Wurlitzer and B.A.B. Tune Selection
I can only echo and agree with Matthew Caulfield's comments about tune
selections being chosen for CD's. While Bill Black and others put out
quality products, the emphasis seems to be overly on familiar marches
and waltzes, many of which have been recorded repeatedly over the
years.
While I can understand the commercial needs and marketability of these
choices, seems to me there is a reasonable market for more obscure
rags, blues, one-steps, two-steps, and fox trots from the teens through
the thirties. I also agree strongly with Matthew that the best quality
arrangements peaked in the thirties. Although an admirer of Cook's
early work, his 40's and 50's style was highly repetitive, commercial,
and lacked creativity.
So, a strong thank you for Bill Black, now Marc Elbasani, and the
others who have been supplying collectors and the limited commercial
market, but let's see a balance with some of the more obscure or less
well-known tunes. These rolls are certainly available to record.
Glenn Thomas
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