Ampico B mp3s
Thought some of you may be interested in a webpage I cobbled together. One of my hobbies is researching the more obscure roll artists. One was Ampico artist Bertha Walker, who did two rolls for them in summer 1923 and has largely been written off as a psuedonym. Well, no she wasn't - in fact, as Bee Walker, she became a rather well-known songwriter, even writing a tune that was used by Frank Sinatra. In addition, her real name was Bertha Wolpa and she made dozens of rolls for the US company in Chicago before altering her name. Anyway, I got in touch with a relative of hers, who happens to be a jazz pianist by profession! He was thrilled to learn she'd made rolls, and I was glad to be able to send him my MIDI scans, which touched him as she was a much loved aunt. Recently I recorded a couple of her rolls on my friend's beautifully restored Ampico B baby grand. One was an 88 note roll and the other an Ampico A roll, so they don't touch the full capabilities of this lovely machine, but despite that and my use of a cheap laptop microphone I think they came out OK. If you'd like to hear them, visit http://www.pianola.co.nz/sounds/beewalker.htm