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Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The Piano Rolls

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Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The Piano Rolls
Compilation album by
Released1993
RecordedNovember 1992, February and June 1993
StudioThe American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York City
GenreJazz, classical
Length60:08
LabelNonesuch Records
ProducerMax Wilcox
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Consumer GuideA−[2]

Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The Piano Rolls is an album of piano rolls recorded (with one exception) by George Gershwin. It was released by Nonesuch Records in 1993.

Recording

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Gershwin recorded these piano rolls between 1916 and 1927. Several rolls use overdubbing, so that Gershwin is in effect playing a four-handed piece solo.

The final selection, "An American In Paris", was recorded by Frank Milne in 1933. Milne worked as a roll-editor with Gershwin in the 1920s, and edited several of the rolls reproduced on this disc. So skilled was Milne as a roll editor, the liner notes suggest that he may not have actually "played" "An American In Paris" at all—in the same way that a musician can write sheet music, Milne was able to prepare roll masters by marking the lines on special graph paper that would be used as a template for the holes punched in the actual piano roll.

The piano rolls were played back on a 9-foot Yamaha Disklavier grand piano, augmented by a 1911 Pianola operated by Artis Wodehouse. The Pianola allows for the operator to add "live" effects with piano footpumps and expression levers.

Reception

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Allmusic awarded the album with 4.5 stars and its review by Scott Yanow states: "George Gershwin made 130 piano rolls between 1916 and 1927. Certainly such tunes as "Novelette in Fourths," "So Am I," and "Idle Dreams" are long forgotten but worth reviving."[3]

Track listing

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No.TitleMusicLength
1."Sweet and Lowdown"George Gershwin
(Lyric: Ira Gershwin)
3:30
2."Novelette in Fourths"George Gershwin2:24
3."That Certain Feeling"George Gershwin
(Lyric: Ira Gershwin)
2:45
4."So Am I"George Gershwin
(Lyric: Ira Gershwin)
4:14
5."Rhapsody in Blue"George Gershwin14:22
6."Swanee"George Gershwin
(Lyric: Irving Caesar)
2:17
7."When You Want 'Em You Can't Get 'Em, When You've Got 'Em, You Don't Want 'Em"George Gershwin
(Lyric: Murray Roth)
1:57
8."Kickin' the Clouds Away"George Gershwin
(Lyric: Ira Gershwin, Buddy DeSylva)
3:20
9."Idle Dreams"George Gershwin
(Lyric: Arthur Jackson)
2:59
10."On My Mind the Whole Night Long"George Gershwin
(Lyric: Arthur Jackson)
2:30
11."Scandal Walk"George Gershwin
(Lyric: Arthur Jackson)
3:15
12."An American in Paris"George Gershwin16:36

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ Allmusic Review
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). "George Gershwin". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. p. 115. ISBN 0312245602.
  3. ^ Allmusic Review: Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The Piano Rolls accessed 19 April 2010