Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Noble Lee Sissle was born July 10, 1889 in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father was a pastor, his mother a schoolteacher and juvenile probation officer. As a youth he sang in church choirs and as a soloist with his high school’s glee club in Cleveland, Ohio. He went on to attend De Pauw University in Greencastle, Indiana on scholarship, later transferring to Butler University in Indianapolis before turning to music full-time.
In 1918 Sissle joined the New York 369th Infantry Regiment and helped to form the 360th Regiment Band. He played violin and also served as drum major for the 369th, and under James Europe’s leadership is now considered amongst the greatest jazz bands of all time. He sang several vocals on the last disc recorded by the band that was released in March 1919.
Leaving the army after the war he joined Europe’s civilian version of the band. Not long afterwards, a disgruntled band member murdered Europe thus leaving Noble to take temporary charge of the band with the help of his friend Eubie Blake. Years earlier the two had struck up a partnership after meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. They would go on to perform in vaudeville, collaborate on the songs I’m Just Wild About Harry and Love Will Find A Way, and then produce the musical Shuffle Along and The Chocolate Dandies. He is the only Black artist to appear in the Pathe film archives.
In 1923, Sissle made two films for Lee DeForest’s Phonofilm Sound-On-Film process titled Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake featuring their song Affectionate Dan, and Sissle and Blake Sing Snappy Songs featuring Sons of Old Black Joe and My Swanee Home. These films are preserved in the Maurice Zouary film collection at the Library of Congress.
He would also appear in other short films, performed with Walter Donaldson, Nina Mae McKinney, the Nicholas Brothers and Adelaide Hall. In 1954, New York radio station WMGM, owned by the Loew’s Theatre Organization, signed him as a disc jockey. His show featured the music of African-American recording artists. Jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer and playwright Noble Sissle passed away on December 17, 1975 at the age of 86 in Tampa, Florida.
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