Dardanelle or Marcia Marie Hadley (December 27, 1917 - August 8, 1997), was an American jazz artist known for performing with Lionel Hampton. Over a career that lasted for more than a half-century, she played piano and vibes — and sang a little too — under the exotic-sounding name Dardanelle, years before many of today’s stars made performing under a single name a common practice.
But there does seem to be some confusion about her identity — not just her mysterious stage persona, but her real name too. Although everyone agrees that she was born in Mississippi in 1917, one source says she started life as Dardanelle Breckenridge, named by her father for the Dardanelles Straits. But even though she apparently did sometimes use Breckenridge, most sources say her real name was Marcia Marie Mullen, and she gave herself the name Dardanelle in the early stages of her career.In any case, Hadley was born and grew up in Avalon, Mississippi, where she studied with Gladys Bacon, a Greenwood music teacher. An internationally known singer and pianist, Dardanelle’s father Marcius Mosley “Buck” Mullen never studied music, never read it, but could play anything, particularly ragtime. Dardanelle once said her “perfect” execution on the piano was a gift from her father. The blue-eyed, talented performer was nicknamed “Peter” or “Pete” as a child because she was such a tomboy.
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Dardanelle’s Carnegie Hall aspirations were dashed early when she came down with polio, which weakened her left hand for the demands of classical music.She was also a talented vibraphonist, and singer who later studied music at Louisiana State University, holding a major, and supported herself by working as a house pianist at a local radio station.
By the late 1930s she started to appear professionally on the national jazz scene. During the 1940s she led her own Dardanelle Trio, with various collaborators, initially with bassist Paul Edenfield and guitarist Tal Farlow. The trio made a lot of good records during that period and also became a regular fixture at New York’s Copacabana.
By the 1950s Dardanelle had relocated to Chicago and left music to raise a family. She supported herself as a staff pianist for WGN-TV. She also worked on a highly regarded children’s television show called Lunchtime Little Theater where she was known as Aunt Dody.
Dardanelle moved to New Jersey in the 1970’s and formed a new trio with her son “Skip” Hadley on drums. She performed and recorded with Jazz stars Bucky Pizzarelli, George Duvivier, and Grady Tate.She appeared at many festivals and concerts and worked on cruise ships and television programs. She played at the Cookery and Carnegie Hall in New York. She was also a popular performer in Tokyo, Japan, where she lived for some time.In 1984 Dardanelle returned to Mississippi where she was an active radio and TV personality, recording artist, and jazz performer (her second son, Brian Hadley, often played bass with her). From 1986-1988 she was Artist in Residence at Ole Miss (the University of Mississippi).
The jazz legend died August 8, 1997, at the age of 79 at the Baptist Memorial Hospital Central in Memphis, as a result of complications from heart valve replacement surgery she had in July.
(Edited from Wikipedia, mswritersandmusicians.com. and geezer music club.)