On the Bright Side: Area historians make CD of player piano tunes

On the Bright Side

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December 28, 2011

By Denise Richardson Staff Writer The Daily Star Mon Jan 16, 2012, 11:09 AM EST

A player piano in Oneonta may strike the interest of listeners beyond municipal borders through a recording of some old-time and obscure music.

The Greater Oneonta Historical Society recently released a recording lasting more than an hour of music from its collection of player piano rolls.

The CD was produced by independent music and video producer Keith Rodan of New York City, who heard the player piano during a visit this summer, Bob Brzozowski, GOHS executive director, said.

Rodan "fell in love with the piano and offered to make this CD for us," Brzozowski said in a media release.

In October, Rodan, Edye Wessler of New York City and some local consultants _ David Geasey, Robert Calendresa and Tom Heitz _ met at the center for the recording session, Brzozowski said.

Classics such as "My Blue Heaven," "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" are featured on "Player Piano, Oneonta, New York," Brzozowski said, and some obscure oldies, such as "The Vamp" and "Husia Usia Polka" are included. Nineteen selections were chosen for the CD from the GOHS piano roll collection.

Music performed by the player piano fascinates youngsters and draws tears of nostalgia from listeners who remember days when the entertainment medium was popular, Brzozowski said.

And the piano plays on.

On Tuesday, Brzozowski showed Zach, 7, and Liam, 5, Dobbs of Deep River, Conn., how the player piano works. He gave them an opportunity to pump the pedals that operate the piano and advance the music. They played the "Maine Stein Song."

Jennifer Dobbs, the boys' mother, quickly identified the piece as the alma mater of the University of Maine, where she studied.

Dobbs, also a graduate of the Cooperstown Graduate Program in history museum studies who works as director of education at the Connecticut River Museum, in Essex, Conn., applauded GOHS for making a recording of player piano music.

"Preserving material culture is a plus," she said Tuesday. "Neat."

The player piano in the GOHS collection is from Oneonta's George B. Shearer Co. and was donated in memory of Margaret Crandell, Brzozowski said. Dave and Tom Smith of Upright Mechanical Music of Bainbridge restored the piano, with partial funding from the Fenner Foundation.

The recording not only fits the GOHS mission of preserving local history but also offers an avenue to develop audiences, Brzozowski, alderman-elect for the Seventh Ward in Oneonta, said. The CD costs $12 and is available at the GOHS History Center at 183 Main St. in downtown Oneonta. For more information, call 432-0960. The recording cost GOHS nothing to produce, and for each CD sold, the society is paying $7 to Rodan, Brzozowski said. Of 25 copies delivered the week before Christmas, about 15 were sold, he said, and more can be ordered as needed.