Noble Sissle

Biography

Handsome Noble Sissle is one of the unsung legends of ragtime, blues and early jazz. He and his band had an easy-listening, hot and breezy sound unlike any other contemporary band. When you went to see Sissle you got more then an earful of good music--you got good entertainment that would put a smile on your face. He was an energetic, charismatic, humorous band leader, which was an ingredient for the success of his band because it rubbed off on his band. He was also a dancer, singer and songwriter. Sissle was partners with another musical genius, songwriter / band leader / composer / arranger Eubie Blake. Together they wrote "I'm Just Wild About Harry" and other standards. They helped create the famous "Shuffle Along", "Chocolate Dandies" and "Harlem Calvacade", which in turn helped launch the careers of Florence Mills (I), Josephine Baker, Valaida Snow, Blanche Calloway and other black performers. The dancing in the shows so impressed impresarios Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. and George White that they paid the artists in the show to come down and teach their white dancers how to dance. During the 1930s and 1940s he and his band appeared in various films. Not only was the music energetic and hot, the band had an energy that appealed to audiences. However, when the "Big Band" era ended, so did Sissle's tenure as a band leader. He was involved in many things, like forming the Negro Actors Guild, for which he served as president. He continued working with partner Eubie Blake until the end. A book was written about them called "Reminiscing with Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake", by Robert Kimball and William Bolcom.