{{Short description|American jazz musician (1909–1980)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Dick Stabile | image = Dick Stabile New York between 1946 and 1948 (cropped).jpg | caption = Stabile in New York in the 1940s | birth_name = Richard Dominic Stabile | birth_date = {{Birth date|1909|5|29|mf=y}} | birth_place = Newark, New Jersey, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1980|9|18|1909|5|29|mf=y}} | death_place = New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | genre = Jazz, big band | occupation = Musician, band leader, music director | instrument = Saxophone and clarinet | years_active = 1928–1980 | label = Decca, Bluebird, Vocalion | associated_acts = Ben Bernie, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis }}
'''Richard Dominic Stabile''' (May 29, 1909 – September 18, 1980) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader. [[File:Cary Grant Betsy Drake Dick Stabile 1955.jpg|thumb|right|275px|Cary Grant, Betsy Drake, Dick Stabile (1955) ]]
==Career== He was born in Newark, New Jersey, United States.<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=2357}}</ref> The son of a band leader and violinist, Stabile learned piano and violin at an early age. His father got a job with band leader Vincent Lopez on the condition that he learn saxophone. Seeing his father play, Stabile started playing saxophone, too, and was hired by Jules Ansel at the Brunswick Hotel in Newark.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> He then went on tour with band leader Ben Bernie, Ansel's cousin,<ref name=es>{{cite news|title=Dick Stabile To Play For Exchange Club|newspaper=The Evening Standard |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3401459/the_evening_standard/|agency=The Evening Standard|date=April 28, 1939|page=18|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = October 12, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref> and remained with Bernie from 1928 to 1936,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> appearing on Bernie's weekly radio show as lead alto saxophonist and soloist.<ref name="Official">{{cite web|last1=Stabile|first1=Joe E.|title=Dick Stabile by Joe E. Stabile|url=http://www.dickstabile.com/bio.htm|website=Dickstabile.com|accessdate=May 16, 2017}}</ref>
In 1936, Stabile started his own ensemble,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> the All-America "Swing" Band, which featured Bunny Berigan, Dave Barbour, Frank Signorelli, and Stan King.<ref>{{cite news|title=(Lakewood ad)|newspaper=The Plain Speaker |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3407779/the_plain_speaker/|agency=The Plain Speaker|date=April 15, 1936|page=18|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = October 13, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref> He recorded with vocalists such as Berigan, Paula Kelly, Burt Shaw, and Gracie Barrie, the last of which he would go on to marry.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> During this time, he recorded for the labels Decca, Bluebird, ARC, and Vocalion/Okeh. His band worked often in hotels in New York City,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> and was chosen to play at the New York World's Fair in 1959–60.
During World War II Stabile led a band while serving in the Coast Guard; Gracie Barrie led his own ensemble in his absence.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> After the war, he moved to Los Angeles and became music director for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> and had a small role as 'Private Pokey' in their film, ''At War with the Army''.<ref name=simonbb>Simon, George T. (1974). ''The Big Bands''. Collier Books. p. 479.</ref><ref>Jordan, Steve, and Tom Scanlan. ''Rhythm Man: Fifty Years in Jazz''. University of Michigan Press, 1991, p. 89.</ref>
After spending the latter 1960s leading dance bands at Los Angeles ballrooms, Stabile took a job at the Hotel Roosevelt in New Orleans,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> where he worked from the middle of the 1970s until his death from a heart attack in 1980.
==Vocalists== Evelyn Oaks sang with Stabile's orchestra in 1939,<ref name=es/> and Paula Kelly sang with him prior to joining the Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title=Swing era lives again|newspaper=The Courier-Gazette |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3407911/the_couriergazette/|agency=The Courier-Gazette|date=April 27, 1978|page=11|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = October 13, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref>
==Instruments== Stabile designed a line of saxophones and clarinets that carried his name.<ref>{{cite news|title=(Penn State Music and Sports Supply House ad)|newspaper=The Daily Courier |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3407711/the_daily_courier/|agency=The Daily Courier|date=April 25, 1940|page=5|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = October 13, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref>
==Personal life== Stabile was married to and divorced from Gracie Barrie.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Winchell|first1=Walter|title=Walter Winchell Coast-To-Coast|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3407742/the_centralia_enterprise_and_tribune/|agency=Naugatuck Daily News|date=October 24, 1945|page=4}}</ref>
Stabile was the cousin of singer Dolly Dawn (aka Theresa Stabile)<ref>{{cite news|author=Douglas Martin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/18/arts/dolly-dawn-86-who-sang-center-stage-in-the-big-band-era.html |title=Dolly Dawn, 86, Who Sang Center Stage in the Big Band Era |work=The New York Times |date= 18 December 2002|accessdate=2019-11-13}}</ref>
==Discography== ===As leader=== * ''Dick Stabile Plays for You'' (Bethlehem, 1957) * ''At the Statler'' (Tops, 1957) * ''Dancing on the Sunset Strip'' (King, 1959) * ''This Cat Really Blows!'' (Dot, 1960)
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stabile, Dick}} Category:1909 births Category:1980 deaths Category:American jazz saxophonists Category:American male saxophonists Category:American jazz bandleaders Category:Jazz musicians from Newark, New Jersey Category:United States Coast Guard enlisted Category:20th-century American saxophonists Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:American male jazz musicians