e-concertpianola

e-Concert #5

Another mixed bag of musical wonders from my roll shelves, some familiar, some less so, some quite forgotten. An archival quality copy of everything you hear has been matrix scanned for preservation. Many thanks to Julian Dyer for scanning and making this possible.

1. Ma Ragtime Queen
There is some myth that early music rolls were poor and got better as the years went by. Anyone who owns a 58-note player organ will know this is untrue. By the time Aeolian bought out their 65-note scale they'd been making fine quality arrangements for nearly a decade and their staff had all the basic essential skills of the later decades. Here is a good example of one of the very earliest Aeolian 65-note piano rolls with their 4-digit numbering series. Piano 8445 Ma Ragtime Queen - Barth 65-note

2. Flying Arrow
One of the choice delights from the pen of Abe Holzmann. The sheetmusic is stamped "Indian Intermezzo" above "march and two-step" and is reprinted in one of the Dover rare rags reprint volumes. Somewhere along the line it's all three of these rolled into one. Melographic 300 Flying Arrow (March & two-step) - Holzmann 88-note

3.Sousa March Medley
A thrilling selection of well-known Sousa marches. This is an unusual "International Concert Roll" with a nice "full" player piano arrangement. The roll is punched quite crudely with most notes being single square perforations however the whole thing comes to life wonderfully. International X1073 Sousa March Medley - Sousa arr Heeb 88-note

4. Play A Simple Melody
The familiar "Play a Simple Melody" by Irving Berlin. Here is its original 1914 ragtime-era rendition from when it was hot off the press in the Berlin musical "Watch Your Step". Themodist (UK) TL22810 Play a Simple Melody (pianoforte solo) - Irving Berlin 88-note

5. Bill Simmonds
A popular "coon-tune" in its day about Bill who can't stop dancing whenever he hears the music play. The tune is arranged as a short dance two-step for this performance. To hear an original cylinder audio recording of this piece click here. Universal (UK) S246 Bill Simmonds (two-step) - Spink 88-note

6. Gigolette
An artful foxtrot from Lehar's little-known operetta "Libellentanz" which played to English audiences as "The Three Graces". Aeolian (UK) 26427 Gigolette (fox-trot) - Lehar played by Norman & Swift 88-note

7. Who
Jerome Kern's "Who?" from the musical "Sunny" (see e-Concert #7 for a full selection from the show). This is from a Welte "green" roll from the early 20s. The musical arrangement is not as jazzy as material from the US however it does have a refined charm of its own. This is a recording for a full reproducing piano roll but this midi is just the note track.Welte (Green) 5822 Who - Kern played by George Milner

8. Waldteufel Memories
Everything you need to know about Waldteufel in 10 elegant minutes. One of the finest rolls of the finest music. The arrangement was written by English composer, conductor and impressario Herman Finck known for his "Melodious Memories" and "In the Shadows". Technically Finck covers sixteen pieces here but you'd never know. There's waltzes, polkas, french polkas, military polkas, marches and more.Themodist (UK) T30446 Waldteufel Memories (Fantasia) - Finck 88-note

9. Runnin' Wild
A hot struttin' jazz arrangement of this (now) well-known standard. This is how it sounded when it was fresh-as-a-daisy. Metrostyle (UK) L24444 Runnin' Wild (fox trot) - Gibbs 88-note