Band Organ CDs: Violanta and Circus World
By Ron Yost
Hello all!
I'm glad to see a thread beginning concerning music machine recordings. Perhaps more subscribers will contribute "reviews" of recordings currently available. I have two new CD's I can recommend:
(1) "The Royal American Shows' Grand Gavioli Band Organ"
- recorded by Circus World Museum.
This is an Gavioli 89 No. 4, 89 keyless Fair Organ that was recently restored by Richard Lokemoen and James Rhoda, under the direction of Fred Dahlinger Jr. Fred is the Director of the Robert L. Parkinson Library and Research Center at Circus World Museum, and he is one of the worlds' leading experts on Fairground Organ history. (Hello Fred and Johann, if you're reading this!) The organ is 'on loan' to the museum for a period of 10 years, and is actually owned by The Royal American Shows.
This is an excellent recording IMHO; the organ is in fine tune. There are 19 songs on the CD, for a total playing time of 52 minutes. Also included is a very informative insert detailing the history of the organ and Royal American Shows' dedication to the preservation of this historic instrument, through RAS's owner, C.J. Sedlmayr, Jr.
The organ was converted from roll operation back to 89 book music, so the music heard here is from entirely new books, which take full advantage of the organ's capabilities. The music is mostly 'Circus themed', and includes a very nice selection of songs:
1. Fanfare #1
2. Ringling Bros. Grand Entry
3. Quality Plus
4. Valse Blue
5. Barnum & Bailey's Favorite
6. Broadway One Step
7. Father of Victory
8. Roses of Memory
9. International Vaudeville
10. Royal Decree
11. Liberty Bell
12. Whistler and His Dog
13. Blaze Away
14. Stop It
15. Soldiers in the Park
16. The Cascades
17. With Sord and Lance
18. Hindustan
19. Colossus of Columbia
I believe some of these songs were arranged especially for this organ and are not heard on any other G-4 Gavioli. I don't know if Circus World Museum sells by mail-order, but it's worth a go:
Circus World Museum, 426 Water St.,
Baraboo, Wisconsin 53913-2597 U.S.A.
Telephone: 608-356-8341 ; Fax: 608-356-1800
(2) "Street Organ, The Violanta, Volume 1"
A very nice recording of a marvelous (and original) 50-key Limonaire Street Organ. This beautiful organ attended the recent MBSI Organ Rally in North Tonawanda, and performed very well .. in spite of the rain.
The CD is 63 minutes of gorgeous, lilting music, though I think the drums are just a tad too loud. Here's the tune list:
1. Second Waltz
2. Amsterdam Medley #1
3. Corso March
4. This Is My Song
5. Some Broken Hearts
6. La Bohemienne
7. Eleni
8. Golden Heart/Ninon
9. Rondo Russo
10. Vivre/Prince Eitel Fridrich March
11. Stars Over Hawaii
12. Return to Habenera
13. Serenade #3
14. March Medley #1
15. Dear One/Waltz Suite
16. Don't Stop Our Song
17. Greeting to Breda
18. Ice Waltz/Schwartzwald Waltz/July Serenade
19. Lilliputter March
20. Vinken Waltz
21. Kleine Cafe
The organ is owned by Ton Van Der Heyden, and the CD is available from his company:
Violanta, Inc., P.O. Box 126
Buttzville, NJ 07829 U.S.A.
Telephone: 908-453-3111 ; Fax: 908-453-2604
These are both very fine recordings.
If you know of other CD's available from English or European sources, please tell us about them, including an ordering address, if possible. Theredon't seem to be very many available right now, but hopefully that will change.
Ron Yost,
Paso Robles, California U.S.A. |
(Message sent Tue 3 Dec 1996, 18:39:45 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.) |
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