Adrian Rollini's last years

© William P. Gottlieb

By the end of the 1930s and into the 1940s, Adrian Rollini was concentrating on the vibraphone with his trio, putting aside his main instrument, the bass saxophone, and indeed the weirdest instruments from his portfolio, the goofus and the hot fountain pen (remember that he was a versatile player and we can hear him on recording also playing piano, xylophone, celeste and drums).

His final commercial recordings were twelve sides made for Mercury in 1949-1950, issued as Adrian Rollini Trio (Mercury MG200511). In the early 1950s, Rollini moved to Florida, where he opened The Driftwood Lodge, his own hotel. He occasionally led groups in Miami, and his final venue was the Eden Roc Hotel in September 1955. He would die in Homestead, Florida, on May 5, 1956, at the age of 53.

The following ad was published in the Milwaukee Sentinel on September 10, 1950. Though almost out or circulation, he was still advertised as "the famous Mercury recording artist".