Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Joe Marsala was born on January 4, 1907 in Chicago, Illinois and learned to play the clarinet as a youth. He became professionally active during the big band era but he was far more adventurous than his fellow “dixielanders” owing much of his rich and graceful playing to Jimmy Noone.

Marsala led his groups “His Chosen Seven” and “His Delta Four” and was one of the first leaders to employ drummer Buddy Rich. Over the course of his career he played with a host of musicians such as Joe Buskin, Jack Lemaire, Carmen Mastren and Etta James among others.

Marsala also was at the forefront of helping to break down race segregation in jazz working with Dizzy Gillespie and others in the 1940s. However, as the bebop era came into full swing, Joe experienced difficult times finding work playing or recording, as clarinetists were less in demand.

Adjusting to this phenomenon Marsala began composing and writing songs for what is now referred to as classic pop. We wrote primarily for Frank Sinatra and Patti Page with songs like “Don’t Cry, Joe” and “And So To Sleep Again”.

Joe Marsala suffered from chronic colitis and he died on March 4, 1978 in Santa Barbara, California.

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