Fate Marable

American jazz pianist, born Paducah, Kentucky, December 2, 1890, died St Louis, Mo., January 16, 1947. Starting in 1907, he played piano and calliope on the Mississippi riverboat J.S. Marable recruited his sidemen in New Orleans, many of which later became famous: Louis Armstrong, Henry "Red" Allen, Baby Dodds, and Jimmy Blanton had all played with Marable. His band recorded only two titles, for OKeh in New Orleans in 1924; "neither of these recordings capture exceptional performances." (John Chilton, The New Grove dictionary of jazz, 1988)