I recently spoke to Tom Roberts about Luckey Roberts when Tom played
a recent gig in the Washington, DC, metro area.
He borrowed some of my Luckey Roberts piano rolls on recuts and told me
that the recut of "Palm Beach" issued on Hollywood Vintage Series 1199
was not a hand-played roll by Luckey but an arrangement. He believed
it came from QRS 31772, which would have made it an "orchestrated"
arrangement. Is there anyone who could confirm this?
Tom also spoke of Luckey recording for Black Swan piano rolls.
I believe Black Swan records were owned by Pace and Handy for the
release of their sheet music products. Is there anyone among the
"piano roll-philes" in this group who can add any information about
this label, like dates and other pianists who played for the label?
This could open up a new light about Harlem stride pianists as well as
other black pianists in New York during the 1920s. It definitely makes
for some interesting speculation.
Charles Davis
[ "Hot Recut Piano-Rollography", by Richard L. Riley, says that
[ the original QRS 31772, "Palm Beach Rag", composed by Lucky [sic]
[ Roberts, was recut and issued as Hollywood Vintage 1199 and also
[ as Jazz Classics 410. (The label data of the roll labels might
[ contain errors.)
[
[ I find no mention of piano roll activities in the history
[ of Pace Phonograph Company and Black Swan phono records at
[ http://www.redhotjazz.com/blackswan.html -- Robbie
|