Editing Fate Marable

{{Short description|American jazz pianist and bandleader (1890–1947)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name                = Fate Marable
| image               = 
| caption             = 
| image_size          = 
| background          = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name          = Fate Clifford Marable
| alias               = 
| birth_place         = [[Paducah, Kentucky]]
| birth_date          = December 2, 1890
| death_place         = [[St. Louis, Missouri]], U.S.
| death_date          = January 16, 1947
| origin              = [[Paducah, Kentucky]], U.S.
| instrument          = Piano, calliope
| genre               = [[Jazz]]
| occupation          = Bandleader, musician
| years_active        = 1907-1940
| label               = 
| associated_acts     = [[Red Allen]], [[Louis Armstrong]], [[Jimmy Blanton]], [[Baby Dodds]], [[Johnny Dodds]]
| website             = 
| current_members     = 
| past_members        = 
}}
[[File:Fate Marable's New Orleans Band on the S. S. Sidney.jpg|thumb|Fate Marable's New Orleans Band on the S. S. Sidney.jpg]]
'''Fate Marable''' (December 2, 1890 – January 16, 1947) was an American [[jazz]] pianist and bandleader.

==Early life==
Marable was born in [[Paducah, Kentucky]] to James and Elizabeth Lillian (Wharton) Marable, a piano teacher. Fate had five siblings, including two brothers, Harold and James, and three sisters, Mabel, Juanita, and Neona. Elizabeth Marable, known as "Lizzie," gave her son music lessons, both in reading music and playing piano.<ref>{{cite book|location=Chicago|title=Jazz on the River|author= Kenney, William Howland|date=2005|publisher=University of Chicago|page=40}}</ref>

==Music career==
At the age of 17, Marable began playing on the [[steam boat]]s plying the [[Mississippi River]]. John and Joseph Streckfus hired him to replace their piano player, Charles Mills, who had accepted an engagement in New York City.<ref>Kenney (2005), pp. 40{{endash}}41.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Riverboat Music from St. Louis and the Streckfus Steamboat Line|author=Chevan, David|journal=Black Music Research Journal|volume=9|issue=2|year=1989|page=160|doi=10.2307/779421|jstor=779421}}</ref> There was a catch: Marable's responsibilities would include playing a large steam [[calliope (music)|calliope]]. Steam streamed through the brass pipes and whistles at 80 pounds of pressure, the keys were hot and they were hard to hold down. Pitch varied with steam pressure, so there was a challenge of playing in tune. The calliope was designed to be clearly heard on shore, so the volume was overwhelming to the musician who was manipulating it. To prepare himself for playing the loud machine that spewed steam and water, Marable wore gloves, stuffed his ears with cotton,<ref>Kenney, (2005), pp. 40{{endash}}42.</ref> and donned raingear.<ref name="bergreen144">{{cite book|pages=[https://archive.org/details/louisarmstrong00laur/page/144 144–147]|author=Laurence Bergreen|title=Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life|url=https://archive.org/details/louisarmstrong00laur|url-access=registration|publisher=Broadway Books|year=1997|location=New York}}</ref>

Later in 1907, he became bandleader for a paddlewheeler on the [[Streckfus Steamers|Streckfus Line]] running between [[New Orleans, Louisiana]] and [[St. Paul, Minnesota]], a position he retained for 33 years.<ref name="kenney39">Kenney (2005), p. 39.</ref> Later, he spent late nights in New Orleans' clubs scouting for talent and playing at jam sessions. There he discovered [[Louis Armstrong]] blowing cornet, and recruited him to play for his band on evening riverboat excursions cruising around the Crescent City.<ref name="bergreen144"/>

As a bandleader, Marable shared the lessons from his mother with his musicians. Many of the musicians he hired played by ear, and he augmented their skills by teaching them to read music, and expected them all to learn how to play from sheet music on sight.<ref name="kenney38">Kenney (2005), p. 38.</ref> As his one-time drummer, [[Zutty Singleton]] put it: "There was a saying in New Orleans. When some musician would get a job on the riverboats with Fate Marable, they'd say, 'Well, you're going to the conservatory.'"<ref>{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/jazzhistoryofame00ward/page/75 75]|title=Jazz: A History of America's Music|url=https://archive.org/details/jazzhistoryofame00ward|url-access=limited|author=Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|year=2000|location=Boston|isbn=9780679445517 }}</ref><ref name="bergreen144"/> While he was training these musicians to better perform the dance arrangements for the steamboat passengers, he also boosted many of their careers when they were ready to move on. Streckfus Steamers' alumni went on to play with bandleaders such as [[Cab Calloway]], [[Count Basie]], [[Duke Ellington]], [[Jimmie Lunceford]], [[Fats Waller]], and [[Chick Webb]].<ref name="kenney38" />
[[File:Moonlight Cruises Steamer Sidney 1920 (cropped).jpg|alt=|thumb|1920 advertisement for "Moonlight Cruises De Luxe" on a steamer at New Orleans which featured Marable's band.]]
Members of Marable's bands were expected to be able to play a wide variety of music, from hot numbers to light classics, playing by memory or ear, and from [[sheet music]]. Above all they were expected to keep the dancers happy. Marable was a strict bandleader, demanding musical proficiency and rigid discipline from all his bandmembers, yet allowing them to develop their individual strong points. For instance, Louis Armstrong's gift for improvisation was recognised as such by Marable, and he allowed him to improvise his breaks rather than play them note for note. Marable's band served as an early musical education for many other players who would later become prominent in jazz, including [[Red Allen]], [[Baby Dodds]], [[Johnny Dodds]], [[Pops Foster]], [[Erroll Garner]], [[Narvin Kimball]], [[Al Morgan (bassist)|Al Morgan]], [[Jimmy Blanton]], [[Elbert Pee Wee Claybrook]], {{ill|Joe Poston|de}}, and [[Zutty Singleton]].

In 1916, Marable published the only original composition of his career, ''Barrell House Rag'', co-written with [[Clarence Williams (musician)|Clarence Williams]].<ref>Kenney (2005), 43{{endash}}44.</ref>

A young [[George Russell (composer)|George Russell]], later the  deviser of the ''Lydian Concept'', grew up listening to Marable's music.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Pettinger
| first = Peter
| title = Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings
| location = New Haven
| publisher = Yale University Press
| year = 1998
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/billevanshowmyhe00pett/page/31 31{{endash}}32]
| isbn = 0-300-07193-0
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/billevanshowmyhe00pett/page/31
}}</ref>

==Death==
Fate Marable died of pneumonia in [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. He was 56 years old. He is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Paducah, Kentucky.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://sites.google.com/site/pittsburghmusichistory/pittsburgh-music-story/jazz/jazz---early-years/fate-marable/ Fate Marable - Pittsburgh Music History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416033449/https://sites.google.com/site/pittsburghmusichistory/pittsburgh-music-story/jazz/jazz---early-years/fate-marable/ |date=2016-04-16 }}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marable, Fate}}
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1947 deaths]]
[[Category:African-American pianists]]
[[Category:American jazz pianists]]
[[Category:American male jazz pianists]]
[[Category:American jazz organists]]
[[Category:American male organists]]
[[Category:American jazz bandleaders]]
[[Category:Musicians from Paducah, Kentucky]]
[[Category:20th-century American conductors (music)]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Kentucky]]
[[Category:20th-century American pianists]]
[[Category:20th-century American organists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American musicians]]