School of Syncopation - Jazz, Stride, Novelties & the Like
- fhimpsl
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Re: School of Syncopation - Jazz, Stride, Novelties & the Like.
Dear Luigi,
Many thanks for uploading the Bargy "Sweet And Tender" and Banta's "Upright And Grand." You're right that I missed those two! The Banta piece is in a folio which I'd forgotten about, and on the Bargy for some reason my copy was not in the folder (hopefully not lost!) Good to fill in as many gaps as possible!!
One quick note on the Bargy interview upload - it seems that for some reason only the first two pages will open with Acrobat Reader, and the other two won't. I have this article from "The Rag Times" too (can't find it of course!) but I wanted to bring that to your attention.
You have put together an excellent collection of key audio recordings dealing with Charley Straight and Roy Bargy! The Victor record of "Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes" is to my knowledge the only "live" recording of Straight & Bargy together, although they made dozens of duets on Imperial rolls. If only the duet rolls sounded as good as this 78rpm! As a rule on piano rolls, I've found that the duet performances are better for "sing-a-long" playing than for straight listening because they rely so heavily upon marimba tremolo effects in the accompaniment. The solo performances by Straight and Bargy on Imperial are always very good; sometimes exceptionally good.
The story of "Knice And Knifty" and "Ruffenreddy" really opens the question as to who was the first to compose "novelty piano solos" as we differentiate them from ragtime prior to 1917. Although Zez Confrey is usually credited as the first to compose in this style (and deservedly so, considering his wonderful compositions), the piano roll performances of Charley Straight really make a good case for him to have been the originator. All these guys, Bargy, Straight and Confrey too were based in Chicago and all of them recorded for Imperial (including Zez with his "Over The Top"). So there was a cross-mixing of musical ideas. But Straight started making piano rolls much earlier than Bargy and Confrey, first for QRS and then for Imperial. Both Bargy and Confrey had to have been influenced by his original piano roll rags.
Confrey's first commercially issued original ragtime performance was "My Pet"...unfortunately I don't have access to the appropriate research information right now, but I believe this roll came out in 1919 (I could be wrong on this and need to confirm). The tune wasn't published by Mills until several years later. Straight's QRS rag rolls date all the way back to 1914 and the Imperials (like Ruffenreddy & Knice And Knifty) date from about 1917. This makes a good case for Charley! There is no mention of Bargy on the roll labels; in fact those rolls were probably played before Bargy worked for Imperial. When the two tunes were finally published, they had Bargy's name on the cover and a small notation on the first page of music stating to the effect "....in collaboration with Charley Straight." So maybe Charley Straight was the true originator of novelty ragtime?
All the best,
Frank
Many thanks for uploading the Bargy "Sweet And Tender" and Banta's "Upright And Grand." You're right that I missed those two! The Banta piece is in a folio which I'd forgotten about, and on the Bargy for some reason my copy was not in the folder (hopefully not lost!) Good to fill in as many gaps as possible!!
One quick note on the Bargy interview upload - it seems that for some reason only the first two pages will open with Acrobat Reader, and the other two won't. I have this article from "The Rag Times" too (can't find it of course!) but I wanted to bring that to your attention.
You have put together an excellent collection of key audio recordings dealing with Charley Straight and Roy Bargy! The Victor record of "Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes" is to my knowledge the only "live" recording of Straight & Bargy together, although they made dozens of duets on Imperial rolls. If only the duet rolls sounded as good as this 78rpm! As a rule on piano rolls, I've found that the duet performances are better for "sing-a-long" playing than for straight listening because they rely so heavily upon marimba tremolo effects in the accompaniment. The solo performances by Straight and Bargy on Imperial are always very good; sometimes exceptionally good.
The story of "Knice And Knifty" and "Ruffenreddy" really opens the question as to who was the first to compose "novelty piano solos" as we differentiate them from ragtime prior to 1917. Although Zez Confrey is usually credited as the first to compose in this style (and deservedly so, considering his wonderful compositions), the piano roll performances of Charley Straight really make a good case for him to have been the originator. All these guys, Bargy, Straight and Confrey too were based in Chicago and all of them recorded for Imperial (including Zez with his "Over The Top"). So there was a cross-mixing of musical ideas. But Straight started making piano rolls much earlier than Bargy and Confrey, first for QRS and then for Imperial. Both Bargy and Confrey had to have been influenced by his original piano roll rags.
Confrey's first commercially issued original ragtime performance was "My Pet"...unfortunately I don't have access to the appropriate research information right now, but I believe this roll came out in 1919 (I could be wrong on this and need to confirm). The tune wasn't published by Mills until several years later. Straight's QRS rag rolls date all the way back to 1914 and the Imperials (like Ruffenreddy & Knice And Knifty) date from about 1917. This makes a good case for Charley! There is no mention of Bargy on the roll labels; in fact those rolls were probably played before Bargy worked for Imperial. When the two tunes were finally published, they had Bargy's name on the cover and a small notation on the first page of music stating to the effect "....in collaboration with Charley Straight." So maybe Charley Straight was the true originator of novelty ragtime?
All the best,
Frank
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Re: School of Syncopation - Jazz, Stride, Novelties & the Like.
Dear Frank,fhimpsl wrote:One quick note on the Bargy interview upload - it seems that for some reason only the first two pages will open with Acrobat Reader, and the other two won't. I have this article from "The Rag Times" too (can't find it of course!) but I wanted to bring that to your attention.
thanks for the note. I re-upload the article in pdf format, so everybody should be able to open it.
Best RAGards
Luigi
Last edited by gigiranalli on Mon Aug 02, 2010 7:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: School of Syncopation - Jazz, Stride, Novelties & the Like.
- Phil Ohman's UP & DOWN THE KEYS
PLEASE put the composer's name in the filename!!!! (Read the rules!)
I've fixed the names. FB.
- Ferde Grofé's THE CYCLONE
Moderator Edit:PLEASE put the composer's name in the filename!!!! (Read the rules!)
I've fixed the names. FB.
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- fhimpsl
- Pianomasochist
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- Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:00 am
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Re: School of Syncopation - Jazz, Stride, Novelties & the Like.
Hello and Welcome, Benjamin!
Thank you for posting those two very rare novelty piano solos. I know that "The Cyclone" by Ferde Grofe is an especially rare score! We appreciate your contributions and look forward to hearing more from you.
Best Regards,
Frank
Thank you for posting those two very rare novelty piano solos. I know that "The Cyclone" by Ferde Grofe is an especially rare score! We appreciate your contributions and look forward to hearing more from you.
Best Regards,
Frank
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Re: School of Syncopation - Jazz, Stride, Novelties & the Like.
Thanks Benjamin!
I post other three Phil Ohman pieces, that are "Piano Pan", "Try & Play It" and "Sparkles".
And a recording of Phil Ohman and Victor Arden of "Saturday", one of their very best recordings!
About Victor Arden, I have the sheet music of his early piece entitled "Safety Pit Catch". He was very young when he wrote it and it's not an immortal masterpiece. I'll upload it, if there's interest.
Best RAGards
Luigi
I post other three Phil Ohman pieces, that are "Piano Pan", "Try & Play It" and "Sparkles".
And a recording of Phil Ohman and Victor Arden of "Saturday", one of their very best recordings!
About Victor Arden, I have the sheet music of his early piece entitled "Safety Pit Catch". He was very young when he wrote it and it's not an immortal masterpiece. I'll upload it, if there's interest.
Best RAGards
Luigi
Last edited by gigiranalli on Mon Aug 02, 2010 7:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- fhimpsl
- Pianomasochist
- Posts: 1061
- Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:00 am
- Instruments played, if any: Piano
- Music Scores: Yes
- Location: Pueblo West, CO
Re: School of Syncopation - Jazz, Stride, Novelties & the Like.
Dear Luigi,
Thanks for posting the Phil Ohman scores! I may be able to add one or two more; will have to check the Ohman file. The Arden & Ohman Victor recording of "Saturday" is also my favorite of their piano duets!
Did you know that "Try And Play It" was recorded on a piano roll by one Rose Vanderbosch? It is on the Imperial Recordo label. Ms. Vanderbosch plays the living daylights out of this tune! I thought you might like to hear it,
so I have attached a midi file of the roll. It is Imperial Recordo roll No. 66910 "Try And Play It" played by Rose Vanderbosch. Enjoy!
All best,
Frank
Thanks for posting the Phil Ohman scores! I may be able to add one or two more; will have to check the Ohman file. The Arden & Ohman Victor recording of "Saturday" is also my favorite of their piano duets!
Did you know that "Try And Play It" was recorded on a piano roll by one Rose Vanderbosch? It is on the Imperial Recordo label. Ms. Vanderbosch plays the living daylights out of this tune! I thought you might like to hear it,
so I have attached a midi file of the roll. It is Imperial Recordo roll No. 66910 "Try And Play It" played by Rose Vanderbosch. Enjoy!
All best,
Frank
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- fhimpsl
- Pianomasochist
- Posts: 1061
- Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:00 am
- Instruments played, if any: Piano
- Music Scores: Yes
- Location: Pueblo West, CO
Re: School of Syncopation - Jazz, Stride, Novelties & the Li
Hello Friends,
Here is the balance of Phil Ohman's works as far as I am aware. Enjoy!
All Best,
Frank
Here is the balance of Phil Ohman's works as far as I am aware. Enjoy!
All Best,
Frank
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Re: School of Syncopation - Jazz, Stride, Novelties & the Like.
good afternoon to every syncopated piano lover,
and good afternoon to you, Franck and Luigi for your very nice messages. I'm regularly following your messages, especially those concerning Ragtime history and piano roll transcription with a deep interest.
I'd be very happy to post on Pianophilia more of Novelty/Ragtime sheet music in a near future!
Musically yours!
Benjamin
and good afternoon to you, Franck and Luigi for your very nice messages. I'm regularly following your messages, especially those concerning Ragtime history and piano roll transcription with a deep interest.
I'd be very happy to post on Pianophilia more of Novelty/Ragtime sheet music in a near future!
Musically yours!
Benjamin
- fhimpsl
- Pianomasochist
- Posts: 1061
- Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:00 am
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Re: School of Syncopation - Jazz, Stride, Novelties & the Like.
Rube Bloom was another prolific composer of novelty piano solo material, from the 1920s all the way through the 1950s. In the 20s he was very much in demand as a studio pianist, and played accompaniments for many female vocalists. He also recorded piano solos on both records and piano rolls. Here is a start on posting his rather large output of pieces, which range from introspective meditations to full blown stride piano!
Frank
Frank
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- fhimpsl
- Pianomasochist
- Posts: 1061
- Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:00 am
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Re: School of Syncopation - Jazz, Stride, Novelties & the Li
More novelty piano solo material composed by Rube Bloom:
Frank
Frank
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