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The A:l'tIICA BULLETIN
AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS' ASSOCIATION
MARCH/APRIL2001 VOLUME38, NUMBER2
Granada 9¥Code1
AN
appreciation of the Stieff Granada Grand
brings to the mind the traditions of Spanish
History, ofmusty iron-clad chests, the Spanish
Main, piecesot eightand finely tooled old Cor
dovan leather. Itisbuilttoconformto the atmos
pheric requirementsoftheswiftlyincreasing vogue
for Spanish architecture and interior decoration.
Chas. M.Stieff',Inc. 3I'5N.HowardSt.
Baltimore, Md.
(Send for ColorChan"B"TheDevelopmentofPiano
forte Composition.)
T AMICA B
HE ULLETIN
AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTORS' ASSOCIATION
Published by the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors’ Association, a non-profit, tax exempt group devoted to the restoration, distribution
and enjoyment of musical instruments using perforated paper music rolls and perforated music books. AMICA was founded in San Francisco, California in 1963.
ROBIN PRATT, PUBLISHER, 630 EAST MONROEST., SANDUSKY, OH 44870-3708 -- Phone [phone], e-mail: [email protected]
Visit the AMICA Web page at: http://www.amica.org
Associate Editor: Mr. Larry Givens Contributing Editor: Mr. Emmett M. Ford
VOLUME 38, Number 2 March/April 2001 AMICA BULLETIN
Display and Classified Ads
FEATURES
Articles for Publication
Letters to the Publisher
On a Roll — 74
Chapter News
Canning Music for the Mechanical Piano — 87 UPCOMING PUBLICATION
From the Player Piano Group— 88 DEADLINES
The ads and articles must be received
QRS, Manufacturers of Welte-Mignon Licensee Rolls 1933-1945 — 90 by the Publisher on the 1st of the
Odd number months:
T-100 Welte-Mignon - The Actual Cost of Ownership — 92 January July
March September
Disk Roll Review — 96
May November
Ragtime: No Longer ANovelty in Sepia — 98 Bulletins will be mailed on the 1st week
of the even months.
Piano Maker Henry Steinway — 100
Robin Pratt, Publisher
630 East Monroe Street
Sandusky, Ohio 44870-3708
Phone: [phone]
e-mail: [email protected]
DEPARTMENTS
AMICAInternational — 70
MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
President’s Message — 71
New Memberships . . . . . . . . . . $37.00
From the Publisher’s Desk — 71
Renewals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $37.00
Calendar of Events — 72
Address changes and corrections
Letters — 73
Directory information updates
People - J. Lawerence Cook Part 1 — 76 Additional copies of
Member Directory . . . . $25.00
Chapter News — 103
Single copies of back issues
They Shall Be Remembered — 111 ($6.00 per issue - based
upon availability)
Classified Ads — 114
William Chapman (Bill)
2150 Hastings Court
Santa Rosa, CA 95405-8377
Front Cover: Ad from 1924 707-570-2258
e-mail: [email protected]
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advance notice of address changes.
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AMICAPublications reserves the right to accept, reject, oredit any and all submitted articles and advertising.
Entire contents ©2001 AMICA International 69
AMICA INTERNATIONAL
INTERNATIONALOFFICERS CHAPTER OFFICERS
PRESIDENT Dan C. Brown BOSTON AREA NORTHERN LIGHTS
N. 4828 Monroe Street Pres. Ken Volk Pres: Dave Kemmer
Spokane, WA 99205-5354 Vice Pres: Dorothy Bromage Vice Pres: Jerrilyn Boehland -
509-325-2626 Sec: Ginger Christiansen [phone]
e-mail: [email protected] Treas: Karl Ellison Sec:Jason E. Beyer - [phone]
PASTPRESIDENT Linda Bird Reporter: Don Brown Treas: Terry Goepel
3300 Robinson Pike Board Rep:Sandy Libman Reporters:Paul & Barbara Watkins
Board Rep:Dorothy Olds
Grandview, MO 64030-2275
CHICAGO AREA
Phone/Fax [phone]
Pres: Richard VanMetre - [phone] PACIFIC CAN-AM
e-mail: OGM [email protected]
Vice Pres: George Wilder Pres: Kurt Morrison- [phone]
VICEPRESIDENT Mike Walter Sec:Curt Clifford Vice Pres: Don McLaughlin
65 Running Brook Dr., Treas:Joe Pekarek Sec: Halie Dodrill
Lancaster, NY 14086-3314 Reporter:Kathy Stone Septon Treas: Bev Spore
716-656-9583 Board Rep: Marty Persky Reporter: Carl Kehret
e-mail: [email protected] Board Rep: Carl Dodrill
FOUNDING CHAPTER
SECRETARY Judith Chisnell SIERRA NEVADA
Pres: Bing Gibbs - [phone]
3945 Mission, Box 145, Rosebush, MI 48878-9718 Pres: John Motto-Ros - [phone]
Vice Pres:Mark Pope
517-433-2992 Vice Pres:Sonja Lemon
Sec:Lyle Merithew & Sandy Swirsky
e-mail: [email protected] Sec/Treas: Doug & Vicki Mahr
Treas:Richard Reutlinger
TREASURER Wesley Neff Reporter: Tom McWay Reporter:Nadine Motto-Ros
128 Church Hill Drive, Findlay, Ohio 45840 Board Rep:John Motto-Ros
Board Rep:Richard Reutlinger
Registered agent for legal matters 419-423-4827
SOWNY (Southern Ontario,
e-mail: [email protected] GATEWAY CHAPTER
Western New York)
Pres:Yousuf Wilson(636) 665-5187
Pres:Anne Lemon - [phone]
PUBLISHER Robin Pratt Vice Pres:Tom Novak
Vice Pres:Mike Hamann
630 E. Monroe Street, Sandusky, Ohio 44870-3708 Sec,/Treas: Jane Novak
Sec/Mem. Sec:John & Diane Thompson
419-626-1903 Reporter: Mary Wilson Treas:Holly Walter
e-mail: [email protected] Board Rep:Gary Craig Photographer:Garry Lemon
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY William Chapman (Bill) Reporter: Frank Warbis
HEART OF AMERICA
2150 Hastings Court, Santa Rosa, CA 95405-8377 Board Rep:Mike Walter
Pres:Ron Bopp - [phone]
707-570-2258
e-mail: [email protected] Vice Pres:Tom McAuley SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Sec/Treas: Robbie Tubbs Pres:James Westcott
— COMMITTEES — Reporter:Joyce Brite Sec./Reporter. Shirley Nix
Board Rep: Ron Connor Treas:Ken Hodge
AMICA ARCHIVES Stuart Grigg
Board Rep:Frank Nix
20982 Bridge St., Southfield, MI 48034 - Fax: [phone] LADY LIBERTY
Pres./Reporter: Bill Maguire
AMICA MEMORIALFUND Judy Chisnell TEXAS
[phone]
3945 Mission, Box 145, Rosebush, MI 48878-9718 517-433-2992 Pres: Jerry Bacon - [phone]
Vice Pres: Keith Bigger
Vice Pres: Tony Palmer [phone]
AUDIO-VISUAL & TECHNICAL Harold Malakinian Sec:Richard Karlsson Sec./Treas: Janet Tonnesen
2345 Forest Trail Dr., Troy, MI 48098 Treas: Walter Kehoe Board Rep: Dick Merchant
Board Reps:Marvin & Dianne Polan
CONVENTION COORDINATOR Frank Nix Bulletin Reporter: Bryan Cather
6030 Oakdale Ave., Woodland Hills, CA 91367 818-884-6849 Newsletter Editor: Bryan Cather
MIDWEST (OH, MI, IN, KY)
HONORARY MEMBERS Jay Albert Pres: Judy Chisnell SOUTHERN SKIES
904-A West Victoria Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101-4745 Vice Pres:Stuart Grigg Pres: Debra Legg - [phone]
[phone] - e-mail: [email protected] Sec:Judy Wulfekuhl Vice Pres: Bill Shrive
Treas: Alvin Wulfekuhl Sec: Howard Wyman [phone]
PUBLICATIONS Robin Pratt
Reporter:Christy Counterman Treas: Dee Kavouras [phone]
630 E. Monroe St., Sandusky, OH 44870-3708
Board Rep:Liz Barnhart Reporter: Dick & Dixie Leis
WEBMASTER Terry Smythe Board Rep: Debra Legg
55 Rowand Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3J 2N6
204-832-3982 — e-mail: [email protected]
http://www.mts.net/~smythe
AFFILIATED SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS
AUSTRALIAN COLLECTORS INTERNATIONAL PIANO NORTHWEST PLAYER PIANO SOCIETY FORSELF-PLAYING
OF MECHANICAL MUSICAL ARCHIVES AT MARYLAND ASSOCIATION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
INSTRUMENTS Performing Arts Library, Hornbake 3210 Everson Whittle, Secretary Gesellschaft für Selbstspielende
19 Waipori Street University of Maryland 11 Smiths Road, Darcy Lever, Musikinstrumente (GSM) E.V.
St. Ives NSW 2075, Australia College Park, MD 20742 Bolton BL3 2PP, Gt. Manchester, England Ralf Smolne
Home Phone: [phone] Emmastr. 56
MUSICAL BOX SOCIETY
DUTCH PIANOLA ASSOC. Business Phone: [phone] D-45130 Essen, Germany
INTERNATIONAL
Nederlandse Pianola Vereniging Phone: **49-201-784927
Eikendreef 24 P. O. Box 297 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Fax:. **49-201-7266240
5342 HR Oss, Marietta, OH 45750 Division of Musical History Email: [email protected]
Netherlands NETHERLANDS MECHANICAL Washington, D.C. 20560
INT. VINTAGE PHONO & MECH.
ORGAN SOCIETY - KDV PLAYER PIANO GROUP MUSIC SOCIETY
PIANOLA INSTITUTE A. T. Meijer Julian Dyer, Bulletin Editor C.G. Nijsen, Secretaire General
Clair Cavanagh, Secretary Wilgenstraat 24 5 Richmond Rise, Workingham, 19 Mackaylaan
43 Great Percy St., London WC1X 9RA NL-4462 VS Goes, Netherlands Berkshire RG41 3XH, United Kingdom 5631 NM Eindhoven
England Phone: [phone] Netherlands
Email: [email protected]
70
President’s Message
I’m pleased to announce that we have a new Treasurer, Wesley Neff of Ohio. He’s
recently retired and and has the time and skill to do a great job for AMICA. We owe him
our thanks for stepping forward to help the organization. The transition is in progress and
will soon be completed. Thanks again to Rob DeLand for re-assuming the Treasurer duties
and getting us through a difficult time.
Congratulations to Robin Pratt and all the contributors who made the last Bulletin so
great. It had everything we want: history, tech tips, and great chapter reports. Yes, it was
delayed by some computer problems, but I think it was worth the wait. It reminded me to
request that members take a few minutes and contribute an article. Don’t be deterred by
your not being a polished writer or not having earth-shaking (sorry for that reference, Seat-
tle) information to share. Robin will take your article in any form you can supply it and
work with you. Don’t diminish the importance or appeal of your article, either. Personal sto-
ries, reminiscences, or articles about a favorite instrument all contribute to our fund of
knowledge and help make the Bulletin more varied and interesting.
Mike Barnhart is working hard on the development of the IFMMO website which will
coordinate information from instrument collector organizations around the world. In recent
correspondence, he noted that this may appeal to the current generation of electronically-
interested, but pneumatically-uniformed potential members. In the past several years, we
have often discussed new methods of recruiting members, but our numbers have not
increased. In recent discussions with members of the public, it became painfully obvious to
me that many people know little about pianos, let alone player or reproducing pianos. As a
child, there were two operating original player pianos in my neighborhood and I was lucky
enough to be able to enjoy both regularly. Most people had pianos of some sort. Look around your current neighborhood. I’d bet you
wouldn’t find many pianos and you probably have the only automatic instruments around. This is further evidence that we have to
get our treasures out in front of the public to pique their interest and develop their knowledge.
The Australia convention was a great success, even with super hot temperatures. I look forward to the stories and photos. No
board meeting was held at the convention due to the timing in the year and the number of people who could attend. I am currently
looking into the possibility of a mid-summer board meeting somewhere in the midwest. This will allow face-to-face discussions and
be a good compromise for keeping travel distances to a minimum. Watch for details.
Amicably,
Dan Brown
that I would also like to see a few names on some of the
instruments . . , but there I go THINKING again!
You will see a blatant expose about yours truly in this issue
from the local Sandusky Register. Just so no one gets really
upset at my “free advertising”, I was directed by the members
of the AMICABoard to do this. It gives the members more of
an insight into the Publisher and his roots. Hope you enjoy the
article.
The young man, Colt Foutz, who wrote the article, spent
lots of time with me and was really a pleasure to work with.
Initially we were seemingly at odds with each other. I was
trying to “dumb-down” the answers and he was trying to get me
to “up-grade” them. Turns out I was assuming that he wouldn’t
Hi All,
know much about music. WRONG AGAIN! He graduated
When I say “Boy, do we get LETTERS!”, I thought that from the Carnegie-Mellon Institute with a degree not only in
last month would be the resolution of the Chapter report Journalism, but also in MUSIC COMPOSITION! Oh well,
dilemma. Boy was I wrong. I received a slew of telephone calls can’t win ‘em all.
that all pretty much said, “Don’t change the Chapter reports!
Hope you enjoy this issue. There is lots of variety in it this
That is my favorite part!”
time.
OK OK OK! I am not changing them, but the writers
SPRINGISHERE, too!
might. We’ll see what happens. Although I certainly enjoy
seeing the members in these meeting reports, I think Robin
71
C E
ALENDAR OF VENTS
AMICA
CHAPTERMEETINGS
Memorial Fund Donations Heart of America Chapter
Fall, 2001 - Branson, MO
Please think of AMICA as a place to Christmas, 2001 - Linda and Gerold Koehler
remember your friends and family with a dona-
tion to the AMICA Memorial Fund. September 1-2, 2001
Pacific CAN-AM Chapter
Send to: Band Organ Rally
Convention Center, Ocean Shores, Washington
Judith Chisnell
Contact Norm or Sally Gibson
3945 Mission, Box 145 360-289-7960
Rosebush, Michigan 48878-9718 [email protected]
517-433-2992
June 1-2, 2001
[email protected]
Monkey Organ Rally - Kalamazoo, MI (Bob Cantine)
July 19-21, 2001
Monkey Organ Rally - Wabash, IN (Frank Rider)
Pacific CAN-AM Chapter
invites AMICAns to its June 26-30, 2002
AMICA Convention, Springdale, Arkansas
BAND ORGAN RALLY
Hi,
200 1 2,1-Se p.t
Just wanted to say thanks for publishing the article
WDa y a bLoredn)eek( on the hurdy-gurdy. It will come in handy when another
crank organ rally comes around and people keep calling
WOcocn cengsenhtSioanr ,nh iaeiss a crank organ a “hurdy-gurdy.”
Have gotten interested in magic lanterns and have
Information:Norm or Sally Gibson,125 Taholah St.SE, seen pictures of an itinerant lanternist with a hurdy-
gurdy slung on his back.
Ocean Shores,WA 98569-9549
E-mail:[email protected] Good reference.
Dorothy Bromage
“NEWESTADDITION TO COLLECTION”
After many years of searching, AMICAFounding Member and first AMICABulletin Editor Bill Knorp has added an out-
standing Weber Duo-Art to his collection. Bill also owns his family’s original 1926 Fischer Ampico grand in a wonderful Span-
ish Renaissance case.
72
Letters…
T K B ’ “J ”
HE HOLLOW SOUND OF EN URNS AZZ
From the San Francisco Examiner, January, 2001
By Jonathan Yardley
Sent in by Bill Knorp
Yes, there are wonderful sights and sounds in Ken Burns’ Take by way of revealing example Burns’ treatment of
“Jazz,” the first three episodes of which were shown last week Jelly Roll Morton. Burns gives us Morton as whorehouse
on PBS. How could it be otherwise? Jazz - the music, not the piano player, Morton as braggart, Morton as dandy, Morton as
series, though exhausted viewers may feel differently - is a controversialist; but he gives us almost nothing of Morton as
century old. musician, which is in fact the only real claim - it is a very
large claim that Morton has on our attention.
Thousands of brilliant performances have been preserved
on recordings; the library of jazz photographs is immense and This is easily explained. Burns is neither an historian nor
provides a visual history as rich as that enjoyed by almost any a scholar (though he does nothing to discourage others from
other subject; even the archives of jazz film, though scant by depicting him as such) but an entertainer, and he knows that
comparison, contain telling glimpses of many of the greatest on television the visual image is what draws people in.
jazz performers and composers.
As is happens, my own introduction to jazz, which took
It is from this incredible array of raw materials that the place exactly half a century ago, came through the recordings
pleasures of the series derive; it would be churlish to deny the of Morton’s Red Hot Peppers. Hearing them set me on a
depth of those pleasures. Beyond that, though, it is precious journey that in many ways has been, outside of private and
hard to find much for which to be grateful in the work of the familial joys, the happiest and most fulfilling of my life.
series’ presiding genius, Ken Burns; its writer, Geoffrey C.
I pretend to no expertise beyond that of well-informed
Ward; or all but a handful of the talking heads enlisted
amateurism and would scarcely presume to set myself up as
as ostensibly expert commentators, most notably (or
an expert in contradiction to those hired by Burns, but I
ignominiously) Gerald Early, Albert Murray and Margo
frankly resent it that the music of my lifetime has been
Jefferson. If to some measure the series succeeds - and to
co-opted by an ill-informed amateur who now represents
some measure it does - it is despite, not because of, the efforts
himself as authoritative and has been accepted as such by
of these people.
equally ill-informed amateurs in the media.
Burns has done good work in the past. His film about the
It is claimed that “Jazz” will be the kiss of life for an art
Brooklyn Bridge (1981) is lovely, and the series about the
form that, except during the swing era of the 1930s and early
Civil War (1990), which made his reputation, is undeniably
1940s, has always existed at the margins of American culture,
powerful, if overlong and emotionally manipulative. For this
but it is hard to see how this will happen.
work he has been praised, and he seems to have come
to believe his press clippings. Not merely is he content to For one thing, “Jazz” is almost entirely focused, as others
recycle all the formulas that were once fresh but are have pointed out, on the music of giants long since dead; this
now exhausted, he has assumed a self-aggrandizing, may be good news for record companies that can repackage
near-messianic pose. their backlists at minimal expense, but it does absolutely
nothing to call attention to most musicians who are still very
Thus we have various films (about Congress, the Statue
much alive and very much at work.
of Liberty, and so forth) presented as aspects of “Ken Burns’
America,” and now we have Ken Burns’“Jazz.” For another, it so obsessively places race at the center of
the tale that it manages to politicize jazz in ways that would
Well, it isn’t Ken Burns’America and it certainly isn’t
have deeply offended, say, Louis Armstrong and Duke
Ken Burns’ jazz. By his own acknowledgment Burns knew
Ellington, and that surely will offend many potential converts,
almost nothing about jazz when he began work on the current
whatever their own race may be.
series; there is little reason to believe that he knows - in the
deepest sense of the word - much more about it now. Ken Burns’“Jazz” isn’t jazz; it’s politics and ideology - at
times one is tempted to say racism - masquerading as history
What he has put together is not a documentary about
and sociology. But if jazz interests you and you would like to
music but a condemnation and/or celebration of various
learn more about it with film as your instructor, two
attitudes having to do with race, class and America. Indeed,
videotapes are herewith recommended: “Jazz on a Summer’s
for much of the time music is entirely peripheral to this series;
Day,” Bert Stern’s classic chronicle of the 1958 Newport Jazz
the boast that more than 500 pieces of music are featured is
Festival, and “AGreat Day in Harlem,” Jean Bach’s account
empty, when one considers that most of these appear only as
of a famous photograph taken that same year. In a total of
sound-bite snippets and that many are merely background for
under three hours, these films tell us so much more about jazz
Ward’s banalities and pomposities as intoned by the
than Ken Burns does at six times the length that comparisons
oleaginous narrator, Keith David.
are meaningless. One thing they tell us is that jazz - the
music, if not always those who make it - is colorblind.
73
Left:Robin Pratt removes
pegs from the Marshall and
Wendell reproducing grand
piano. Pratt is restoring the
1929 piano.
Bottom:Pratt works at
removing the strings from a
Robin Pratt makes remarkable acts
1929 Marshall and Wendell
Ampico reproducing grand
of piano restoration routine
piano belonging to Dr. &
Mrs. Ty Frerking of New
Albany, Ohio. In the
foreground is the piano
action that was removed.
Pratt is in the process of
restoring the piano.
By Colt Foutz
time. Since then, she’s put the piano to work, singing along
[email protected]
From Sandusky Register, with the rolls as it plays.
February 16, 2001
“I think it’s just the most gorgeous sound when it fills the
house,” she said. “I’m surprised at the amount of work that
Robin Pratt has made a career of bringing pianos back
went into it, how intricate the work is. He clearly knows what
from the dead. Back from the ashes? Now, that was a
he’s doing.”
challenge.
Pratt’s passion for player pianos goes back to his
Sylvia Chappell’s player piano had not produced a single
childhood in Sandusky. After he saw the fun people had
tolerable note since it was damaged in a house fire nearly 50
coming to his home to play the piano during parties, he began
years ago. The Marblehead resident had the Weber Duo-Art
taking lessons. His interest in mechanical devices such as
grand’s exterior refinished in 1999, but the instrument’s shiny
phonographs, cars and clocks combined with his love for
new exterior couldn’t mask the loss of its key feature - its
music to make him take notice of the player pianos in the
voice.
homes of relatives and teachers.
“It would drive you right out of the house with the way it
“When I was taking piano lessons, a player piano was just
sounded,” Pratt said. “It was very metallic sounding and the
fascinating to me because it played itself,” Pratt said. “Every
keys were sticking and their
edges were running into each
other. That piano basically
needed everything from the
ground up.”
For 18 months, Pratt gutted
the 79-year-old instrument in
his Sandusky studio. He
replaced the bellows, strings,
valves, pin block, leather,
tubing, hammers, dampers and
every piece of felt. He refit the
keys, regulated the action,
rebuilt the sound board and had
Sandusky Electric work on the
motor, which he placed inside.
Restoration? More like a
resurrection.
On Feb. 7, Chappell was
treated to the sound of the
restored instrument for the first
74
reproducing piano symphony which no human could possibly
play.
These are some of the many challenges that keep the
52-year-old Pratt plugging away. He divides his time between
restoring nine pianos in various stages of repair currently in
his workshop for customers from all over the country. Work
on a single piano can take anywhere from 100-200 hours, as
long as two years.
What makes the long hours worthwhile to Pratt remains
the preservation of antique instruments, he said. “Quite often
with customers, when they see their piano restored and it was
a family piece, they’ll just burst into tears when they hear it
played for the first time,” he said. “I know that there’s such a
A piano roll plays on a restored 1922 6 foot 2 inch Weber Duo-Art
love there, and it really makes me feel great because I’ve
reproducing grand piano belonging to Sylvia Chappell of
Mablehead. The Piano was restored by Pratt. given them something they can pass on to their children that
will well outlive me.”
time I went in for a piano lesson, I wanted to play that piano
It’s something Beverly Brabb appreciates, too. Pratt has
because it could play better than I could!”
worked on all five of her pianos at one time or another.
Pratt’s talents were improving. In junior high school he
The Norwalk resident took her Marshall and Wendell
successfully begged his mother to buy him a player piano, and
grand to Pratt on the advice of a friend. At the time, the piano
spent his time tinkering inside, repair book in hand. He also
was a wreck. Within three months, Brabb said, it was perfect.
logged enough hours working the keyboard part of the
instrument to gain entry into Chicago Conservatory College, “When I first heard the music come out of that piano that
where he studied piano and organ performance. had been dead, it was such a thrill,” she said. “All of a sudden
when you put that roll in there and hear this great music -
During his time at the Conservatory, Pratt focused his
what fun!”
attention entirely on music, absorbing lessons in arranging and
conducting. After graduating, he turned his attention back to Brabb has been a player piano enthusiast for 30 years,
what makes his favorite instrument tick, learning the ins and traveling to international conventions of AMICAalmost every
outs of tuning and rebuilding at the former Perkins School of year and delighting in gatherings where she can hear the
Piano Technology in Elyria and most recently was asked to be distinctive voices of different instruments. She considers the
the local Steinway technician. sound Pratt gets from the instrument to be the best.
His degrees from both sides of the musical world - how “One strange thing is that he’s never finished - he always
things play and how to play them - enabled him to start his has to tweak that piano and do something to it,” she said.
career as a piano rebuilder, accepting various tuning jobs and “But when I hear other people’s pianos I know he’s probably
attending conferences to learn the characteristics of different the top restorer around.”
piano brands while continuing his musical career as a church
choir director and organist. The two disciplines go hand in
hand, Pratt said.
“It has a lot to do with my playing piano because I’m not
just guessing what it should sound like,” he said. “I know that
player pianos are designed to sound like a person is playing it.
“For me, it’s trying to make the piano sound as close to Tickle the ivories
the original design concept as possible and not being
presumptuous enough to think I can make it better,” he said. Robin Pratt is available for appraisal and restoration of
“Some people basically want to turn every piano into a antique pianos and player pianos.
Steinway, and you just can’t do that, nor should you try.”
• Studio: 630 E. Monroe St., Sandusky
According to Pratt, learning what makes each player
• Phone: [phone]
piano unique requires years of involvement with every aspect
of automatic instruments. For his part, Pratt has belonged to • E-mail: [email protected]
the Automatic Musical Instrument Collector’s Association
• For information about player pianos and the Automatic
since 1967, and is editor and publisher of its bi-monthly
Musical Instrument Collector’s Association (AMICA), visit
newsletter, The AMICABulletin.
the group’s Web site, www.amica.org
In 40 years, he has collected more than 3,800 piano rolls,
and has worked with transcribers to create several new rolls,
arranging music meant for two hands into a veritable
75
J . LAWRENCE COOK
A A
N UTOBIOGRAPHY OF
E Y
THE ARLY EARS
PART 1 OF 2 Transcribed from his comments taped in 1972
Edited and annotated by his son
1899 -1910 Jean Lawrence Cook M.D.
©2000 Dr. J. Lawrence Cook.
Reproduced with permission
JACOB LINCOLN COOK -
MY FATHER
Early years in Athens (McMinn County), Tennessee
The Reverend Jacob Lincoln Cook, my father, was born
in Athens, Tennessee, in May 18701 to George and Amelia
Cook, former slaves2 of Judge J. B. Cooke. Their former
master was a member of one of the earliest families to
settle in the area of McMinn County in Tennessee.
By the time Jacob Lincoln was eight years old both of his
parents were deceased, but he had the good fortune to be
“taken in” by two former slaves, “Aunt Huldy” and “Uncle
Nelse” Gettys.3 They were caring foster parents and they
believed strongly that education was the key to success for
“This picture used to hang in the foyer of
that first generation of freedmen to which my father belonged.
JLC’s apartment at 409 Edgecombe Avenue in
Manhattan and, according to Dr. J. L. Cook, Jake, as my father was called, became a bright and
dates from the early 1930’s”
industrious student, so when he completed his secondary
school education the Gettys were able to bring him to the
Note: Mike Meddings of Staffordshire UK, who produced a
series of Jelly Roll Morton roll transcriptions in the 1970-80’s, attention of a white physician, Dr. Parkinson.4 He was able to
was recently contacted by J. Lawrence Cook’s son Dr. Jean secure a scholarship for my father at Fisk University in
Lawrence Cook, M.D. (retired). Dr. Cook was impressed by Mike’s Nashville, Tennessee. My father had a good singing voice,
comprehensive website showcasing his father and other music
which enabled him to become a member of the famous Fisk
luminaries (found at http://www.doctorjazz.freeserve.co.uk), and
Jubilee Singers.
asked Mike to phone him at his residence in France. After a long
conversation, Dr. Cook told Mike about his eldest niece, Dr. Lisa
After a short time at Fisk, just how long I do not know,
Fagg, who also lives in England and that he should contact her also.
After doing so Mike was invited to visit Lisa and her husband Steve, my father entered Knoxville College in Knoxville, Tennessee.5
for a Saturday lunch and get-together. He worked to pay his expenses, and was also aided by
donations from individuals back in his home town of Athens.
In the meantime, Mike was offered Dr. Jean Cook’s
In 1888 he received his bachelor’s degree from Knoxville
reminiscences of his father in document format, transcribed from
tape-recorded comments by his father. Mike was also shown private College and entered Allegheny Theological Seminary in
family photos never before seen by the public - some of which will Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to prepare for the Presbyterian
be reproduced in this serial. While some parts of this biography are ministry.6On 9 April 1890 he was licensed as a minister by the
quite similar to the ground-breaking JLC biography published in the
Allegheny Presbytery, and with this credential returned to
1973 AMICA bulletins, the Billings’ only had the audio tapes to
Athens to establish a United Presbyterian mission. Fresh out
write the transcription - with incorrect phonetic spellings and
geographical assumptions. Dr. Cook has embellished these early of seminary, he began holding services in an old dance hall.7
transcriptions with corrections, facts and references to back up this
article. Dr. Cook happily gives his permission for AMICA to print The School My Father Founded in Athens
this work.
In addition to starting his missionary congregation, my
Lisa and Steve Fagg will be attending the Player Piano
father, with a handful of dedicated co-workers (Miss Henrietta
Group annual dinner May 5th 2001 in Leatherhead, England. Mike
Mason, Miss Mary Byars, Miss Fannie Jackson, Mr. James
Meddings has offered to be their host at this function. I too, will be
in attendance and will be in a position to report back on the event to Cleage and Professor Pitts),8 organized a small school, the
AMICA this summer. - Karl Ellison Academy of Athens. It was located on a site called Depot Hill
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