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Michael "Dodo" Marmarosa: Legendary jazz pianist

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Michael “Dodo" Marmarosa, a piano wunderkind who was for about a decade one of the most sought-after pianists in the history of jazz, died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack. He was 76.

For the past few years, Mr. Marmarosa was a resident at the VA Medical Center in Lincoln Lemington, where he occasionally played piano and organ for other residents and guests.

On the day of his death, his sister, Doris Shepherd of Glenshaw, said he played a small organ on the fourth floor of the building before returning to his room because he wasn't feeling well.

“He was truly one of the legendary bebop players," said Tony Mowod, WDUQ radio host and founder of the Pittsburgh Jazz Society. “He was one of the many Pittsburghers who have made us proud to be associated with the music."

From his boyhood days growing up on Paulson Avenue in Larimer, Mr. Marmarosa used the entire keyboard, all 88 keys. Sometimes he played off the keyboard, creating imaginary keys in the wind, finishing the phrase in his mind.

He practiced every day for hours, alternating hands until his left hand was as strong as his right. Within months of starting to play, he was playing Bach for fun.

In 1941, the Johnny “Scat" Davis Orchestra came to Pittsburgh with an opening for a pianist. Even as a kid, Mr. Marmarosa had a reputation in local jazz circles, and some local musicians suggested that Davis snatch up the young pianist, so he hit the road. He was 15.

After a few months, the orchestra broke up. But Mr. Marmarosa and a few others hooked up with Gene Krupa's band.

Mr. Marmarosa then joined Charlie Barnet's big band. During that time, the Barnet band recorded “The Moose" and “Strollin,' “ the first of dozens of recordings Mr. Marmarosa would be part of over the next few years.

During a tour in New York, one of Barnet's trumpeters got sick and was replaced temporarily by Dizzy Gillespie. One afternoon, Gillespie invited Mr. Marmarosa to his apartment to meet a rising star named Charlie Parker.

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