Marty Napoleon

Marty Napoleon, nephew of trumpeter Phil Napoleon and younger brother of pianist Teddy Napoleon, reached his widest recognition as a member of Louis Armstrong’s All-Stars across two separate engagements. A flexible musician whose approach sat between swing and bop, he had begun his career on trumpet before heart problems prompted a permanent switch to piano. Early jobs included stints with the orchestras of Chico Marx, Joe Venuti, Lee Castle, Charlie Barnet, and Gene Krupa in 1945. In the early 1950s he performed with his uncle’s Memphis Five, joined Charlie Ventura’s Big Four, and spent 1952–1953 with Armstrong. Additional work encompassed a 1955 two-piano quartet alongside his brother Teddy, appearances with Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Shavers, and Red Allen, steady freelancing, and frequent leadership of his own trios. He returned to Armstrong’s band during the trumpeter’s final years, serving from 1966 to 1968 and intermittently through 1971. Semi-retirement followed in the 1980s. Recording opportunities remained scarce, limited to a handful of sessions in the 1950s and, nearly fifty-five years later, the 2012 album Swingin’ at 90. Napoleon died in April 2015 at the age of 93.