James P. Johnson (1894-1955), often known as the 'Father of Stride Piano', was one of the first black artists to commit his playing to piano roll - his first roll recordings being issued in May 1917. One of Johnson's biggest early hits was 'Caprice Rag', sometimes subtitled 'A Unique Musical Conception'. He recorded this on roll no less than 3 times in 1917 - the first issued by The Aeolian Company of New York in May, the second by the Standard Music Company of New Jersey in July. Both of these rolls have been recorded on LP and CD, and also recut. The third, and most rare, version was issued in September 1917 by Bennett & White, Inc. on their 'Artempo' label. Johnson probably stopped by their studios in August, since it was already being promoted as an upcoming release in the 'Music Trade Review' magazine of August 25th, 1917. It is this version which we present for you - from the only known copy of the original roll. As you'll hear, this take contains some interesting rhythmic and melodic subtleties that are not heard in the other versions. Using the most up to date techniques, the roll has been scanned, the original punch matrix recovered, and copied by the most accurate perforating machines in the business to offer you a chance to own a copy of this ultra-rare roll. A limited number of copies are available, so please visit our website to order: www.pianola.co.nz A big thanks to Erik York for generously loaning his copy of the original roll to be scanned and copied ...
Tags: Artempo, 12415, Caprice, Rag, James, P., Johnson, JPJ, Blues, Stride, Jazz, Reliance, Player, Piano, Roll, Rolls, Music, Pianola, Ragtime, Recut
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