Pianophilia

This was triggered by a mention of Willie The Lion Smith earlier on. Does anyone have his lovely 'Morning Air'?

Hello Struwwelpeter and all syncopation/stride afficionados,

Your mention of Willie "The Lion" Smith's composition "Morning Air" prompted me to check out my files. The good news is that I know it was published by Robbins in a multi-tune instrumental folio entitled "Willie Smith's Modern Piano Solos." The bad news is that even though I remember the sheet down to the cover art, and I know that I have had it for a very long time, checking for the physical copy today proved fruitless. It's not in my Willie Smith folder, so now it's in the needle-in-the haystack category. We'll have to wait until another collector who can actually put his hands on this folio comes forward with a scan, unfortunately.

However, since I pulled out the Willie Smith folder today (and in celebration of my purchase of a new scanner), I will post all the Willie The Lion piano solos I have. The first posted will be scanned from original sheets, then later on I'll scan those I copied at the Library of Congress.

Here goes...enjoy!

Frank

Some more Willie "The Lion" Smith piano solos..... Does everyone know that Willie received his nickname "The Lion" on account of his legendary bravery on the WWI battlefields? I had the good fortune of meeting him in the late 60s or early 70s. What a crusty, foul-mouthed old curmudgeon he was; but he played JPJ's "Carolina Shout" so effortlessly, never losing the light on the cigar in his mouth.

More Willie "The Lion"....

..and the rest of the Willie piano solos for this evening...

Enjoy, everyone!

Life is full of co-incidences! 2 days ago, I was looking for my copy of WTLS's "Echoes of Spring", but couldn't find it. Then I saw the post requesting his "Song of Morning" and looked again. I found my WLTS folder, (on a disc) but not the Echoes of Spring or the requested piece. Now I see Frank's uploads and there it is - Echoes of Spring - and a much better scan than mine ever was. Thank you Frank - Keep 'em coming, please.

So pleased am I, that I feel prompted to upload the following collection - not of Willy TL Smith's work, but of Dick Hyman's - purely from the academic perspective of illustrating an example of his versatile styles and to query why none of the pieces were dedicated to WTLS !
Regards,
Toby

More on topic perhaps is the following transcription. nms ttos

regards,
Toby

Hi tobyjj and everyone,

Glad you liked the Willie Smith piano solos. Here is a folio of his compositions which was published by Clarence Williams originally. I don't think that any of the pieces contained in this folio were ever originally published as separate, single sheets. Tobyjj - you'll note that the first piece is a SONG version of "Echo of Spring." Yes, life plays funny tricks on us sometimes.

Enjoy!

Frank

Thansk for all these marvellous pieces, Frank!

Frank, you beat me to it! I was just about to ask about the Fingerbuster. Thank you so much for all this incredible music!

Best,
Curtis