At the age of 17, Marable began playing on the
steam boats plying the
Mississippi River. John and Joseph Streckfus hired him to replace their piano player, Charles Mills, who had accepted an engagement in New York City. There was a catch: Marable's responsibilities would include playing a large steam
calliope. Steam streamed through the brass pipes and whistles at 80 pounds of pressure, the keys were hot and they were hard to hold down. Pitch varied with steam pressure, so there was a challenge of playing in tune. The calliope was designed to be clearly heard on shore, so the volume was overwhelming to the musician who was manipulating it. To prepare himself for playing the loud machine that spewed steam and water, Marable wore gloves, stuffed his ears with cotton, and donned raingear. Later in 1907, he became bandleader for a paddlewheeler on the
Streckfus Line running between
New Orleans, Louisiana and
St. Paul, Minnesota, a position he retained for 33 years. Later, he spent late nights in New Orleans' clubs scouting for talent and playing at jam sessions. There he discovered
Louis Armstrong blowing cornet, and recruited him to play for his band on evening riverboat excursions cruising around the Crescent City. As his one-time drummer,
Zutty Singleton put it: "There was a saying in New Orleans. When some musician would get a job on the riverboats with Fate Marable, they'd say, 'Well, you're going to the conservatory.'" A young
George Russell, later the deviser of the
Lydian Concept, grew up listening to Marable's music. ==Death==