This posting goes out those who opine about the lack of enough "new"
music rolls available for electric pianos these days.

I received an A-roll today that, quite frankly, was a revelation.  No,
It didn't feature music by The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The 'Stones or
Kenny Rogers.  This roll featured "new" music from 1914, as rendered on
J. P. Seeburg 217-- New, because this music has been locked away for
almost 100 years, yet it contains as fresh and vibrant as any techno,
pop, salsa or rock today.

This roll was graciously lent to John Motto-Ros of Johnny's Music Rolls
by Earl Henninger, who heard -- and responded to -- John's call to
action and offered this rare roll for recutting.

When John received the roll it was in tatters (to be expected after
enduring 96 years of existence).  The titles were obscure, the paper
was brittle, the arrangements were a question mark, but because John
is a believer that this rare material must be preserved -- and
ultimately shared with other collectors -- he sent the roll on to Bob
Billings just the same to see what could be done to resurrect melodies
that had not been heard in decades.  During Bob's painstaking recutting
process, notes were cleaned-up where necessary and tempos were
corrected.

John Motto-Ros sent the music to several folks, including Tom Brier who
identified the tunes, and Matt Jaro did the final matching of the tunes
to the roll number (217) and supplied pertinent data as to composer's
names and publishing dates.  It was hard work, says John.

The result:  One of the best A-Rolls ever.  The first tune ("Down In
Sunny Honeytown", a one-step from 1910) jumped out of the starting gate
and, along with the ensuing arrangements, never let up.  The march
arrangements were two of the best I've ever heard, and all without that
irritating tempo acceleration that is frequently encountered near the
end of the roll on music of this era.  So much lively music was punched
into these arrangements that at times I thought I was listening to an
88-note roll.

With the popularity today of "Dancing With The Stars" and "So You
Think You Can Dance" this roll sounds very, very fresh.  It's loaded
with tangos, one-steps and maxixe of the hottest type -- up-tempo
numbers that are a foot tapping fiesta.  Imagine the novelty of
wheeling a Seeburg E with pipes on stage on "Dancing With The Stars"
for a dance number and having Erin Andrews, Audrina Patridge or Kurt
Warner attempting to do "The Joan Sawyer Maxixe Danse Brasilienne"
to the real, authentic and genuine music of the era!

Here is a roll containing dance music that rivals the best sounds
of today.  Collectors seeking contemporary rhythms need not search
in vain for rolls containing "relevant" music by Christina Aguilera,
Shakira, Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart, or Engelbert Humperdinck
for that matter.  It's been here all along, lost, and then and found,
on Seeburg A-217.

1.  Down In Sunny Honeytown, One-step, Two-step; 1910  Theodore Morse
2.  The Steeple Chase (March);                   1914  Harry J. Lincoln
3.  Real Tango (Royal Tango)  Tango Argentino    ?     ?
4.  There Are Just As Many Heroes Today, March;  1914  Allen W. Thornton
5.  The Joan Sawyer Maxixe,  Dance Brazilienne;  1914  Leonardo Stagliano
6.  Bon Vivant One-step                          1917  J.S. Zamecnik
7.  Quintodo, Maxixe Bresilienne                 1914  Dick Reinhardt
8.  Que Voulez Vous Encore (What More Do You Want?) 1914  Albert Gumble
9.  Valse Danseuse, Valse                        1914  Walter E. Miles
10. Typical Rag                                  1914  Milton Clark

This, and many other quality style A, G and O recuts may be found
on the "Jazzola" Label, available exclusively at
http://www.johnnysmusicrolls.com/ 

Mark Forer