;some standards that were often played by bop musicians ("everything happens to me","why do I love you",by Bird),"on green dolphin street (Rollins,Dorham,etc,etc),"I thought about you",two original compositions ("mellow mood" and "Tracy's blues") and some lesser known tunes,"You call it madness"(a Nat King Cole hit),"cottage for sale"(remember Earl Hines' Village Vanguard version?),"April played the fiddle" and "me and my shadow".
But Dodo Marmarosa was nothing.Nothing but a very talented pianist.He wasn't the creator of a new style.He was just among a lot of guys who created a new way of playing,a long long time ago.Why losing time listening to him ? Rather listen to Keith Jarrett or Brad Meldhau,it will certainly be much more interesting.Please,forget this guy,just like Lucky Thompson,Don Sleet,Roy Brooks,Roland Hanna;just like Chet Baker,Frank Morgan and some others were forgotten some thirty years ago.They are no commercial musicians,they are just pure artists.So,why losing time to listen to Dodo ? He only was one of the founders of bebop. Such a long time ago.
Just one of the major jazz piano players.Who cares about it ?"
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1