Artis Wodehouse pianolizes (i.e., foot pumps) James Blythe's 1923 piano roll arrangement/performance of the "Yes We Have No Bananas Blues" on a restored 1912 player piano. Her varied foot pumping and manipulation of levers and buttons below the keys allows for dynamic shaping and refined pedaling that give the illusion of a human, hand-played performance.

Blythe's roll is one of many transcendent African American masterpieces of piano roll performance/arranging from the 1920s. Blythe takes the simple popular novelty tune -- itself a spin-off of the ubiquitous tune referenced in the lyrics -- injecting into it the rich range of styles that had been developed and perfected by African American pianists. Notable (but not exclusively so) is Blythe's use of "boogie-woogie" left hand patterns (he was one of the earliest players documented using this device).

James Louis Blythe (May 20, 1901 – June 14, 1931) was an American jazz and boogie-woogie pianist and composer. Blythe is known to have recorded as many as 300 piano rolls, and his song "Chicago Stomp" is considered one of the earliest examples of boogie-woogie music to be recorded.
... courtesy Wikipedia

Fore detailed information about James Blythe, go to Bill Edwards Ragtime page: [ Ссылка ]

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