Nonesuch 79370-2
Realized by Artis Wodehouse
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The Selections
1. Havanola (Have Another)
(2:15)
(Hugo Frey)
Fox-Trot, played by George Gershwin, May 1917,
Metro-Art 203098
The title probably refers to the popular turn-of-the-century
Havana cigar. Adding the suffix –ola to any word was a
common popular slanging/naming device of the era (as in
piano/pianola), done for humorous, whimsical purpose. The
off-hand, slangy titles that came into vogue in popular
music during the early 20th century were deliberate attempts
to undermine the moralistic, edifying tone of parlor music
of the Victorian era.
2. Singin’ The Blues (Till My Daddy Comes
Home)
(4:32)
(Con Conrad and J. Russel Robinson / Lyrics: Sam Lewis
and Joe Young)
Fox-Trot, played by George Gershwin, December 920, Mel-O-Dee
4133
A hit of 1920, the tune was written by Con Conrad (a.k.a.
Conrad Dober of the Lower East Side) and James Russel
Robinson, who worked with musician/composers Noble Sissle
and W.C. Handy.
3. From Now On (3:08)
(George Gershwin/Lyrics: Arthur Jackson and B.G.
DeSylva)
Fox-Trot, played by George Gershwin, October 1919, Universal
Song Roll 3545
A fine song from Gershwin’s first successful musical,
La, La, Lucille of 1919. The final choruses of
Gershwin’s roll performance show how he was then using
ornamental riffs taken from early jazz. At the time he made
this roll, Gershwin met James P. Johnson, the great stride
pianist, who was also making rolls for Mel-O-Dee at the
time.
4. Jazz-O-Mine
(2:26)
(Harry Akst)
Fox-Trot, played by George Gershwin, October 1917, Metro-Art
203262
Again, the title is a play on words. By 1917, jazz had come
to the attention of the white middle class as an exciting,
slightly risqué new music (about which little was
actually known). In the meantime, innumerable salon pieces
of the 19th century had flower titles (for instance,
MacDowell’s To A Wild Rose). The title Jaz-o-mine came
from combing “jazz” with “jasmine”.
Akst’s piece is a quite humorous fox-trot, which
Gershwin inventively embellishes well beyond the published
sheet music.
5. Just Snap Your Fingers At Care
(2:17)
(Louis Silvers)
(from Greenwich Village Follies, 1920) Fox-Trot, played by
George Gershwin, January 1921, Mel-O-Dee 4151
Gershwin’s sophisticated harmonization of
Silver’s tune (significantly different from the
simpler published sheet music) and the sharply contrasting
Chinese/impressionist riffs and breaks in Gershwin’s
roll rendition introduce an added dimension of tension and
emotional ambivalence. Playing a seemingly simple melody off
against a complex harmonic background was to become a
hallmark of Gershwin’s mature style (as for instance,
in his great The Man I Love).
6. Whip-Poor-Will
(3:13)
(Jerome Kern / Lyrics: B.G. DeSylva)
(from Sally, 1920)
Fox-Trot, played by George Gershwin, March 1921, Duo-Art
1719.
Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin were the two towering giants
of popular song directly proceeding Gershwin. The young
composer made it is business to become acquainted with both,
applying to Berlin to become his musical secretary (Berlin
turned him down on the basis that Gershwin was too promising
a songwriter in his own right to waste his time as a
transcriber), and working as rehearsal pianist for several
of Kern’s pre-1920 Broadway shows.
7. Rialto Ripples
(1:54)
(George Gershwin and Will Donaldson)
Fox-Trot, played by George Gershwin, September 1916,
Universal Uni-Record 202935
It is little recognized how much Gershwin was influenced by
the ragtime era, Rialto Ripples, written in collaboration
with Will Donaldson, is Gershwin’s first published
instrumental. Although written when he was only 19, this
composition is a polished example of the ragtime genre.
8. Waitin’ For Me
(3:07)
(Maceo Pinkard / Lyrics: Bud Green and Jack McCoy)
Fox-Trot, played by George Gershwin, December 1920,
Mel-O-Dee 413
Gershwin’s contacts with black performers, composers
and arrangers were many and varied during his apprentice
years. Maceo Pinkard, the excellent songwriter (Sweet
Georgia Brown is also his), was one, Gershwin’s
rendition of Pinkard’s Waitin’ For Me is one of
his most appealing roll arrangements (note the witty
interpolation of Stephen Foster’s Old Black Joe).
9. Buzzin’ The Bee
(2:12)
(Pete Wendling and Jack Wells)
Fox-Trot, played by George Gershwin, May 1917, Universal
203185.
Around 1910, a dance craze began to percolate throughout
American culture. Continuing well into the 20’s, a
host of new dances of black and Hispanic derivation linked
to ragtime, jazz and the blues caught fire with the white
middle classes. One such group of dances was the many
popular animal dances (including the bunny-bug, the
turkey-trot and the fox-trot), predating World War I.
Buzzin’ The Bee, one of his genre, evidently
originated in black culture. The dance contained movements
imitating a bee in flight.
10. Darling (2:31)
(Chris Schonberg / Lyrics: Arthur Jackson)
Fox-Trot, played by George Gershwin and Cliff Hess, December
1920, Mel-O-Dee 4109
This was played by Gershwin as a duet with another
well-known songwriter, Cliff Hess. Pop piano roll
arrangements frequently stressed more note-filled textures
than a single live pianist could play (additional notes
could always be perforated into the rolls after the artist
had recorded his number). Perhaps it was thought that piano
rolls could substitute for a dance band. More likely, the
arrangers realized that fascinatingly active textures
(credited to piano duettists) could compensate for the
mechanical sound of the player piano.
11. For Your Country and My Country
(2:33)
(Irving Berlin)
Jazz One-Step, played by George Gershwin and Rudy Erlebach,
August 1917, Duo-At 1543
Irving Berlin’s popular patriotic anthem from World
War I (dubbed the “Official Recruiting Song”)
was frequently performed and recorded by both popular and
classical singers of the era. The duet,
“wall-of-sound” arranging style is quite
suitable for this rousing match tune.
12. Kangaroo Hop
(1:57)
(Melville Morris)
Fox-Trot, played by George Gershwin, January 1916,
Perfection 86595
Another excellent early Gershwin roll rendition of an animal
dance, and one of the first two rolls he made.
13. Pastime Rag No. 3
(2:15)
(Artie Matthews)
A Slow Drag, played by Fred Murtha, June 1916, Perfection
86738
Artie Matthews’ strikingly original late ragtime,
Pastime Rag No. 3 (brought out by Joplin’s publisher,
Stark), was not exactly standard pop fare, even in 1916 when
Gershwin recorded this roll. How or why the still teen-aged
song-plugger came to learn and to record this composition,
by a Black, little-know composer on Tin Pan Alley has not
been established. In his early years of roll recording,
Gershwin took various pseudonyms, and Pastime is credited to
one of them, Fred Murtha. Pseudonyms were common in the roll
industry; they disguised the fact that so many rolls were
cut by the same artist. The roll companies believed that
offering a variety of roll artists would be more attractive
to prospective buyers.
14. Chinese Blue
(2:08)
(Oscar Gardner / Lyrics: Fred Moore)
Fox-Trot, played by Bert Wynn, May 1916, Perfection 87617.
One of several “oriental” numbers that Gershwin
recorded on piano roll, Chinese Blues is a typical example
of Broadways notion of the “mysterious East”.
Thi kind of “exotic” locale became a fad in
settings of musicals an revues during the teen’s and
early 20’s. For this roll, Gershwin is listed under
another of his pseudonyms, Bert Wynn.
15. Whispering
(3:11)
(John Schonberger / Lyrics: Malvin Schonberger)
Fox-Trot, played by George Gershwin, September 1919,
Mel-O-Dee 4007
Another hit of 1920, Whispering, was Paul Whiteman’s
best-selling Victor recording (Whiteman was to commission
Gershwin in 1924 to write Rhapsody in Blue for his
orchestra). Gershwin’s use of complex, Spanish rhythms
in this massive roll arrangement is a striking precursor of
similar style Spanish-style rhythms heard in his
Rhapsody.
16. Arrah Go On I’m Gonna Go Back To
Oregon
(1:51)
(Bert Grant / Lyrics: Sam Lewis and Joe Young)
One-Step Arrangement, played by George Gershwin, May 1916,
Perfection 86736.
Tensions between the choice of rural versus urban living
were rife in the first quarter of the century. They are
humorously aired in the lyrics of this popular Irish rube
version of the return-to-the-farm song.
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About The Disklavier and Technology
The piano used to play the rolls for this recording is a
9-foot Yamaha Disklavier grand piano. This instrument was
chosen because its computer capability offered unprecedented
opportunities to refine the performances. In addition, this
particular Disklavier piano is a high-quality full-sized
concert grand producing a richness of sound and dynamic
range which until now has been unusual for piano rolls
recorded for CD.
Yamaha Disklavier pianos are capable of recording any
performance played on them note-for-note as well as
reflecting the nuances of interpretation. To accomplish this
task, Disklaviers are fitted with a computer and optic
sensors that record a hand-played performance on floppy
disk. On playback from the disk, the Disklavier’s keys
move up and down like the old player piano.
A rare 1911 88-note Pianola was used for this project for
those of Gershwin’s rolls requiring a
pianolist’s interpretive intervention. During the
heyday of the player piano this comparable piano-playing
device was also available for roll playback. A heavy, bulky
machine, the Pianola is equipped with expression levers and
felt tipped fingers and can be rolled up to any piano.
It’s fingers are positioned over the keys, and a roll
is inserted. Foot-pumping activates the roll to move the
fingers; the pianolist can play with expression by skillful
foot-pumping and manipulating the expression levers. When
the 1911 Pianola operated by Artis Wodehouse played the
rolls on the Disklavier, the Disklavier in turn recorded in
the same way it does any live pianist. The best takes of
each roll captured on disk were then further edited to
improve the interpretation. Finally, the 9-foot Disklavier
was taken to the auditorium of The Academy of Arts and
Letters in New York City where it played Gershwin’s
rolls from a floppy disk for the microphone, as if
Gershwin’s ghost were present at the session.
Gershwin’s reproducing rolls were prepared quite
differently. Using a piano roll reader, Richard Tonnesen of
Custom Music Rolls converted the paper rolls into computer
files which specified the location and length of each hole
on the roll. Computer programmer Richard Brandle wrote a
computer simulation of the reproducing pianos which
translated the computer files into MIDI representing the
notes, their duration and position in time and relative
loudness as executed by the old reproducing pianos. The
resulting performances could be played on any Disklavier
from floppy disk. Placed in front of the recording
microphone, the Disklavier concert grand then played
Gershwin’s reproducing rolls from floppy disks for the
CD recording.
– Artis Wodehouse
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Produced and engineered by Max Wilcox November, 1992 and
February, 1993 at The American Academy of Arts and
Letters, New York City
Yamaha Disclavier DCFIIIS
Art direction and design: John William Costa
Photography courtesy of The Bettmann Archive
George Gershwin’s performance contained in this
recording is licensed by the Gershwin family.
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Gershwin and the player piano 1900-1925
Before radio, before movies could talk, before the great
improvement in phonograph sound in the mid-20’s, the
piano was the center of most homes and places of gathering.
An entertainment source and a status symbol (pianos were
always costly), the instrument in the Victorian era also
served a social function; playing the piano was a grace no
self-respecting woman of the middle class could be without.
Most piano music of the 19th century catered to the
piano’s then-genteel role; sentimental ballads and
waltzes ruled the day.
The decorative, gentrified and female-oriented function of
home playing and piano music began to shift dramatically,
particularly when the sheet music business, nick-named Tin
Pan Alley, centered itself in New York City around 1900.
This wildly successful boom-or-bust industry came into its
own during the years 1900 to 1925 for the simple reason that
the great songwriters of the era held up a mirror to the
massive social changes occurring in the United States at
that time. Listening to and plying popular music provided a
non-threatening way for ordinary citizens to assimilate the
seismic transformations then taking place. The music sang in
the dialects and styles of new immigrants and introduced the
socially less-than-acceptable but avidly purchased ragtime,
jazz and the blues. Further, under the guise of
“entertainment”, lyrics to popular songs often
provided subtle ammunition in the war to end Victorian
prudery.
By lucky coincidence, player pianos developed around 1900 to
the point of mass marketing. A close economic partnership
sprung-up between sheet music publishers and the player
piano business, particularly since piano roll arrangements
of published tunes didn’t require the skills of a
trained pianist. As a result – and given the
documented millions of sales of sheet music hits, supported
by sales of millions of both straight and player pianos and
piano rolls – the air in the United States was
undoubtedly saturated during the first quarter of the
century with the sound of the piano.
It was thus that Gershwin overcame his initial reluctance to
take up so “feminine” an instrument as the piano
– despite his deep and early attraction to it –
when he saw the prestige and earning potential that success
could bring in the booming pop music industry. Like so many
musically gifted children of immigrant Jewish parents,
Gershwin quickly grasped that the popular music business,
centered in song-writing and piano-playing, would be one
avenue of gainful employment from which he would not be
barred. We are astonished to know that Gershwin quit high
school at the age of 15 to work (at least initially) as a
song-plugger for the publisher Remick. Less widely known is
that his starting salary as a “lowly”
song-plugger equaled the national average for all workers
(not bad for a teenager!), and that song-plugging was but
the first rung on an ascending ladder of increasing
opportunity in a very healthy and growing industry. An
omnivorous learner, a quick study, a dexterous,
accommodating and enormously energetic young man,
Gershwin’s first job as a song-plugger was to play
through (as seductively as possible) the company’s
tunes for vaudevillians who visited him in his little
cubicle at Remick. The idea was to interest performers in
placing Remick tunes in their acts. Gershwin’s
song-plugging skills – and the ability to learn
quickly, embellish, transpose and otherwise trick up tunes
– naturally lead to roll-making, which he began when
he was only 17.
Over the course of ten years, roughly from 1915 to 1925,
Gershwin made approximately 130 piano rolls. Actually,
roll-making was only a sideline; during this apprenticeship
decade the young composer also graduated from Remick
song-plugger to staff composer for Harms. Gershwin
accompanied leading vaudeville singers, served as a
rehearsal pianist for important Broadway shows, wrote full
scores for the George White Scandals annual review
(beginning in 1920), interpolated many of his songs into
musicals and revues of others, scored his first successful
musical, La, La, Lucille and wrote a million-seller tune,
Swanee, in 1919 at age 20. Finally, the overwhelming success
of Rhapsody in Blue and his musical Lady Be Good! in 1924
pushed Gershwin into the highest echelon of American
musicians. From that time on he made no more piano rolls.
