Per Dave Junchen's Encyclopedia of Theatre Organ -- The Victor Trinity
Church studios in Camden, New Jersey, had a 2-manual Estey pipe organ
that Victor installed, later enlarged to 3 manuals. These recordings
are all available on CD reissue from multiple sources and are well
worth owning. They are indeed, the fun-loving Fats Waller, and well
played. Amazing to me how he played the pedals with those big feet,
with nary a wrong note.
Where the jazz historians fall into error is that a few recordings,
"Baby, Oh Where Can you Be?", "Tanglefoot", "That's All" and "Waiting
at the End of the Road", are played on an organ that sounds nothing
like the Estey. My ears and experience tell me that the organ was the
2-manual 8-rank Style F Wurlitzer in the Wurlitzer Store Auditorium in
New York City, where Victor also recorded Jesse Crawford on the same
organ.
Some of the Victor master numbers for the Waller recordings are only
a few numbers away from master numbers for Crawford recordings. Also,
the speed and depth of the tremulants on these recordings don't sound
at all like the Estey, and do sound just like the ones on the Crawford
records after Crawford, no doubt, had the technician set them to his
liking.
The Waller piano rolls on pipe organ are available on CD, recorded on
Ron Curtis' Compton pipe organ in England, and are great fun to listen
to. This recording was what made me try out a piano roll player on our
pipe organ here.
Ken Rosen
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