Gene Krupa in Chicago. Bartłomiej was an immigrant from Poland. Anna was born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania and was also of Polish descent. His parents were Roman Catholics who groomed him for the priesthood. He spent his grammar school days at parochial schools. After graduation he attended Saint Joseph's College for a year but decided the priesthood was not his vocation. Krupa studied with Sanford A. Moeller and began playing drums professionally in the mid-1920s with bands in Wisconsin. In 1927 he was hired by MCA to become a member of Thelma Terry and Her Playboys, the first notable American jazz band—all-girl bands
Jon Marks playing in this idiom." Just before his death in 2007 Marks was working on a "Gene Krupa Story" musical with the Berlin-based drummer Arthor Von Blomberg. This musical will be performed in various locations in 2008. Jon Marks Jon Marks (Slough, Buckinghamshire, England, July 11, 1947 - Berlin, Germany, July 23, 2007) was a jazz pianist. Jon Marks began learning the piano at the age of 7. The lessons discontinued at age 12 when interest in New Orleans Jazz and improvisation occupied his practice time. His brother David Marks (psychologist) played the banjo. When he was 14 Dave took Jon