Pianist Marty Napoleon is jazzed for 90

Just call Marty Napoleon a man of 88 keys who's going on 90. Make that a man who spent seven of those ivory-tickling decades performing with everyone from Louis Armstrong to Chico Marx.

And as he gets ready to turn the big 9-0 on June 2, he's got a work schedule that could give Betty White a run for her money. First, he'll head to Symphony Space in Manhattan for a pre-birthday celebration May 2, where he'll play a few jazz standards and maybe his own compositions. Then, there's a June 1 bash at Birdland in the city and some summer gigs in Glen Cove, where he lives in an assisted-living center. And you can bet he'll don the sailor's cap he wears for every performance.

He also has an autobiography, one that's been in the works for 35 years and is just about ready to be sent to a publisher. "My son said to me one day: 'Hey, Dad, everybody always says to you, 'You worked in the big bands? Who did you play with?' And you always say, 'Who haven't I played it with?' " Napoleon said. At his son's suggestion, that's what he called the book.

The title is an understatement. Besides Armstrong and Marx, Napoleon has worked with a Who's Who of Music -- Nat King Cole, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Miles Davis, trombonist Jack Teagarden, saxophonist Charlie Ventura and many more notable names in jazz. Napoleon even had his big screen moment performing with Satchmo's band in "The Glenn Miller Story" (1954).

Not bad for someone who taught himself the piano.

He loves a piano
Marty's father thought his son would be a trumpeter like Phil Napoleon, Marty's uncle, a founder of the Original Memphis Five. But when Marty was diagnosed with a heart murmur at age 7, the doctor advised against it. He toyed with the violin for a while, but he was fascinated with the piano.

"At 17, I took up the piano. I started finding chords and playing, even though I didn't know how to read music then," he said. "And my brother Andy used to take my father's newspaper and put it on the dining room table, and he bought a pair of brushes to play the drums, and it sounded pretty on the newspaper."

With a friend and a cousin, he and Andy formed a quartet, The FAM Cats, and started performing at parties. Until he eventually learned to read music, Napoleon would sing a number to get an ear for how to play it. As his reputation grew, Napoleon got an offer from up-and-comer Shelly Manne, who was starting a band in 1941. That gig led to an audition with Marx, who gave up films to create a band in 1942. "I sat down and looked at the real music, and I thought, 'How am I going to play this?' I got so scared, but I faked it," he said.

He was hired on the spot and was told the band would be heading to Philadelphia in a few days. He asked his wife, Bebe, whom he married in 1941, to quit her dressmaking job to join him on the road. He was earning $75 a week , and quite a few free meals.

"Chico didn't like to eat alone. After the third show every day, he would stand in front of the band. . . . He'd point to someone and say, 'Did you have dinner with me yesterday?' And if they said no, he'd say, 'Meet me after the show backstage. You're coming with us to dinner,' " Napoleon said. "Every day, he'd take at least three or four musicians and their wives."

After Bebe became pregnant, Napoleon left Marx's band so he wouldn't be on the road as much. Trumpeter Lee Castle, sax man Charlie Barnet, jazz violinist Joe Venuti and drummer Krupa all found a place for him in their bands throughout the 1940s.

In 1950, he joined Ventura's group The Big Four, which also included Chubby Jackson on bass and Buddy Rich on drums. Napoleon not only played piano, he was lead vocalist, a move that made Rich jealous.

"Buddy Rich was a frustrated Frank Sinatra. He gave me, in what we call in Italian, tortura -- torture," Napoleon said. "When I would start singing, he would pick up the tempo, then slow it down to irritate me. I'm singing this way and looking at him that way, and I'm saying with my eyes, 'When I get off the stage, are you gonna get it!' "

Touring, however, started to hit a sour note with Bebe. "When I was with the Big Four, Joe Glaser booked us into Chicago for two weeks, and we were there for four months. My wife kept calling and said, 'When are you coming home?' She was ready to leave me. So I told her, 'No more on the road, I'm leaving the group.' "

Hello, Louis
So when Glaser asked Napoleon about joining the Louis Armstrong All Stars in 1952, he declined. "He said, 'Come up, and we'll talk.' So I went up there, and he talked me into it."

Napoleon didn't see his family for seven months after that tour. When Bebe threatened with divorce, Napoleon gave his notice and left the band April 17, 1953.

When he arrived home in Brooklyn the next day, Glaser called, pleading for him to come back and talked Napoleon into returning -- for more money. "I left the band three times. I'd leave, and he'd raise the ante," Napoleon said. "After a while, it got to be really nice with the band because I was making better money, and we'd go to Chicago for four weeks, and I'd have my wife and kids come out." He has two children -- Marty Napoleon Jr. and Jeanine Goldman, four grandchildren and one great grandson.

When the All Stars played Scandinavia, they were mobbed by fans. In Cuba, the greeting was far less cordial. "We just got off the plane and were told to leave," Napoleon recalled. "They said, 'Castro doesn't want you to play here because he doesn't like jazz music.' "

Though life has changed for Napoleon -- Bebe, his wife of 66 years, died in 2008, and he needs a walker to get around -- work is still a constant. He practices at home every day, writes songs and performs regularly, often with his trio that includes Ray Mosca on drums and Bill Crow on piano.

Napoleon's friend Geri Reichgut is happy to find an audience for him. "For about 25 years, I was a really big fan of Marty's," said Reichgut, who lines up gigs for him. "My friend Wendy Kimball] sang in the band he played in. I used to be so jealous."

So, through Kimball, they met and immediately clicked. Reichgut visits regularly, takes him to movies and, of course, gets him work.

And that's how Napoleon likes it, since he's always happiest at his piano. "I have the best job in the world," he said. "I just love that I can wake up in the morning knowing that I get to do what I love." 

Napoleon's upcoming gigs 

Marty Napoleon still plays a mean piano. Here are some of his upcoming gigs: 

90th Birthday Salute
Marty Napoleon with Byron Stripling's Hot Jazz Band 

When. 7:15 p.m. May 2

Where. Symphony Space's Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street

ADmission. $35, $25 members

Info. 212-864-5400, symphonyspace.org 

90th Birthday Salute
to Marty Napoleon 

When. 5:15 p.m. June 1

Where. Birdland, 315 W. 44th St., Manhattan

Admission. $10

Info. 212-581-3080, birdlandjazz.com

The Marty Napoleon Trio Live 

When. 7 p.m. June 16

Where. The Regency, 94 School St., Glen Cove

Admission. Free

Info. 516-674-3007 

Downtown Sounds Presents
The Marty Napoleon Quintet

 When. 7 p.m. July 15

Where. 18 Village Square, Glen Cove

Admission. Free

Info. glencovedowntown.org