Image Credit: Mangiapane, Sherwood, Courtesy Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University. Physical rights are retained by the Hogan Jazz Archive.
Sherwood Mangiapane
1912 – 1972
Born in New Orleans in the Carrollton section, bassist Sherwood Mangiapane (1912-1972) gained early exposure to jazz through his parents, who loved to dance to jazz bands, and by listening to New Orleans bands on records and radio. Mangiapane studied music with his grandfather and began playing at lawn parties on drums as a kid, charging fifty cents per job. He was known for playing bass “backwards” (left-handed playing a standard instrument) and adept at “slap style” bass. He worked in the 1930s and 40s with Joe Clesi and in the 1950s and 60s with Johnny Wiggs, Raymond Burke, and Edmond Souchon. In later years he was a regular performer at the Preservation Hall, and in the 1980s, he was a member of the Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble.