A little while ago I established contact with the survivors of the
Brugnolotti family.  They were very pleased to know that people still
care about their music and all.  The more I spoke with them, the more
displeased I was with the lack of information relating to their family.

Just after that, Mr. Matthew Caulfield wrote in the Digest that I had
the makings of a B.A.B. historian (thanks Matt), and my various organ
contacts on the East Coast are telling me to go ahead and make a little
documentary about the family.  I now feel that this is an excellent idea,
and so I have taken it upon myself to gather up as much of the B.A.B.
history as possible as a tribute to that tiny little company that did
their best to bring such beautiful music to the ears of the masses.

I intend to contact Mr. Fred Dahlinger (is he a subscriber?) and start
from there.  I'm sure he knows a great deal about the personal history,
and that's all well and good, but I also want to find out about their
technical history.  From what I understand, they had a unique type of
pipes in their organs.  So if anyone out there has information relating
to the lives of Borna, Antoniazzi, or Brugnolotti, please e-mail it to
me.  If any of you out there want to chat, I always return my messages
promptly.  If any of you out there has information about the conversion
methods and other technical data, I would be most interested in it.

Although I will have first-hand information from the grandson of
Brugnolotti, he may not have all of the stories that are out there, and
you know how a lot of stuff can slip your mind after a while.  And then
there are the other two organ men and the composer J. Lawrence Cook.

Personal information about J. Lawrence Cook would also be an incredible
help.  I want to find out about his history and character.  So I've got
a lot of ground to cover.  No amount of information is too big or small
for me.

Warmest regards,¶
Marc Elbasani.

In addition:  Why is it that so many collectors seem to look down upon
B.A.B?  Their music is pretty good right?  Maybe it's just me.

 [ I think there were several different arranging 'epochs', Marc.  You
 [ will have fun listening to recordings of the B.A.B. rolls and identi-
 [ fying who arranged which roll.  Some were great, others weren't.
 [ Some B.A.B. organ conversions were good, some weren't.  And if not
 [ played on a compatible organ a good arrangement can still sound bad.
 [
 [ Mr. Dahlinger is not a subscriber; perhaps you can tell him of the
 [ fun we're having here!  Good luck with your project.  -- Robbie