Zez Confrey: Coaxing the Piano

[drumstix]

I figured this forum could use a bit more ragtime Is anyone else out there interested in novelty music / particularly Zez Confrey? 
Here's a quick recording from the other day, played on a Young Chang grand piano in my school's choir room and recorded on a cheap laptop microphone.  Kindly overlook the horrible mistakes near the end ;-) I was in a hurry
Let me know what you think!

Kerry

[ted]

I agree 100% Kerry, and I intend to post a lot more of it than the few examples I already have. Zez Confrey deserves much more recognition, as does Billy Mayerl, Roy Bargy, Ray Turner, Raie DaCosta and a host of others. Incidentally, CDs worth having are the ones of Ray Turner, J. Lawrence Cook's piano rolls and others you can buy only from the Shellwood Productions website, and the two Naxos CDs of Billy Mayerl playing his own works.

Sounds like you're doing all right. Just work on coordination of hands and rhythm. This type of music , which my old teacher often played for me, benefits in general from a detached, crystal clear technique and very sparing use of the pedal, rather than leaning into it with legato. I have plenty of vinyl recordings of novelty, but you might consider buying that one of Ray Turner as I'm sure you would get a lot out of it.

[drumstix]

I haven't heard much about Ray Turner, but am interested to learn more--where would I find these CD's?

I definitely agree about the importance of clear, detached technique--this was, unfortunately, not as evident as I hoped it would be, due to my lack of practice (this was the first time I had read through it in a month or so) and the fact that the piano was on the other side of the room, closed, and covered.  Perhaps I'll try to get a clearer recording tomorrow...

Also, have you heard of Arthur Schutt?  I believe that is his name--he wrote a piece (featured in the 'novelty' section of 'Perfessor' Bill's website) called "Bluin' the Black Keys"...after months of unsuccessful searching for sheet music, I finally wrote it out myself (with a midi editor).  Unfortunately, when it comes to playing it, I don't even know where to start!  Do you know anything about this piece?

Kerry

[ted]

www.shellwood.co.uk

is where you can buy Ray Turner's CD and many others of the sort you are interested in.

Yes, I think I have Arthur Schutt on vinyl but I can't remember if that piece is there. I assume you have seached the net for the title in question ? It's bound to be in one of the anthologies of this music which have come out in recent years.

[ted]

No, I have Arthur Schutt on vinyl playing his "Piano Puzzle" and playing "Try and Play It" by Phil Ohman. A search on "Bluin the Black Keys" gives many results though; it must be there somewhere.

There is a CD available from amazon called "75 years of novelty" which might be worth investigating.

[drumstix]

From what I've been able to gather, most of "Bluin' the Black Keys"' recognition came from John Roache's midi sequence of it in the late '90s.  Other than that, it seems to be pretty obscure--a mention of it here and there, but the only site that I've found that mentions the piece in the context of sheet music is a japenese Geocities site, in the book "Ragtime:  100 Authentic Rags (1979)".  The midi sequence can be found at https://www.johnroachemusic.com/bluin.html .