In 1938, Muzzy formed his own orchestra when he received a booking into the Topsy's Restaurant in San Francisco, CA. The band's girl vocalist was the young Gloria De Haven, who also later managed to get a job singing for Bob Crosby and the Bobcats, and the Jan Savitt Orchestra, before becoming a Hollywood starlet.

During the peak of the big band years (1938-1948), Muzzy's orchestra did the usual touring , working in the better west coast hotels; dance halls, colleges, and such. His longest engagement was at Hollywood's Florentine Gardens.

In addition to Muzzy'z singing and playing, he had another claim on fame; he was an accomplished Whistler. Muzzy was the man called by ad agencies, movies and recording companies when they needed some whistling done.

At the end of the big band era, around 1948, Muzzy disbanded. He did continue playing, mostly in Los Angeles area which had become his home base, with smaller combinations. The only other job resources in those days were found in Las Vegas and Reno, and Muzzy was occasionally able to find bookings there. From 1950 through 1969, Marcellino was Musical Director for The Art Linkletter Show until it went off the air.

   [ Joe & Adele Girard-Marsala Orch. ]
(A husband-wife combined orchestra listing.)
Joe Marsala: Clarinet, Saxes, Leader
b. Jan. 4, 1907 Chicago, IL, USA. d. March 4, 1978, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
Adele Girard-Marsala: Harpist
b. 1913 , d. September 7, 1993, Denver, CO, USA.
Overview
Joe originally taught himself to play the Sax, but was later able to study with a symphony clarinetist. His brother Marty was a drummer, and as youngsters, they played in local Chicago bands. Ca. 1927, he was playing in a Dancing School trio with with Dave Rose on piano. He joined the Harold West Orchestra (a territory band based in Ohio). A little later, during prohibition, he played with such other musicians as Floyd O'Brien, Art Hodes, and others in the Chicago "speakeasies" . Joe was a fine Reedsman, - who played an excellent alto and tenor, as well as an inspired clarinet.

Joe worked for brief period with Wingy Manone in 1929 and again in 1933. In early 1935, Marsala came to New York where he first worked at Adrian Rollini's Tap Room and then rejoined Wingy Manone at the 'Hickory House' on 52nd Street (between 6th Ave., and Broadway). During the summer of 1936, Manone quit (he went to Chicago), and Marsala formed his own combo, - one of the first Mixed-Combos seen on 52nd Street - that performed "Sunday Jam Sessions" at The Hickory House (1937 to 1948). At first, there was Joe Bushkin, Eddie Condon and Henry "Red" Allen in the band, and later featured Bobby Hackett on Guitar and Trumpet, and Harpist Adele Girard, who married Joe in 1937. She had previously played with the Harry Sosnick Orchestra. Others who played in Joe's combos included Carmen Mastren on guitar (1935) and Shelly Manne replaced Dave Tough on drums in 1940. Marsala's brother Marty (playing trumpet) would often sit in with them. Marsala and Girard remained on and off at the Hickory House until about 1945 when they became somewhat inactive, and lived in Colorado from 1949-'53.

In 1954, they returned to New York, where Joe opened a music publishing office. Now working as a songwriter, he wrote three very big hit tunes; "Little Sir Echo"; "Don't Cry Joe", and "And, So To Sleep Again". Joe was again playing in local clubs during the late 1960's while Adele performed on both harp and piano, and also sang in musical theater companies.

During his career, Joe recorded with a big band during 1939 to 1942. Only two 78's were recorded by the big band although others were made by smaller groups. The big band session was made for Decca in 1941. Other records made during this time (Brunswick: Chicago Jazz (Decca), and one by Commodore) are labeled as Joe Marsala & His Delta Four, -& His Chosen Seven, -& His Chicagons.

Referring to his jam sessions at the Hickory House in the late 1930's jazz critic Leonard Feather once wrote "Joe Marsala was responsible in his quiet and unpublicized way for more attempts at breaking down segregation in jazz than Benny Goodman." Of Adele Girard-Marsala, Feather wrote she played with "impeccable taste and superlative technique."

Adele Girard continued working after Joe's death and recorded a CD on the Arbors Jazz label in 1992 with her husband's protoge, clarinetist Bobby Gordon.
The Big Bands Database thanks Mr. Robin Lenhart for his contributions to this entry on Joe Marsala.

   [ Marty Marsala and his Orch. ]
b. April 2, 1909, Chicago, IL, USA. d.
Instrs: Drums, Trumpet
Overview
Joe Marsala's brother, he often played in Joe's bands during the 1930s and '40s. Later, he led his own group and played with many different Dixieland combos, including those of Kid Ory and Eddie Condon.

   [ Ralph Marterie Orch ]
b: Dec. 24, 1914, Naples, Italy. d: Oct. 10, 1978, Dayton, OH, USA. (Coronary Arrest on flight from Dayton, OH to Chicago, IL)
Theme Song:
In-theme: "Trumpeters Lullaby"
Out-Theme: "Carla"
Ralph formed his very first band in Chicago, in 1946. One of his earliest engagements was at the 'Melody Mill' Ballroom (Des Plaines, IL, a suburb of Chicago, IL), where radio airtime made the band well known through-out the Midwest.

His big opportunity came when Mercury Records signed him in 1951, and gave the band a big build up. It is interesting to note that Ralph formed the band at the end of the big band era. Still, other leaders were willing to give the band-leading business a try. Ralph's new band debuted in 1951, the same year that Billy May organized his big band. The following year, 1952, saw the start of the Sauter-Finegan orchestra. In 1953 Les and Larry Elgart formed their short lived band, while, in the mid 50's Maynard Ferguson brought his band to fruition.

Marterie toured with his band throughout the 1950s, appearing at Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook on the East Coast as well as The Hollywood Palladium on the West Coast. At times, Bill Walters, Janice Borla, and Lou Prano, were vocalists. They had a radio show sponsored by the Marlboro Cigarette Company. They appeared on WGN's "The Cavalcade of Bands" television show. After Mercury Records, the orchestra recorded for United Artists and for Musicor.
The BigBands Database Plus thanks Mr. S. Tate (Road Mgr. for the Marterie Orch.) for his help with this entry.

   [ Freddy Martin Orch. ]
b. Dec. 9, 1906, Cleveland, OH, USA. d. September 30, 1983, Newport Beach, California, USA.
Tag: "Music in the Martin Manner"
Theme Songs:
Early On: "Bye Lo Bye Lullaby"
Later On: "Tonight We Love"
Overview:
Here's a photo of Freddy Martin, and another publicity photo, and one more publicity photo, (source: 'Joe Sanders Collection' of the Kansas City Library) that reads " To Joe Sanders (Coon-Sanders Nighthawks Orch) with kindest regards. Freddy Martin". Raised largely in an orphanage, and then with various relatives, band leader Freddy Martin first gained national attention in 1940. A fine tenor saxophonist, he became one of the eras most respected performers, and even the most ardent of Jazz performers admired the warmth and richness of his tone. He would continue to lead one of the most popular "sweet" dance bands for 4 decades. Martin is perhpas best known for adapting Classical themes, and turning them into hits on RCA Victor and Capitol records. Included among those hits were "Cumana," "The Hut-Sut Song," "Bumble Boogie," adapted from Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee," and his theme song, "Tonight We Love," adapted from the first movement of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto.

As a child, Freddie was already leading a high school band, and he was also working for a musical instrument company. When the Guy Lombardo Orchestra was playing Cleveland, he tried to sell them some saxes, -unsuccessfully. However, Guy did get to hear Freddie's orchestra, and one night when Guy couldn't do a certain date, he suggested to Freddie that the Martin Orchestra could fill in for him. That's how Freddie's career started.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Martin's orchestra had some great sidemen who would later go on to fame of their own. Among those who played in the band were such musicians as pianists Claude Thornhill, Barclay Allen, Jack Fina, and Murray Arnold, and guitarist Alvino Rey. In the 1930s, some of the male vocalists included Terry Shand, Elmer Feldkampf, Buddy Clark, Stuart Wade, and Eddie Stone. Vocalist Helen Ward also sang with the band in the early 1930s before leaving to join the Benny Goodman orchestra. (Helen was the only female singer featured by Martin.) In the 1950s, Merv Griffin sang with the band.

Interestingly, the band's trombonist, Russ Morgan (who early on had played piano with the orchestra) developed his famous plunger mute technique that gave his trombone the ''wah-wah'' sound which later on became associated with his own orchestra. Martin and Morgan were old friends, having worked together in their early days, and when Morgan left to form his own band, he not only took many of Martin's arrangements, but even adapted Martin's tag to "Music in the Morgan Manner". Martin, who was well-known as one of the nicest men in the business, never objected or made a fuss.

All during the 1940s and 1950s, Martin's nationally famed orchestra was featured on many radio programs In 1951, he starred in his own television program. Long after other big bands had faded away, and the big bands era had ended, Martin's orchestra contined to be popular with dancers, and continued to record for the RCA Victor label. In 1969, Martin's orchestra became the house band at the famed Los Angeles Cocoanut Grove. Martin continued active in the band business up until his demise in 1983.

   [ Chico Marx Orchestra ]
In reality, 'The Chico Marx Orchestra' was formed and led by Ben Pollack, who organized the band for the piano playing Chico when all the Marx Brothers had essentially stopped making movies during the World War II years. Among the personnel that Pollack added included a talented young singer by the name of Elisse Cooper, who sang with the band for about a year (1942). ( Chico Marx Introduced her as "Sugar, " 'cause she's so sweet" ). She had previously sung with the Hudson-De Lange orchestra ( 1938-1940), during which time she made a few Bluebird records with Delange, and a couple with Tony Pastor's Orchestra. . Saxist and arranger Paul Villepigue contributed many of the band's arrangements. Another member of the band was guitarist, Barney Kessel, In 1942, when the band was playing at Chicago's famous 'Blackhawk Restaurant', there was a young teenager, who stood close to the bandstand, and who would go up and sit at the drums whenever the band took a break, His name was Mel Tormé. Pollack eventually recruited Tormé into the band, and this is where the 'Velvet Fog' - singer Mel Tormé - got his start.

However, while the Chico Marx name was indeed a big 'draw', the public never really took to the band, and they soon disbanded.

   [ Frankie Masters Orch. ]
b. April, 12, 1904, d. January 29, 1991
Theme song: "Scatterbrain"
Here's a photograph of Frankie Masters, who started his band in the 1920's. He first recorded for Victor in November, 1927. And, here's a better photo of Frankie. Initially, the band was based in Chicago, where they played at the Hotel Sherman's College Inn, and other locations in the area. In May l939, Masters had a hit recording of "Scatterbrain". Now touring widely, the band played many locations including New York City's Essex House. In 1941 singer Phyllis Miles joined the band; eventually becoming Mrs. Masters. During WW II, Masters toured extensively and played many 'Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands' radio programs. In 1945, he recorded for Vogue Records (Nylon discs with color pictures impregnated directly into the mold - they have become collector items). Masters also played the west coast in the late 1940's, with many engagements in the Boulevard Room of the Stevens Hotel (later the Conrad Hilton). The band continued into the 1960's and 1970's.

Dan Windolph (Baritone and Alto Sax) has graciously shared some history of his days with the band. Dan says:

      "My first job with Frankie Masters was May 1st 1971, in Louisville, KY.
      It was easy to remember, as it was my 4th wedding anniversary, and
      I was gone for the weekend. We played for a Kentucky Derby party at one
      of the big hotels in Louisville, -in a rooftop ballroom on Friday and
      Saturday nights. The name of the hotel escapes me now ... sorry."

      "For the, first couple of years after this, I was a substitute for one
      of the Alto sax players, Ted Hess, who regularly went out on tours with
      Wayne King. I was always happy when Wayne had a lot of work because it
      meant I'de work with Frank.In the middle 1970s, some of the regulars
      with Frank left the band. Frank had a steady job in the Empire Room of
      Chicago's Palmer House Hotel. It was a great job, as the hand backed a
      lot of great acts and it was good paying, steady work. Frank evidently
      got tired of the commute in from his home in the far north suburbs, and
      quit the job. This made a lot of the guys unhappy and they quit the
      band. Luckily, Frank was always able to get good musicians and the band
      didn't suffer any. About that time, the Baritone sax player, Frank
      Chizik died. Luckily for me, I play all the saxes, so I wound up
      getting the permanent Baritone sax chair on the band. I still played
      Alto every now and again as there was sometimes some juggling of
      players over the years when someone couldn't make a job. Frank had the
      same problem as any other bandleader in keeping regular personnel when
      the jobs got fewer and guys had to take whatever other jobs they could
      get. Frank managed to work pretty regularly up until the final few
      years when his health began to fail."

      "In the final years, Frank started cutting the band down to just three
      saxes in so effort to reduce the cost and to try to get more work. I
      hated that, as I had to double an Alto and Baritone saxes, and that's
      not an enjoyable double for a sax player. On the other hand, I was
      still working."

      "Anyway, here's what I can tell you show the years from 1971 until
      Frank's death.

      "The band was 3 trumpets, 1 trombone. 4 saxes ( Alto, Tenor, and
      Baritone ) piano, bass drums, and female vocalist (besides Frank). If
      we had a big show, Frank would increase the size of the band, depending
      on what was needed. We would add a second trombone guitar and sometimes
      a full string section. For some of the big acts, we would add more brass.
      I remember doing this for Mel Torme, Vickie Carr and others. We never
      added the other tenor sax though... it was always just 4 saxes. We also
      added a Tympani player on a few occasions."

      "We worked all of the top rooms in Chicago... Grand ballrooms in the
      Conrad Hilton, Palmer House, the Drake, and the Ritz-Carlton. We also
      played all the big theatres ... those that were still left, such as the
      Auditorium Theatre, the Chicago Theatre, Arie Crown Theatre at McCormack
      Place, etc. Frank had a reputation as being a good show band ... able
      to back up any act with a minimum of rehearsal. This was a real factor,
      as many of the places didn't want to pay for Rehearsals, so, many times
      I would see the act's music the first night we were playing it on the
      show. I really enjoyed this, as it made you sit up straight and be a
      real musician. The band was one of the best in the business at sight
      reading music."

      "We played mostly country club private dances, parties, etc. We also
      played many conventions and political fund raisers. We did a little
      traveling, but not much. We flew to Kansas City to play in a big
      country club. The band also flew a couple of times to play Elitch's
      Gardens, but that was before I joined."

      "Some of the acts we played for are: Bob Hope, Mel Torme, George Burns,
      Vickie Carr Margaret Whiting, Helen O'Connell, Jim Nabors, (Gomer
      Pyle-good singer and a terrific guy), Milton Berle, Myron Cohen,
      Jonathan Winters George Gobel, Henny Youngman, Mark Russell, Phyllis
      Diller, Phil Harris, the Harmonicats (great musicians and great guys),
      Dennis Day, the Step Brothers, the Ink Spots, Sally Rand, Cab Calloway
      (fun, fun fun, but some of the hardest music I ever played), the
      Smothers Brothers, Victor Borge (one of the funniest men I ever worked
      with) etc, etc, etc."

      The band personnel as of 1971 was:
      Trumpets: Bob Lambkin, Stu Lichte & Bob Haddick
      Trombone: Clay Harvey, (Ian Lilly, sub.)
      Alto Sax: Roger Malambry Ted Hess (Dan Windolph, sub.)
      Tenor sax: Angie Delabadia (spelling ??)
      Baritone Sax: Frank Chizik
      Piano: Art Quinn
      Bass: Steve Gocel
      Drums: Henry Riggs
      Vocal: Anita Roman, Frankie Masters

   Personnel as of the mid-'70s until the end:
   Trumpets: Stu Lichte, Bob Haddick, Neil Dunlap
   Trombone: Ian Lilly (Tilmon Buggs, sub.)
   Alto sax: Roger Malambri, Jack Gaylo, (Tony D'alessandro, sub.)
   Tenor sax: Bill Adkins
   Baritone sax: Dan Windolph
   Piano: Russ Siebert (Larry Taylor, sub.)
   Bass: Steve Gocel
   Drums: Phil Stainger
   Vocals: Pam Rich, Frankie Masters

      "One of the interesting things about Frank is that two of the guys were
      black...Bill Adkins and Tilmon Boggs. Even in those days, it was
      considered a little daring to have a mixed bond, but it didn't matter
      to Frank, as he just wanted the best musicians he could get. Bill
      Adkins, who became one of my closest friends, was a marvelous sax and
      flute palyer. He played and recorded with both Count Basie and Duke
      Ellington. (One of the nicest guys ever, he now is in a home suffering
      from Alzheimer's.) Bill followed Marshall Royal in the Basie band, but
      by his own admission drunk himself off the bond. He later reformed and
      drank only coffee in all the years I knew him."