[Dixielandjazz] Re: Waller's piped piano rolls

[Bill Haesler]

Dear Mike,
I, like many other jazz purists, do not want people fooling around with the
musical content of Classic jazz recordings. (John RT Davies' type
repair/restoration work is a different matter and is quite acceptable.)
These early records are stand alone performances and must never be hacked
about or rearranged simply to provide 'new and better' versions.
RCA did it with Count Basie's piano solo on Benny Moten's "Small Black" (23
Oct 1929) for a mid 1960s LP issued in the US, which I still have.
To quote from the notes to LPV-514: "For this [3.59] version, we have
expanded Basie's interesting solo space by first using the chorus from an
earlier take [-2] and then including the solo originally heard on this take
[-3]."
In doing this RCA engineers also found it necessary to interfere with the
ensembles, alto and tenor solos immediately before and after the piano solo!
Vandalism, fraud and a travesty!
Having said that, I have no objection to any band or musician enhancing
their own recordings by subtracting faults or by adding extra
instrumentation/vocals by later over-dubbing.
That is their prerogative.
But nobody should even think of (say) taking a Johnny Dodds' solo from a
1925 Hot Five classic and inserting it into a 1926 Jelly Roll Morton record.
Which, Mike, is why I cannot accept 1920s Fats Waller PIANO roll material
being turned into stereo ORGAN solos.
Others do not agree with me, which is why that particular record was
engineered in 1981.
Very kind regards,
Bill.