Don't think the boardees spotted this one. My obit (pasted below, so as to avoid the firewall) finally appeared in the Times today:
Jazz pianist who played with Louis Armstrong
In his later years the pianist Marty Napoleon was as recognisable by his dapper sailor’s cap and trimmed pencil moustache as he was from his elegant, yet forceful piano playing. He was still appearing regularly in public well into his eighties with the drummer Ray Mosca and the clarinettist Ron Odrich, and he was the last-living member of Louis Armstrong’s All Stars.
From an Italian immigrant family of musicians, Napoleon followed in the footsteps of his uncle, the trumpeter Phil Napoleon, who had played with the founding fathers of jazz.
Matthew Napoli Sr was born in New York in 1921, and took his uncle’s stage name Napoleon. His father Matteo was an amateur banjoist, and encouraged the boy to play trumpet. When a heart murmur was diagnosed around the time of his eighth birthday, the doctor advised him to give up the instrument.
“My father made his living as a sign painter,” recalled Napoleon. “He painted signs on the vans for a removal company, and instead of being paid in money, he said to them ‘Give me a piano!’” Soon, there were three pianos in the house, and Marty followed his older brother Teddy into playing the instrument professionally. Initially, he played entirely by ear, including his first professional job with the pianist and comedian Chico Marx.
One of Marx’s tricks was to roll an orange around the keyboard to play the Beer Barrel Polka. When he finished the tune, he would throw the orange to Napoleon. One evening the pianist caught the orange and threw it on to George Wettling the drummer. “The following night,” said Napoleon, “everybody in the band had an orange and when the moment came, they flew all over the stage. Chico loved it, shouting, ‘Keep it in the act!’”
The young pianist swiftly learnt to read and write music, and a string of jobs with big bands followed. He replaced his brother Teddy in Gene Krupa’s band and appeared in the film Follow That Music. Even in this brief appearance, Napoleon’s thrilling keyboard playing is apparent, and he caught the eye of Louis Armstrong’s manager Joe Glaser. In 1952, Napoleon joined Armstrong, replacing Earl Hines. “Glaser just threw money at me until it was impossible to refuse,” he said, but his wife, Marie “Bebe” Giordano, whom he had married in 1941, was not impressed, as Armstrong’s constant touring schedule meant that her husband was seldom at home. Two years of touring took their toll, and Napoleon left the band to stay in New York, working in a two-piano group with his brother, before playing traditional jazz at the Metropole club, and becoming a well-known television face on the weekly Art Ford’s Jazz Party programme.
His wife died in 2008, and although neither of his children, who both survive him, followed him into a musical career, his grandson Brent Napoleon has produced a record of Marty’s compositions, issued last year as Try This!
Marty Napoleon, jazz pianist, was born on June 2, 1921. He died on April 27, 2015, aged 93
Jazz pianist who played with Louis Armstrong
In his later years the pianist Marty Napoleon was as recognisable by his dapper sailor’s cap and trimmed pencil moustache as he was from his elegant, yet forceful piano playing. He was still appearing regularly in public well into his eighties with the drummer Ray Mosca and the clarinettist Ron Odrich, and he was the last-living member of Louis Armstrong’s All Stars.
From an Italian immigrant family of musicians, Napoleon followed in the footsteps of his uncle, the trumpeter Phil Napoleon, who had played with the founding fathers of jazz.
Matthew Napoli Sr was born in New York in 1921, and took his uncle’s stage name Napoleon. His father Matteo was an amateur banjoist, and encouraged the boy to play trumpet. When a heart murmur was diagnosed around the time of his eighth birthday, the doctor advised him to give up the instrument.
“My father made his living as a sign painter,” recalled Napoleon. “He painted signs on the vans for a removal company, and instead of being paid in money, he said to them ‘Give me a piano!’” Soon, there were three pianos in the house, and Marty followed his older brother Teddy into playing the instrument professionally. Initially, he played entirely by ear, including his first professional job with the pianist and comedian Chico Marx.
One of Marx’s tricks was to roll an orange around the keyboard to play the Beer Barrel Polka. When he finished the tune, he would throw the orange to Napoleon. One evening the pianist caught the orange and threw it on to George Wettling the drummer. “The following night,” said Napoleon, “everybody in the band had an orange and when the moment came, they flew all over the stage. Chico loved it, shouting, ‘Keep it in the act!’”
The young pianist swiftly learnt to read and write music, and a string of jobs with big bands followed. He replaced his brother Teddy in Gene Krupa’s band and appeared in the film Follow That Music. Even in this brief appearance, Napoleon’s thrilling keyboard playing is apparent, and he caught the eye of Louis Armstrong’s manager Joe Glaser. In 1952, Napoleon joined Armstrong, replacing Earl Hines. “Glaser just threw money at me until it was impossible to refuse,” he said, but his wife, Marie “Bebe” Giordano, whom he had married in 1941, was not impressed, as Armstrong’s constant touring schedule meant that her husband was seldom at home. Two years of touring took their toll, and Napoleon left the band to stay in New York, working in a two-piano group with his brother, before playing traditional jazz at the Metropole club, and becoming a well-known television face on the weekly Art Ford’s Jazz Party programme.
His wife died in 2008, and although neither of his children, who both survive him, followed him into a musical career, his grandson Brent Napoleon has produced a record of Marty’s compositions, issued last year as Try This!
Marty Napoleon, jazz pianist, was born on June 2, 1921. He died on April 27, 2015, aged 93