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Robbie at Shea's Theater in Buffalo, New York
By Wallace Venable

Last Friday I had the pleasure of meeting our MMDigest moderator,
Robbie Rhodes, at Shea's Theater in Buffalo.  We were there for
Dennis James' demonstration on the 4-manual 21-rank Wurlitzer pipe
organ accompanying Charlie Chaplin silent films.

Before the main event, we had the pleasure of seeing the Wurlitzer
Apollo grand piano in the lobby, especially built for Shea's when
it was opened in 1926, in action in the lobby.  It's an impressive
instrument, but I was even more impressed when Robbie sat down at
the keyboard and repeated the last tune played on a roll from memory
with his fingers.

Wallace Venable

 [ The tune was "Song of the Vagabonds", by Rudolph Friml, 1925:
 [   "Sons of toil and danger, Will you serve a stranger
 [   And bow down to Burgundy!"
 [ I played a fox trot version I learned from a piano roll.
 [ -- Robbie


(Message sent Wed 14 Jul 2010, 17:10:27 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.)

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