FIDGETY DIGITS – Rare syncopated piano recordings, 1927-1941 – Shellwood Productions SWCD36, 69:36 [www.shellwood.co.uk]:
“ONE take, folks!” says Alex Hassan in his effervescent notes to this important release of rare recordings, very well transferred by Phillip Legg; indeed, the listener is often left amazed that such virtuosity is possible. Some of those who have tried in vain to attempt to play some of these numbers may well be left feeling happily inadequate.
There’s an international feel to this collection, a United Nations of syncopated piano playing, with contributions from the US, UK, Europe, South Africa and Australia. The Australian is Sefton Daly, a mysterious character who cut six sides on New Year’s Eve 1942, all available on the Crystal Stream label for those who wish to investigate further. He also appeared in the 1953 film, “Wherever She Goes”, playing the part of a piano player in this story of the early life of Eileen Joyce. He is indeed an elegant and sophisticated player, with hints of a classical training. Isador Goodman was another classically trained Australian pianist whose big tone and confident arpeggios impress with the other wartime recording here, “Bless ‘em All”.
Lothar Perl, recorded in Germany before his emigration to the US, will be an astounding discovery to those not yet acquainted with his few recordings. A composer of several film scores, including that for the Renoir film “This Land is Mine”, starring Charles Laughton, Maureen O’Hara, George Sanders and Walter Slezack, Perl (1910-1975) was youngster when he recorded these quaintly named titles. The possessor of a superb technique, playing and composing, his workings of the themes are both witty and imaginative. Four sides are included here; the remaining two – Hollywood Stars and Goldfish or Flying Fish – are on a super-rare 78rpm Polydor 24257 which it is hoped will surface soon.
Ernst Fischer, another German composer, wrote a good deal of light music for orchestra, including a splendid suite, Südlich der Alpen, and for solo piano; some of these solo works were arranged later for piano and dance band or two pianos, the syncopated pieces here recorded in 1928 and 1933 before the age of entartete musik. On this showing, the young Fischer had wonderful technique for writing for the keyboard; exploding with energy, and the epitome of the Weimar Republic in its last years, “Jack” Bund and the Drei Virtuosen play his pieces “Little Fool” and “How Nice” leaving this listener hoping there is more from these sources.
Raie da Costa, the South African pianist who recorded much in her short life (1905-1934), was one of the finest of the fine pianists playing syncopated music. Her classical training coupled with her very individual working of her material makes it a nightmare for other pianists to emulate. Many of her recordings are stupendous, and “Varsity Drag”, from 1928, belongs to that category, with passage-work, particularly in the right hand, demonstrating her truly virtuoso status.
Chicago-based Lee Sims founded the “Lee Sims School of Music” and was highly regarded by Art Tatum, unsurprising when “Mine, All Mine” is auditioned. Garland Wilson’s “Shim Sham Drag” is a fine example of American syncopated playing, big and bold and striding. He also recorded with Nat Gonella, and with Jean Sablon and Django Reinhardt. Sadly short-lived, Wilson spent several periods working in France where he died at just 44. Pauline Alpert’s “Chopsticks” may sound as though it’s going to be a trite bonbon and ends up nothing of the sort. A highly imaginative take on a simple theme, the variations she conjures up are a delight. Much recorded, this outgoing gal never fails to entertain. Willie Eckstein (1888-1963) was a child prodigy, classically trained in Montreal; offered a scholarship to McGill University in 1900, he declined as the family was not wealthy enough to support him, and he went on the vaudeville circuit. What he lacked in height (he was too short to be considered for army service during the First World War) he more than made up for in talent. “The Boy Paderewski” or “Mr. Fingers”, as he was known, grew up with ragtime, and “I’m All A-Twitter” – written for an early talkie, “Close Harmony” – also starring an uncredited Jean Harlow, combines his classical training with the popular contemporary syncopated style with great success. Oscar Peterson was an heir to this Canadian talent.
Nevill (Henry) Melland’s “Fourth’s Fever” is a real rarity, one of two sides recorded in 1927; a player with an individual voice, his tiny discography has much to celebrate. Monia Liter had a busy career; he accompanied Al Bowlly, recorded the “Alamein Concerto” with Mantovani, composed and conducted. His recording of “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” betrays a deep feel for arrangement, and coupled with his big Russian piano playing heritage the effect is unique.
Arthur Sandford also recorded with Mantovani, among these “Flying Saucers (Bees in the Bonnet)”, and with Charles Williams, and he was pianist for Debroy Somers early in his career. Unaccompanied recordings are rare; “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me” with “What Goes Up” shows what we have missed in syncopated music from this classically trained pianist, a seemingly effortless ability to produce perfect passage-work.
We have much of Patricia Rossborough’s work to choose from on record; she also appeared in a variety short, “Pathetone Parade of 1940” along with Nosmo King. Her sturdy rhythmic playing may lack the effervescence of Da Costa but her playing of this CD’s title “Fidgety Digits” is a very fine performance, with such control of the keyboard. Donald Thorne played in the Ambassador’s Club band, composed and arranged; his syncopated works for piano solo were published and are much sought after. “Spring Feelin’” and “Firecrackers” are two demanding pieces full of, as Alex says in his notes “thorny passage-work”, both upbeat energy-giving pieces. Harry Engleman’s “Cannon off the Cush” and “Snakes and Ladders” are a couple of sensitively played pieces and Jack Wilson’s “Raindrops” medley from the same time works very well. Engleman and Wilson worked together, too, between them producing many sides.
Finally, Britain’s best known and prodigiously talented musician, Billy Mayerl, is represented by both sides of a 78 called “Billy’s Own Selection” dating from 1933. The ease with which this virtuoso of syncopated playing combines these various hits he had is utterly breathtaking and fascinating in their effect. As well as composing and arranging for piano, Mayerl wrote for orchestra, his works becoming increasingly known. However, it is for his school and his piano playing that he is most fondly remembered – playing which never fails to lift the spirits. I cannot recommend this release highly enough!
TrackList:
1 Cowboy: 1935 Lothar Perl: Odeon 0-11727
2 Mine, All Mine: 1927 Lee Simms: Brunswick 3754
3 Spring Feelin’: 1928 Donald Thorne: Columbia UK 5155
4 Billy’s Own Selection Pt.1: 1933 Billy Mayerl: HMV DB1219
Penny Whistle, Marigold, Wisteria, Chopsticks, Ace of Spades
5 Little Fool played by Jack Bund & Bravour Dance Band: 1933 Ernst Fischer: Parlophone R-1499
6 Colour Scheme: 1943 Sefton Daly: Columbia (Australia) DO-2541
7 Shim Sham Drag: 1936 Garland Wilson: Brunswick 02283
8 Grasshopper Dance: 1934 Lothar Perl: Polydor 24256
9 The Varsity Drag: 1928 Raie Da Costa: Parlophone R176
10 Cannon off the Cush: 1935 Harry Engleman: Panachord 25820
11 Fidgety Digits played by Patricia Rossborough: 1937 Thomas Haines: Parlophone F-1149
12 I’m All A-Twitter: 1929 Willie Eckstein: Canadian HMV/Victor 216541
13 How Nice: The 3 Virtuosos Robert Renard’s Orch 1928 Ernst Fischer: Parlophone F-360
14 Raindrops Medley: 1935 arr/played by Jack Wilson: Regal Zonophone MR1825
Butterflies in the Rain, Dance of the Raindrops, When I met my Girl in the Rain
15 Ducky: 1932 Lothar Perl: Odeon 0-11727
16 Don’t Worry ’bout Me / What Goes Up: 1939 Arthur Sandford: Columbia UK FB2265
17 Snakes And Ladders: 1936 Harry Engleman: Panachord 25859
18 Chopsticks: 1932 Pauline Alpert: Sonora Set MS460
19 Fourth’s Fever: 1927 Nevil Melland: Parlophone R3495
20 Firecrackers: 1928 Donald Thorne: Columbia UK 5155
21 Alexander’s Ragtime Band piano: Monia Liter: 1934 Irving Berlin: Brunswick UK 01814
22 Billy’s Own Selection Pt.2: 1933 Billy Mayerl: HMV DB1219
Ace of Hearts, Junior Apprentice, Hollyhock, Canaries Serenade, White Heather
23 The Last Mohican: 1933 Lothar Perl: Polydor24256
24 Bless ’em All piano: Isador Goodman 1941 Fred Godfrey: Regal Australia G24380
AUSTRALIAN PIANO RECORDINGS – Recordings by Australian pianists and visiting pianists from overseas: Gil Dech, Beryl Newell, Leslie Harvey, Sefton Daly, Billy Mayerl; All recorded in Sydney 1927-1949; Crystal Stream Audio IDCD62; 71:23 [www.crystream.com.au]:
This first of two Crystal Stream Audio CD-Rs concentrates on recordings made in Australia, the home of this record label, and presents sides cut by five pianists.
Gil Dech, or Gilbert Dechelette, went to Australia after the First World War and was soon appointed to several high profile positions – Director of Music and Director of Light Entertainment at Columbia Records, conductor of the Columbia SO, and leader of the dance band “Gil Dech and his Syncopators”. The instrumental numbers, “So Blue” “Wedding of the Painted Doll” and “The Black and White Rag” are particularly impressive, Dech’s poise a joy.
Beryl Newell, who ran Parlophone in Australia, was possibly the first woman to run a record company in the world. She plays well enough for the singers here, all much of a period piece. Leslie Harvey was an American theatre organist who spent a few years in Australia during the last years of silent movies and his accompaniments for the singers are solid.
Sefton Daly, something of a mystery man, known as the Billy Mayerl of the South Seas, cut just six sides, all included here. He was a very fine pianist, his classical training showing itself in some delightful passage-work. All recorded on New Years’ Eve, 1942, deep into the Second World War, these issues must have cheered up many on the home front and abroad. There’s an undercurrent of seriousness in some, though – “Brown Study” and “Story by a Stream” effective in their use of material, are two very attractive miniatures. “Serenade to a Snake” (what a great title!) shows of Daly’s talent especially well.
Billy Mayerl, the doyen certainly of British syncopated and light music compositions, went on tour to Australia with Stanley Holloway in 1949. Holloway, well-remembered for his portrayal of Alfred Doolittle in “Mayfair Lady” and for his monologues – among them “The Lion and Albert” – and Mayerl must have been quite an act together.
Mayerl was an exceptional performer at the piano; his own original compositions and his transcriptions of others’ work are mostly extremely challenging to all but the finest pianists. He was, to judge from these sides, in a relaxed mood in the Sydney studio, with cool rubato and effortless technique in one my favourites, “Song of the Fir Tree” with its syncopated middle section.
Fans of Billy Mayerl’s recordings will be pleased to add this CD to their collections, and will discover much of interest along the way. The transfers are excellent and truthful, the engineer having removed noise and kept the music!
TrackList: GIL DECH – So Blue; The Prisoner’s Bride; I Kiss Your Hand Madame; The Wedding of the Painted Doll; Black and White Rag; Birthday Serenade. BERYL NEWELL – Ten Cents a Dance; The Sweetest Story Ever Told; The Little Alabama Coon. LESLIE HARVEY – Look for the Silver Lining; Lily of Laguna; Madamoiselle from Armentiers. SEFTON DALY – Serenade to a Snake; Colour Scheme; Waltz for a Marionette; Brief Candles; Sad Tango; (A) Brown Study, (B) Story by a Stream;. BILLY MAYERL – Smoke Gets in Your Eyes; Ace of Spades; Star Dust; Song of the Fir Tree; Body and Soul; Love in Bloom; Ace of Hearts; Harp in the Wind.
BRITISH PIANO RECORDINGS – Raie Da Costa, Carroll Gibbons, Harry Jacobson, Gerry Moore, Patricia Rossborough, Jay Wilbur – Crystal Stream Audio IDCD148; 75:09 [www.crystream.com.au]:
Crystal Stream’s companion volume to the above includes recordings made in England by pianists from around the world. Raie da Costa was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1905 of partly Portuguese extraction and trained early to be a dancer, as well as taking piano lessons. After an accident slipping on a polished floor caused a bad break in her hip she concentrated on her considerable talent as a pianist, giving many concerts as a soloist and with symphony orchestras, playing concertos from the standard repertoire. She went to London to further her studies, with Tobias Matthay, teacher of among others Harriet Cohen, York Bowen, Clifford Curzon and Myra Hess, fully intending to be a concert pianist. Although she had some success, a stroke of fate led her to cut a few sides of light music for Parlophone, and her career rocketed. She was a star around Europe, playing at the opening of radio stations, much loved by royalty. The King of Sweden and Edward, Prince of Wales were fans, and she made many records – some of her own compositions. Her 1930 recording of Liszt’s “Rigoletto – Paraphrase de concert” is really the only strictly classical music she recorded, and what a disc it is, and is well worth seeking out! Complications following an operation to remove her appendix resulted in her early death in 1934, aged just 29.
In the six years during which she recorded she made many discs which show off her prodigious and varied talent. Unmistakeably classically trained, her recordings demonstrate passage-work and arpeggios mere mortals can but dream about. “Razor Blades”, one of her original compositions, demonstrates her unbeatable technique to the full, the left hand’s security stunning, the right hand’s speed breathtaking. “One Minute to One”, made nearly six years later, shows a matured approach.
Harry Jacobson was also South African and studied with Da Costa who was very fond of him. His career mirrored hers, though he also had a distinguished role as pianist in several high profile dance bands, including Nat Gonella’s, Carroll Gibbons’ and Ray Noble’s. The medley from “Stop Press” cut in 1935 is beautifully executed. After the war, dance bands waned, as did his career; the last of his recordings were made on a honky-tonk piano to appeal to pub-goers.
Carroll Gibbons was an American who went to London for his musical career aged just 21 in 1926. He was such a sophisticated player with a sometimes laid-back effortless approach which is so hard to emulate. Well remembered for his work with the Savoy Orpheans and New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, he also pursued his career from time to time back in the US. The four sides here show his solo work off to a tee, and include his own delightful composition, Moonbeam Dance, in a recording from 1930. Eleven years later, and deep into the war, he recorded the second two sides here, more introspective due to the times, and so involving.
Patricia Rossborough was born in Ireland and had a long career, and unlike Raie da Costa with whom she was compared, a long life. Known as “The Queen of Syncopation”, she cut many sides, some of her own compositions which were published. “Midnight in Mayfair”, not included here, was one of her most famous works. “Hot Dog”, which is on this CD, has as introduction a quote from “Kitten on the Keys” and show her enormous ability to the full, as does the later “Gulliver’s Travels”.
Gerry Moore, a Londoner, played for Victor Sylvester and a couple of these sides are in strict tempo for dancing. “Gerry Building” is particularly impressive – one of his own compositions. Jay Wilbur, who had his own dance band orchestra, was also very busy in the recording studio as conductor and producer, but cut some piano solo sides, the couple here from 1938. On this showing via this rare recording he, too, had quite some technique.
The transfers and restoration have been made very skilfully indeed, allowing the pianos’ tone to come across naturally. Both CDs are very highly recommended, this one particularly for the wonderful playing of Raie da Costa.
TrackList: RAIE DA COSTA: Beautiful; Razor Blades; Glad Rag Doll; What D’Ya Say?; How Could We be Wrong; One Minute to One. CARROLL GIBBONS: Body and Soul; Moonbeam Dance; Time on My Hands; Solitude. HARRY JACOBSON: “Stop Press” Medley. GERRY MOORE: With All My Heart; Gerry Building; May Write Blues; Jammin’. PATRICIA ROSSBOROUGH: Hallelujah, I’m a Tramp – Selection; Hiawatha’s Lullaby; Yes Madam? – Selection; Hot Dog; Gulliver’s Travels – Selection. JAY WILBUR: Melodies of the Month, No.R14.
— Peter Joelson
