Recorded performances of BillyMayerl seem to be dominated by the pianist Eric Parkin, who with 10 records so far appears to have produced more records than all other pianists put together.
This is quite a characteristic device of BillyMayerl's, which helps give the "swing" effect he is so good at evoking; and Parkin often picks out these "before-the-beat" notes and makes little melodic figures out of them which counterpoint the main melody in the right hand.
Four BillyMayerl records are listed towards the bottom of that page, all played by Eric Parkin: three collections of BillyMayerl's transcriptions of music by other people, and a record called Scallywag which includes original music, transcriptions, and music written by Parkin himself as a tribute to Mayerl.
Marigold: The Music of Billy Mayerl by Peter Dickinson(Site not responding. Last check: )
BillyMayerl, as pianist-composer-celebrity-educator, was one of the most brilliant figures in British music from the 1920s to the 1950s.
Mayerl's own compositions, in both quality and quantity, are the most significant contribution to the genre of novelty piano, which succeeded ragtime and overlapped with early jazz.
As if this frantice pace was not enough, he started his BillyMayerl School in 1926 to teach syncopated piano playing and there were branches across England and abroad.
It was not to last, however, and although he tried to revive it after the war, this proved ineffective and the BillyMayerl School finally closed down in 1957.
Billy was now a household name and performed regularly on both Radio Luxembourg and the BBC.
His records sold in their thousands and all around the country budding pianists were wrestling with the intricacies of his vast array of piano compositions, of which the most famous was his unofficial signature tune "Marigold", one of a whole variety of horticultural pieces, gardening being one of his many hobbies.
Even though he had been classically trained, Mayerl was quickly gaining a grasp on the popular music repertoire as well as the novelties that were coming out of new school of composition in the U.S., making him an audience favorite.
From 1923 to 1926 Mayerl was a featured soloist with the band in the earliest years of the BBC, a time when most people were listening with crystal sets or early ether-tubed radios.
BillyMayerl (a heavy smoker for many years) finally met his demise from a heart attack in 1959.
Marigold: The Music of Billy Mayerl(Site not responding. Last check: )
BillyMayerl, as pianist-composer-celebrity-educator, was a unique figure in British music from the 1920s to the 1950s.
He also started the BillyMayerl School in 1926 to teach syncopated piano playing and branches opened across England and abroad.
This book--which includes a full CD of Mayerl's historic playing--is the first detailed study of his work and should ensure a permanent place for Mayerl and his music.
The biographical side of Billy's life is well enough documented and attempts made to clear some of the confusion.
Billy left an outstanding collection of over one hundred original piano and orchestral pieces, about a hundred songs used in successful West End shows and films, plus about 120 brilliant transcriptions of popular songs of the period.
His discussion of Mayerl's output of original pieces is thorough and several of them are dealt with in detail.
MARIGOLD - The Music of Billy Mayerl By Peter Dickinson: Book Review Music on the Web(UK)(Site not responding. Last check: )
Mayerl however left because his habit of playing syncopated jazz was considered to be subversive and his love of Stravinsky considered beyond the pale.
Mayerl also moved around the country playing in local gigs and he was fortunately in the right place at the right time to make the big step that would boost his career.
Mayerl's less successful song writing career is detailed -- and his more popular light music that occupied him increasingly after World War II (during which he played an important role entertaining the troops) when the fashion for syncopated music fell away.
Since 1991, he has given 9 solo recitals for the two BillyMayerl societies of England, recording extensively at one of the Mayerl concert venues, as well as the BBC.
Any BillyMayerl fan will be fascinated to hear the unique arrangements of some of Billy's songs.
Of the 120 or so songs that Mayerl wrote, mostly for shows in the 1930s, there are a large number of unjustly neglected gems, of which we get a generous sampling here complete with Alex's period-style accompaniments.
BillyMayerl Biography - famous BillyMayerl Classical collection and BillyMayerl Music Reviews.
BillyMayerl was born in London and from 1926 ran his own School of Modern Syncopation in the cause of the style of piano-playing that he championed.
Thanks to correspondence courses his ‘teachings’ spread worldwide, and he even counted the future King George VI as a pupil.
www.naxos.com /artistinfo/2952.htm (110 words)
Billy Mayerl | The Mix(Site not responding. Last check: )
Pianist BillyMayerl was born on May 31, 1902, in London's West End.
However, the gigs also afforded Mayerl plenty of room to improvise, and this would come to influence his own compositional style.
In 1922, Mayerl was in residency at a Southampton hotel when he was discovered by bandleader and saxophonist Bert Ralton, who recruited the pianist for his Havana Band at London's Savoy Hotel.
Billy Mayerl : Plays Billy Mayerl - Listen, Review and Buy at ARTISTdirect(Site not responding. Last check: )
Mayerl's dexterity is conspicuously prominent at all times.
Mayerl was a dazzler who constantly showed off his ability to execute complicated runs at terrific velocities.
This retrospective concludes with the four-part "Aquarium" suite, during which Mayerl is heard emitting endless arpeggios in front of his own pit orchestra.
The definitive list of these rolls is being compiled by John Watson in Norwich, member of both the PPG and the BillyMayerl Society (as per John Farrell's earlier response).
Technically, these rolls were not very well made - Mayerl himself wrote an article in the mid 1930s saying how they had tried several different ways of making the rolls - hand played directly, played at half-speed and then reduced in length, a basic hand played roll with embellishments, or even purely arranged.
One of the problems must be that Mayerl was very young when these rolls were made in around 1921, and his style hadn't matured.
This Duo-Art roll was the only one Mayerl ever recorded although he did cut several for the standard non-expression 88 note system.
"Lightning Fingers" Mayerl was born in London in 1902 and gave his first concert playing the Grieg Concerto at age 12.
He was almost expelled from the Trinity College music school when, aged 13, he was caught by the Principal playing a syncopated jazz number of his own composition.
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