- Tony Sbarbaro
Antonio Sparbaro, better known as Tony Sbarbaro or Tony Spargo (
June 27 ,1897 –October 30 ,1969 ) was an Americanjazz drummer associated withNew Orleans jazz . He was the drummer of theOriginal Dixieland Jazz Band for over 50 years.Sbarbaro was born in
New Orleans to animmigrant Sicilian family. Early in his career he played with theFrayle Brothers Band (possibly as early as 1911) and the Reliance Band ofPapa Jack Laine . He did side work withMerritt Brunies andCarl Randall . He joined theOriginal Dixieland Jazz Band for their initial recordings in 1916; he became its leader in the 1940s and remained a member of the ensemble until its dissolution in the 1960s. Indeed, he was the only founding member still in the group at that time. Sbarbaro also composed for the group, writing the tune "Mourning Blues" among others. He remained a fixture ofDixieland jazz performance for most of his life, playing later in life in New Orleans withMiff Mole ,Big Chief Moore ,Pee Wee Erwin , andEddie Condon . He played at theNew York World's Fair in 1941 and withConnee Boswell in the 1950s. He quit music in the 1960s due to the popularity ofrock & roll , and died in 1969.Sbarbaro's drum set had a number of nonstandard qualities. He employed
wood block s, cowbells, andChinese tom-tom s, and used a custom arrangement for his bass andsnare drum s. He used the technique known as "double-drumming", hitting the bass drum with the butt end of thedrum stick . Sbarbaro even putstuffed animal s inside drums to change their sound. He also had akazoo attached to his set, providing some of the ODJB's trademark sound effects.References
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wpfuxqqgldke~T1 Tony Sbarbaro] at
Allmusic
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