Pianophilia

Hello everybody,
today I'm going to post a bunch of great modern ragtime recordings. I could have chosen to include them in the Rag Thread forum, but I think that School of Syncopation is proper as well.
The bunch of great rags I attached are recordings by Tom Shea, here performing his own compositions.
He was a major modern ragtime composers with a deep understanding of the folk ragtime sounds. I consider him the second best folk ragtime modern composer, right after Trebor Tichenor.
Anyway, Shea's works go from the typical barrelhouse rag to the classic rag. In some of his best rags, the influence of the great Brun Campbell is very evident (Rosebud Rag, Little Wabash Special, Brun Campbell Express) and Campbell is my favorite ragtime pianist and composer, my idol, you can imagine my love for Tichenor and Shea's music!!!
I'm sorry for the advertisement, but the fact that talented Barry Morgan has transcribed the complete rags of Tom Shea (and he had previously transcribed the completwe Trebor Tichenor) is a ragtime event and it must be communicated!
The folio is entitled "Prairie Ragtime - The Music of Tom Shea" and it contains 22 pieces of music, all of Tom Shea's recorded works, most of which previously unpublished.For those interested in this great folio of transcriptions, it's available for $25.00 (includes shipping/handling for U.S.) from Barry Morgan (4667 Heege Road St. Louis, MO 63123 - U.S.A.).If the people interested would like to contact him by email, I can send the address in a private message to them.
And now here are some of Shea's recordings...
Luigi

Now something more jazzy...I'm not a Fats Waller fan at all and I'm not that big stride piano fan.
But this thing I "stole" from google books may interest you.
That's a very good transcription of Fats Waller's 1935 recording of "I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby". Frank Himpsl has previously posted his great transcription of the earlier piano roll version and it's interesting to compare it with the solo part in this transcription, played a decade after.
The song has been co-composed with Alex Hill, one of my favorite pianists (I wish he had recorded it, but he never did ). Enjoy!
Luigi

Ohh, that is one of my favourites.

I love Fats.

Thal

Among all the riches posted in this thread, I can't seem to find Billy Mayerl's 'Jill all Alone'. Anyone?
Thanks!
Xtiaan

Hi Xtiaan,

Attached here "Jill All Alone" for your collection. Jill was of course Mayerl's wife name, and this piece having been composed only a few years before Mayerl's passing always struck me as rather sadly prophetic.

All Best,

Frank

Dear Frank,
many thanks, for the score and the sad story to go with it! No, I didn't know Jill was the composer's wife. It helps explain the tenderness in this particular piece that I find lacking in most of Mayerl's syncopations and arrangements -- much though I like every one I ever heard or played.
Best
Xtiaan

Enjoy this other Fat's "crazy 'bout my baby"

Just to add another version of "I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby", here's the arrangement in Fats Waller's style as published in Davis' "Piano Modes" folio. I think it's very faithful to Waller's playing and I hope you'll like it (personally I don't...).
Again, I'm not the greatest stride piano fan or a Waller fan: I actually like his early recordings from the 1920s and his piano rolls. These sounds to be influenced be the styles of the other great pianists of the period and are great!
I don't know who copied from whom, but in most of his piano performances of the 1920s and piano rolls, that are superb, I think he sounded a bit like truly geniuses of the period, people like the talented Clarence Johnson and other piano greats of the '20s (apart from JPJ), while after 1929 he seemed to develop a more distinctive style that I don't like.
And among the great performances of the early Waller, "the good one" (in my modest opinion), there are a number of great organ solos.
So I'm pleased to share one of these great pieces, in contrast wih the later "ugly" Waller of the Davis publication...a transcription of one of his organ solos, entitled "Rusty Pail Blues"! Enjoy the music!
Luigi

Dear Luigi,

Thank you so much for posting Waller's performance of "Rusty Nail Blues"...this is major! I've never seen one of Waller's early organ solos transcribed in proper format. Brilliant! And I tend to like Waller of the "piano roll period" probably the best as well, but then again I'm a roll collector for more than 50 years so that probably influences the opinion. So glad to see your mention of Clarence Johnson, an unsung piano roll giant and one of the finest blues pianists to ever live. As far as I know both the giants Clarence Johnson and James Blythe were born in 1901, and each died tragically in 1931. James P. Johnson was of course several years older than any of them and had more time to absorb the playing styles of the many great ragtimers who were still active in the 'teens. His Victor 78rpm performance of "Bleeding Hearted Blues" I always felt was a tribute to the piano roll idiom; it's played exactly as a roll and is as steady as a metronome.

Thanks again for your always interesting insights and comments!

All Best,

Frank

Hello everyone,
Does anyone have
-Earl Hines: Blues in Thirds
-Pete Johnson: Dive Bomber
-Art Tatum: Get Happy

Thanks in advance!