Noble Sissle

Noble Sissle (b. Indianapolis, July 10, 1889 – d. Tampa, Florida, December 17, 1975) – Composer, songwriter, lyricist, singer, bandleader, actor, and playwright. With a minister and organist for a father, Sissle showed an early interest in music. Although his family moved to Cleveland when he was seventeen, he returned to Indiana to study at DePauw (1914) and Butler (1914-15): all of this after becoming a professional musician. Starting in 1915, he led a short-lived all-black orchestra at Indianapolis’s Severin Hotel. Two years later, he joined the 369^th Regimental Infantry Band led by James Reese Europe. After serving over seas with Europe’s band, Sissle returned to the United States in 1919 and led the band briefly following the murder of its leader. Around 1920, he formed a vaudeville duo with Eubie Blake, whom he had met several years before in Baltimore. Together, they collaborated on many songs with Blake writing the music and Sissle supplying the lyrics. In 1921, he and Blake created Shuffle Along, the first Broadway musical composed by African Americans. Among the tunes in Shuffle Along was “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” later used as President Truman’s campaign song. In addition, Blake and Sissle produced two short films, which also include their songs. Following several years in Europe, he formed the traveling Noble Sissle Orchestra, which ran for around twenty years starting in the mid-1930s. Among the many jazz musicians he employed were Sidney Bechet, Charlie Parker, and Lena Horne. Known as the unofficial mayor of Harlem, Sissle ran a publishing company and nightclub in the 1960s until retiring to Florida. He was also a founding member of the Negro Actors Guild.