Sissle

Sissle is a surname. The best known bearer is Noble Lee Sissle (1889–1975), an American jazz musician, composer, lyricist, and vocalist who played a significant role in early 20th-century Black American popular music. Along with Eubie Blake, Sissle helped shape the soundscape of the era and contributed to the Broadway scene through popular song and performance.

Sissle and Blake co-authored the score for Shuffle Along (1921), a landmark Broadway revue that presented an African American-led production to mainstream audiences and helped broaden opportunities for Black artists on stage. The show produced songs that became standards, including “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” and is credited with influencing the development of American musical theater.

Throughout the 1920s and beyond, Sissle led or performed with his own ensembles and contributed to vaudeville and concert performances. His collaboration with Blake is often cited as a turning point in the broader acceptance of Black composers and performers in American theater and popular music.