Joseph "Sharkey" Bonano (April 9, 1904 – March 27, 1972), also known as Sharkey Banana or Sharkey Bananas, was a jazz trumpeter, band leader, and vocalist.
Sharkey was known for playing searing hot and technically virtuoso trumpet with a beautiful tone. His great musical abilities were sometimes overlooked in part because of his love of being an entertainer; he would often sing silly lyrics in a high raspy voice and break into dance routines on s...
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Joseph "Sharkey" Bonano (April 9, 1904 – March 27, 1972), also known as Sharkey Banana or Sharkey Bananas, was a jazz trumpeter, band leader, and vocalist.
Sharkey was known for playing searing hot and technically virtuoso trumpet with a beautiful tone. His great musical abilities were sometimes overlooked in part because of his love of being an entertainer; he would often sing silly lyrics in a high raspy voice and break into dance routines on stage.
Sharkey was born with the name Joseph Gustaf Bonano in the Milneburg neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, by the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. He was a well regarded professional player by his mid teens, in his youth mostly playing in New Orleans other than a period with Eddie Edwards' band in New York City in 1920. Sharkey then started traveling widely, seldom staying in one place or with one band for more than a few months. He briefly replaced Bix Beiderbecke in the Wolverines Orchestra, and Nick LaRocca in the Original Dixieland...
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