COMPACT
DISC REVIEWCOMPACT
DISC REVIEW
By
Jack Rummel
Upright and Grand
Frank Banta, piano
Rivermont BSW-1142
Upright and Grand / The Melody Made You Mine / My Sugar /
Sweet Man / I Wonder Where My Baby is Tonight / When the Red, Red Robin Comes
Bob, Bob Bobbin’ Along / For My Sweetheart / Just a Little Longer / Russian
Lullaby / Ain’t She Sweet / An Operatic Nightmare / Nola / What Do We Do on a
Dew-Dew-Dewy Day? / Are You Thinking of Me To-night? / The World is Waiting for
the
We truly live in the golden age of recording technology. Digital editing has allowed many old recordings that were once thought to be fraught with cracks, pops and other severe forms of surface noise to be cleaned up and re-issued in “like-new” versions. Thus it is with this collection of recordings from 1923-1930 by piano wizard Frank Banta.
Banta (1897-1968) was active at a time when the record industry was taking a quantum leap from primitive wax cylinders to 78 rpm discs. What we now call “Novelty Piano Music” was the rage and his mastery of that keyboard genre became legendary. Now Rivermont Records has taken a collection of extremely rare 78s and through various forms of digital magic has brought new life and greater fidelity to them than previously thought possible.
It should also be remembered that editing couldn’t be done in those days. The only way to get rid of a mistake was to start over and keep re-playing the piece until a perfect recording was captured – a fact that makes these cuts by Banta even more impressive. His touch was light but sure and his technique was masterful, all the while sounding like it had been effortless.
Few of Banta’s own compositions survive today, Upright and Grand, Sailin’ Along and Prudy being the only examples on this disc. The rest of the compositions are by popular composers of the day, such as Walter Donaldson, Irving Berlin and Felix Arndt, to name a few. In Banta’s hands, however, they become show-stoppers one and all.
Of equal importance is the booklet of liner notes, photographs and associated artwork assembled by noted novelty pianist Alex Hassan and packaged by producer Bryan Wright. The sound is amazing considering the dates when these records were first made and the graphics of the overall package exude quality. While lovers of novelty piano will salivate many times over, anyone who enjoys ragtime will respect the prodigious talents of Frank Banta and will enjoy and appreciate the efforts that went into the production of this tiny treasure.
Available for $18.00 postpaid from Rivermont Records,