Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Sharkey Bonano was born Joseph Gustaf Bonano on April 9, 1904  in the Milneburg neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana near Lake Pontchartrain. In the 1920s he was in the local bands of Freddie Newman and Chink Martin. After moving to New York City he found work as a member of the Wolverines and with Jimmy Durante.

He worked next to Frankie Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke as a member of the Jean Goldkette orchestra. At the end of the 1920s, he led a band which included Louis Prima. During the 1930s he formed the Sharks of Rhythm and played in the Original Dixieland Jass Band. His sidemen during this period included Santo Pecora and Thurman Teague.

After World War II he toured Europe, Asia, and South America, played residencies in Chicago and New York, and then was a regular on Bourbon Street in the New Orleans French Quarter. In 1949, he appeared at the Roosevelt Hotel’s Blue Room and the Famous Door Bar.

Trumpeter Sharkey Bonano transitioned on March 27, 1972, at the age of 67.

More Posts: history,instrumental,jazz,music,trumpet