Mike Mosiello (full name ''Michele Alphonso Mosiello'') (December 2, 1896 – June 3, 1953) was an Italian-born American

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

player.

Biography

Mosiello was born in

Frasso Telesino Frasso Telesino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about 40 km northeast of Naples and about 20 km west of Benevento. Frasso Telesino borders the following municipalities ...

in Italy into a musical family. His father, Tobia Mosiello, played the clarinet and his godfather was a trumpet player and bandleader. At the age of two Mike and his family migrated to the United States, settling in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Here young Mike took up trumpet playing around the age of six. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Mosiello enlisted as a military musician in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

and was stationed in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. Back in New York after the war he seriously began a career as a professional musician. Mosiello played with the orchestras of several famous bandleaders, among them

Vincent Lopez Vincent Lopez (December 30, 1895 – September 20, 1975) was an American bandleader, actor, and pianist. Early life and career Vincent Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, Distinguished Am ...

. He was however one of the most prolific

studio musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a t ...

s of the 1920s, appearing on hundreds of records, often adding a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

flavor to many contemporary

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

hits. His most important recordings as a "hot" soloist were probably those made for

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

under the direction of

Nathaniel Shilkret Nathaniel Shilkret (December 25, 1889 – February 18, 1982) was an American musician, composer, conductor and musical director. Early career Shilkret (originally named Natan Schüldkraut) was born in New York City, United States, to parents ...

, and his countless sides made for the cut-rate

Grey Gull The grey gull, also known as garuma gull (''Leucophaeus modestus'') is a medium-sized gull native to South America. Unusual among gulls, it breeds inland in the extremely dry Atacama Desert in northern Chile, although it is present as a non-bree ...

company (Grey Gull, Radiex, Van Dyke, Madison, etc.). Mosiello seems to have been something of the leader of the latter company's studio band and recorded several compositions of his own with this group (see below). Among his most frequent co-musicians on these recordings (and on many made for other labels and bandleaders as well) were reedman and guitarist

Andy Sannella Anthony George "Andy" Sannella (March 11, 1900 – December 10, 1962) was an American musician and bandleader. Andy Sannella was born in Brooklyn, NY. His father Anthony and mother Lucia were both Italian immigrants. Sannella was a multi-instru ...

and accordionist

Charles Magnante Charles Magnante (December 7, 1905 – December 30, 1986) was an American piano-accordionist, arranger, composer, author and educator. His artistry helped raise the image of the accordion from an instrument considered suitable only for folk ...

. Sannella, in an interview shortly before his death, spoke very highly of Mosiello's skills as a musician. From the 1930s onwards, Mosiello was mainly active in

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

and in the pit orchestras of various

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

s. During the 1940s he toured with pianist and comedian

Victor Borge Børge Rosenbaum (3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( ), was a Danish-American comedian, conductor, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the North America and Europe. His ...

but also led a band of his own at the "Top Hat" Club in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Since 1922 Mosiello was married to Antoinette Greco, to whom he dedicated his composition ''Antoinette, I Love You''. They had a son and a daughter. Mike Mosiello died of pancreatic cancer in Asbury Park, New Jersey; he was only 56.

Compositions

Since none of Mosiello's many compositions seem to have been published the only source for these are the credits on the original records issued. Below is a list of known such Mosiello compositions and issues: * ''Adeline'' (Grey Gull 1821) * ''Antoinette I Love You'' (Madison 50023) * ''Baby Mine'' (Grey Gull 1878, Van Dyke 81878) * ''Blue Ridge Blues'' (Grey Gull 1819, Supreme 1819, Van Dyke 81819) * ''Blue Waters'' (Grey Gull 1845, Van Dyke 81845, Madison 5087) * ''Come Again'' (Grey Gull 1780, Van Dyke 71780; also issued as ''Darlingest'') * ''Carolina'' (Madison 6024; possibly also issued as ''Virginia'' on Madison 6009) * ''Crying For You'' (Grey Gull 1876) * ''Dream Boy'' (Grey Gull 1847) * ''Dreaming Of You'' (Grey Gull 1785, Van Dyke 71785) * ''Hittin' Em Low'' (Grey Gull 1891) * ''Italian Waters'' (Grey Gull 1750, Van Dyke 71750) * ''Just Blues'' (Grey Gull 1739, Supreme 1739, Radiex 909, Van Dyke 71739, Madison 1649) * ''Just Once More'' (Grey Gull 1783, Van Dyke 71783) * ''Just You Honey'' (Grey Gull 1798; also issued as ''That Wicked Stomp'' on Grey Gull 1888 and as ''Waiting For You'' on Grey Gull 1890!) * ''Linda'' (Grey Gull 1888) * ''Lonesome Me'' (Madison 5069) * ''Love Me Dear'' (Grey Gull 1877) * ''Necking Nellie Home'' (Madison 50009) * ''Step On It'' (Madison 50009) * ''Stomp Along'' (Grey Gull 1749, Phonycord 563; also issued as ''Black Stomp'') * ''Sweetheart It's You'' (Van Dyke 81891; also issued as ''Emilia'' on Grey Gull 1752 and Radiex 1752) * ''Sweet Henry'' (Grey Gull 1822) * ''Two Red Lips'' (Van Dyke 914, Madison 5063; also issued as ''I Found My Sunshine Under An Umbrella'' on Madison 50011) * ''Wow Wow Blues'' (Grey Gull 1751, Van Dyke 901, 5001 & 71751, Madison 5001, 50001 & 1935, Goodson 156; on some issues renamed ''Ja Da Blues'') * ''You Ought To See Her Now'' (Grey Gull 1779, Van Dyke 71779) A few of these records have been reissued on the CD ''Grey Gull Rarities'' from

Jazz Oracle Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major f ...

br>

Sources

''This article is based on the corresponding article in the Swedish Wikipedia.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mosiello, Mike 1896 births 1954 deaths People from the Province of Benevento American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Italian emigrants to the United States American jazz musicians 20th-century American musicians 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians