A link to 19th-century ragtime who was still at the keys 75 years after the composition of his "Charleston Rag" (1899),
Eubie Blake lived on yet longer thanks to his piano-roll recordings, including the 15 heard here. Most date from the 1910s -- though they've often been replayed for subsequently updated masterings -- and reflect one of the most buoyant piano styles of any in recorded jazz. Opening with "The Charleston Rag,"
Memories of You consists mostly of blues, though there's an ebullience and character in effect here that has little to do with the variety of blues heard during the late '20s, whether from acoustic Delta guitarists or Tin Pan Alley pianists.
Blake's rendition of
W.C. Handy's "The Memphis Blues" has a rollicking, syncopated charm, while "Boll Weevil Blues" is perhaps his best recording. One of the chestnuts, "I'm Just Wild About Harry," was actually recorded by
Blake in 1973, more than 50 years after its first brush with popularity. ~ John Bush