Customer Reviews

They Tore My Playhouse Down

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Burt Bales and Paul Lingle These two guys play ragtime and Jelly Roll's stuff in a great way.Burt Bales,33 at the recording date,plays a marvelous version of "temptation rag",and pretty solos on Jelly Roll Morton's tunes,but he did better a few years later;try his album issued on Euphonic (LP),and if you don't find it,let me know,I'll give you the right way to order it. Paul Lingle is very different;he played piano behind Al Jolson , started his musical career as a child during world war one,and died in the fifties in Honolulu (I think he commited suicide); he was a very sad and desperate man.Three lp's were issued on the Euphonic label by Mr Affeldt,and this recording (one side of the original lp) is his only "official" recording.He was afraid of microphones and all that stuff.This guy is truly one of jazz's great piano players;he's got a way to swing that nobody has.Just try "pastime rag" or "blame it on the blues",or "sweet substitute",and you'll know what I mean.Today,nobody knows Paul Lingle,so buy this cd,play it,tap your foot and enjoy the music. The trip you'll do listening to him will be great.Remember this guy,because he truly is a great one.And search for his three lp's on Euphonic,these are milestones that every jazz lover must have.

The marvelous Paragon Ragtime Orchestra used to be my favorite, but since acquiring They Tore My Playhouse Down, listening to other rag and jazz recordings usually leads me to pop Bales' and Lingle's masterful cd back in. There's nothing on this recording that strikes a sour note and it's always played at the pace this kind of music was intended for. The sound, the tonal quality, is superior to all my other recordings. This music is rich and listening to it fills me with euphoria.