Sherwood Mangiapane; ‘Backward’ Bass Fiddle Player

Sherwood Mangiapane, 79, New Orleans jazz musician known for playing his bass fiddle “backward.” Most recently associated with the Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble, Mangiapane was a living encyclopedia of New Orleans music. He started out on drums as a child and as a teen-ager switched to bass, playing the fiddle left-handed in what seemed as backward motions to right-handed observers. Mangiapane never learned to read music. He had played with the Blue Parody Orchestra and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. On Thursday in New Orleans of complications of diabetes.