In the last few weeks, after doing that last post on the Hager brothers, I have been digging into trying to really create a definitive piano style to use to identify Hager. It seems that I have finally gotten a baseline for what piano style is Hager's, and it actually came to me in a flash.
I have been searching around for a compositional style that could be connected to and sound a lot like Hager's, based on the orchestra records and piano accompaniments, and amid a moment of idle listening, it hit me, this piece transcribes out that very Zon-O-Phone pianist style:
Victor Herbert! Of course. It made so much sense after thinking it through for a little while. So why does this make sense? Well, think of all those "Victor Herbert's Band" records from around 1900-1903, those were directed by Hager. As noted from that panoramic portrait of Hager's orchestra, it's clear that Hager plucked most of Herbert's musicians for his own studio ensemble. With that in mind, I did a playful mocking cartoon of this:
Of course, Hager's all decked out for Mr. Herbert's Babes in Toyland, showing his unbound respect for Herbert.
I have no idea how Hager got to know Herbert, and what he had to do to get so many of his musicians to record with him. With that aside, Hager was close friends with Herbert, and now that I've studied a bunch of Herbert's piano music, I would be assured enough to say that they were such close friends that Herbert's style rubbed off on Hager. Now to get into some of the technical aspects of this connection, take a good listen to that version of "Panamericana" in the link above. Much of what I've previously described about Hager's piano playing corresponds very well with that piece. The quick and jumpy octaves in the right hand, the dense chords in the left hand, and more bass heavy inversions of chords in the left hand as well. Do take into consideration the exotique rhythm that the piece takes on, it's similar to the daring, advanced "west Indian" style rhythm that I have heard played on many early Zon-O-Phone's. Much like Hager's musical mindset, Herbert's very complicated orchestral outlook comes through in his piano pieces. There's a lot going on at any given time, and there's just enough space left for unusual rhythms and really rather jagged syncopation. Herbert's "Panamericana" is really what ties Herbert's and Hager's styles together, as every characteristic is there, and it combines an older musical mindset with the modern syncopation idea.
So this all makes sense when taking into consideration Hager's upbringing musically, as he wasn't really from too far west to have a very distinct piano style, and being much younger than the older rag-timers and minstrel performers he knew, his style was really neutral to start with, though maybe having traces of the Indiana-Ohio style, being that he was from rural Pennsylvania. Being as curious and open-minded as he was musically, it would make sense that he become so infatuated with someone like Victor Herbert or John Philip Sousa(in this case thinking more of his comic and operetta works). Hager was also a music student, taught in the New York conservatories with a full scholarship to get him through, so he was basically exposed to everything. What Hager heard was likely twice the diversity of what Hylands or Banta heard throughout the first 20 years of their lives. But like Herbert, Hager had an especial affinity for the more taboo syncopated negro music. That was something he was likely told to stay away from while in music school, as he was studying violin under Antonín Dvorăk, despite obviously studying syncopation, it could have only been looked down upon in that environment.
To provide another good example of Herbert's and Hager's crossover styles, here's another characteristic dance by Herbert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoJ-w5FcZSE
I'm pretty sure this one was recorded around 1905. But anyway, seriously take a close listen to all the distinct characteristics in the piece. They are quite similar to that early Zon-O-Phone style that I am rather certain of being Hager's.
Here are a few Zon-O-phone records with that accompaniment style, just to give you a refresher on this:
https://ia800609.us.archive.org/34/items/CollectedWorksOfJohnTerrell/TaintAGoinToWeepNoMore1902_64kb.mp3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi8K8iKZyXM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X59v3OASjVg
This brings me to the next part of this post, Justin Ring.
On my digging ventures for Ring and the Hager brothers, I noticed how similar Ring and Fred Hager were. Their relationship starts around 1900 or so, as Jim Walsh used to write(the picture above of them was a little vignette in one of his articles). Even with Walsh dropping that early date of them being together, I am still not entirely sure when they got together. Though, it is likely however that they got together around 1899, thinking of the starting of Zon-O-Phone. I would guess that at the beginning of Zon-O-Phone, Hager dragged in the young and fresh Ring, along with his 17 year old brother James. With Ring stuck at Zon-O-Phone, Hager got him to work as the pianist for his studio orchestra. On records as early as the beginning of 1900, such as this one here:
https://ia800604.us.archive.org/7/items/CollectedWorksOfTheZonophoneOrchestra/DarkiesJubilee1900_64kb.mp3
It's highly likely that Ring is that pianist we're hearing. In 1900 it wouldn't surprise me if that's the case, as this picture was taken only a year or so later:
(I have come to the assumption that this picture is from 1901-1902 because the description states that they're in the Columbia studio, which at that time would have been Climax-Columbia-Zonophone, etc)
There's Ring, the young hot dandy of the orchestra.
Other than his recording history, I know nothing of Ring. I know he was a composer his entire life and married rather late, but not much more. Overall, it seems Ring followed Hager wherever he went in the recording and publishing business, but that's not a bad thing in this case! Ring started at Zon-O-Phone with Hager, tagged along until the bitter end in 1912, then went to Rex right after, and after the fall of Rex stuck with Hager until Okeh let them go around 1922.
(that's Justin Ring with the baton! This is the Okeh studio around 1920)
So what about his piano style?
Well, that's where it gets a bit sketchy. Now that I have a pretty good understanding of Hager's style, I need to figure out what any other different pianist sounds like on Zon-O-Phone. Luckily, I know of a few records that contain suspiciously different accompaniment styles than the dense and complicated Hager style. The first one that comes to mind is this Zon-O-Phone from 1903:
https://archive.org/details/MustYou1903DanwQuinn
This has vey different accompaniment from say, the "Bill Bailey" take a bit above. Now this pianist on this particular record is very precise but also loose at the same time, similar to Hager, but much less daring with improvisation. Though I must admit that this pianist is very outstanding as an overall accompanist, much to the likeness of Edward Issler actually, and that's quite a high comparison. Despite the little technical hiccups throughout the record, the pianist has exceptional rhythm, keeping constant the entire record, just like Issler did a decade before. This constance with the accompaniment definitely shows quite a dramatic contrast to the more rowdy and dense style that Hager played on early etched label Zon-O-Phone's. Something that ties these styles together is the preference to play more bass heavy chords in the left hand, which ties together Hager, Ring, and Victor Herbert's styles. This slight characteristic is all over the place in Hager's written music, and even in Ring's rags as well.
So let's say this more tame but musically outstanding pianist is Ring. It would most certainly make sense according to the logic, and taking into consideration the things that tie the styles together. I do not know about Ring's musical background, and of course knowing something would be helpful in trying to figure this out. I do know that Ring was the son of a musician, so he had been playing music earlier than Hager most definitely. what that has to do with his piano style, I cannot say. I know Ring didn't attend music school, unlike Hager, who did and studied under great masters form Europe and the U.S., so in this case I would assume Ring to have more natural talent musically. Usually almost perfect to perfect rhythm yields the highest natural ability musically(0ther than perfect pitch, that's what Banta had!).
So let's listen to Ring's rags, just to get some kind of foundation for this style:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvbqEUoZS-Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3Vaj_YEloY
One thing is for sure, there are definitely some quirks in that style.
Like Hylands' and banta's styles, Ring's was just enough quirky and weird to well be distinguished, and this is purely from the sheet music! In Ring's style there's also a mix of all the styles on records in the brown wax era, which makes sense, considering his age and propensity for music.
When I listen to a lot of these piano accompaniment, I often switch who I think is who on these records, since I really have no idea which feel goes with which. Though, as I'm writing this I'm starting to get a strong feeling that this pianist is Ring:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBZLwO5P7jM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaTarCSS6gc
I hear very unusual eccentricities in those accompaniments, the kind that are scattered all over his "Sweet Potatoes". I have assumed the slightly more bluesy style on many Zon-O-Phone's, as the one I associate with Hager is much more classical and controlled. I have heard some early Zon-O-Phone's with pretty strange and whacked accompaniments, full of small mistakes and unusual bits of syncopation, more so than the dense Hager accompaniments. One thing is for sure about these Zon-O-Phone accompaniments, there is definitely more than one pianist scattered on their records, and it seems to really only be two distinct styles throughout, which makes narrowing down who they might be much easier.
Keep in mind that I do not know which pianist is Hager and which one is Ring, and sometimes I switch the style with the guy, maybe because of something I heard, but what I explained here is overall what I think Hager and Ring were in terms of piano accompaniments on Zon-O-phone's.
One thing that I've always found rather funny about Hager and Ring is that they seemed inseparable to the end. Even after they went their own ways after the studios in the mid-1920's, they still lived rather close afterward, eventually both moving to places in close proximity in Florida for retirement. Though Hager died before Ring, they were exactly the same age when they died, 87.
Since I've exhausted this topic so much, I promise that I will speak of my recent sheet music acquisitions and my meeting with John Levin in the next post. I promise I'll stay away from pianist analysis in the next post! Before I close out, here's an outstanding Arthur Pryor piece played by Gilmore's band in 1902. This is a recent addition to the Santa Barbara website, and how it's great:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr+1=1020&num=1&start=1&query=cylinder17130
Whats's especially great about this piece is that Pryor's stylistic extraction is exactly the style that this piece is imitating. Pryor's regional style was of Missouri-Arkansas, which is one of the most dense and authentic styles out there. This piece has a lot of trombone action going on(well durr...of course it does), and some really nice syncopation, executed very well by the peerless Gilmore band.
To provide another good example of Herbert's and Hager's crossover styles, here's another characteristic dance by Herbert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoJ-w5FcZSE
I'm pretty sure this one was recorded around 1905. But anyway, seriously take a close listen to all the distinct characteristics in the piece. They are quite similar to that early Zon-O-Phone style that I am rather certain of being Hager's.
Here are a few Zon-O-phone records with that accompaniment style, just to give you a refresher on this:
https://ia800609.us.archive.org/34/items/CollectedWorksOfJohnTerrell/TaintAGoinToWeepNoMore1902_64kb.mp3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi8K8iKZyXM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X59v3OASjVg
This brings me to the next part of this post, Justin Ring.
https://ia800604.us.archive.org/7/items/CollectedWorksOfTheZonophoneOrchestra/DarkiesJubilee1900_64kb.mp3
It's highly likely that Ring is that pianist we're hearing. In 1900 it wouldn't surprise me if that's the case, as this picture was taken only a year or so later:
Other than his recording history, I know nothing of Ring. I know he was a composer his entire life and married rather late, but not much more. Overall, it seems Ring followed Hager wherever he went in the recording and publishing business, but that's not a bad thing in this case! Ring started at Zon-O-Phone with Hager, tagged along until the bitter end in 1912, then went to Rex right after, and after the fall of Rex stuck with Hager until Okeh let them go around 1922.
So what about his piano style?
Well, that's where it gets a bit sketchy. Now that I have a pretty good understanding of Hager's style, I need to figure out what any other different pianist sounds like on Zon-O-Phone. Luckily, I know of a few records that contain suspiciously different accompaniment styles than the dense and complicated Hager style. The first one that comes to mind is this Zon-O-Phone from 1903:
https://archive.org/details/MustYou1903DanwQuinn
This has vey different accompaniment from say, the "Bill Bailey" take a bit above. Now this pianist on this particular record is very precise but also loose at the same time, similar to Hager, but much less daring with improvisation. Though I must admit that this pianist is very outstanding as an overall accompanist, much to the likeness of Edward Issler actually, and that's quite a high comparison. Despite the little technical hiccups throughout the record, the pianist has exceptional rhythm, keeping constant the entire record, just like Issler did a decade before. This constance with the accompaniment definitely shows quite a dramatic contrast to the more rowdy and dense style that Hager played on early etched label Zon-O-Phone's. Something that ties these styles together is the preference to play more bass heavy chords in the left hand, which ties together Hager, Ring, and Victor Herbert's styles. This slight characteristic is all over the place in Hager's written music, and even in Ring's rags as well.
So let's say this more tame but musically outstanding pianist is Ring. It would most certainly make sense according to the logic, and taking into consideration the things that tie the styles together. I do not know about Ring's musical background, and of course knowing something would be helpful in trying to figure this out. I do know that Ring was the son of a musician, so he had been playing music earlier than Hager most definitely. what that has to do with his piano style, I cannot say. I know Ring didn't attend music school, unlike Hager, who did and studied under great masters form Europe and the U.S., so in this case I would assume Ring to have more natural talent musically. Usually almost perfect to perfect rhythm yields the highest natural ability musically(0ther than perfect pitch, that's what Banta had!).
So let's listen to Ring's rags, just to get some kind of foundation for this style:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvbqEUoZS-Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3Vaj_YEloY
One thing is for sure, there are definitely some quirks in that style.
Like Hylands' and banta's styles, Ring's was just enough quirky and weird to well be distinguished, and this is purely from the sheet music! In Ring's style there's also a mix of all the styles on records in the brown wax era, which makes sense, considering his age and propensity for music.
When I listen to a lot of these piano accompaniment, I often switch who I think is who on these records, since I really have no idea which feel goes with which. Though, as I'm writing this I'm starting to get a strong feeling that this pianist is Ring:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBZLwO5P7jM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaTarCSS6gc
I hear very unusual eccentricities in those accompaniments, the kind that are scattered all over his "Sweet Potatoes". I have assumed the slightly more bluesy style on many Zon-O-Phone's, as the one I associate with Hager is much more classical and controlled. I have heard some early Zon-O-Phone's with pretty strange and whacked accompaniments, full of small mistakes and unusual bits of syncopation, more so than the dense Hager accompaniments. One thing is for sure about these Zon-O-Phone accompaniments, there is definitely more than one pianist scattered on their records, and it seems to really only be two distinct styles throughout, which makes narrowing down who they might be much easier.
Keep in mind that I do not know which pianist is Hager and which one is Ring, and sometimes I switch the style with the guy, maybe because of something I heard, but what I explained here is overall what I think Hager and Ring were in terms of piano accompaniments on Zon-O-phone's.
One thing that I've always found rather funny about Hager and Ring is that they seemed inseparable to the end. Even after they went their own ways after the studios in the mid-1920's, they still lived rather close afterward, eventually both moving to places in close proximity in Florida for retirement. Though Hager died before Ring, they were exactly the same age when they died, 87.
Since I've exhausted this topic so much, I promise that I will speak of my recent sheet music acquisitions and my meeting with John Levin in the next post. I promise I'll stay away from pianist analysis in the next post! Before I close out, here's an outstanding Arthur Pryor piece played by Gilmore's band in 1902. This is a recent addition to the Santa Barbara website, and how it's great:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr+1=1020&num=1&start=1&query=cylinder17130
Whats's especially great about this piece is that Pryor's stylistic extraction is exactly the style that this piece is imitating. Pryor's regional style was of Missouri-Arkansas, which is one of the most dense and authentic styles out there. This piece has a lot of trombone action going on(well durr...of course it does), and some really nice syncopation, executed very well by the peerless Gilmore band.
Hope you enjoyed this!
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