While going through the amazing piano roll collection that belonged to
John Farrell, I came across a roll that intrigued me. It is labeled
"Marvel Mystery Roll," and has the following note written on the leader
in John's handwriting:
"In July 1999 I visited John and Nan Flint (in Michigan, USA).
This roll was in their collection with no box or label. Ed
Sprankle, Mike Montgomery, and I could not identify the tune.
Obviously it is from the ragtime era.
"[Ed Sprankle and Mike Montgomery were] also present at the
Flints' house. From the appearance of the roll, Montgomery was
pretty sure it was on the Marvel label."
Neither I nor my wife Ginny could identify it either. To us it is a
rather odd piece, mostly mildly inspired, but with flashes of
interesting stuff. It seems to be hand-played. If anyone wants to try
his hand at identifying the tune, I will send him a MIDI file of the
music.
I will be putting John's rolls for sale on eBay, so keep an eye out for
them. Some coming up soon:
"Beautiful Ohio Blues," on the Republic label, played by an Adam
Carroll that I can't believe is the same guy that was the tamer
AMPICO artist. This is a blues one-step that will knock your
socks off.
"Messin' Around," on, of all things, the International label.
This is one hot roll, sounds hand-played to me, maybe by the
likes of Blythe or Johnson. Or maybe one heckuva good arranger.
"I'm Gonna Jazz My Way," on the Vocalstyle Dyna Record label,
played by "Mandy" Randolph. Never heard of her. She sounds like
a talented amateur. Even so, the roll is a very listenable and
interesting blues style.
These are all Custom Music Rolls recuts, so you can be sure they are
accurate reproductions of the originals.
Bob Billings
Sierra Music Rolls
perforator@sbcglobal.net.geentroep [delete .geentroep]
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