“Jumping Jack”
Zez Confrey And His Orchestra
(Victor 21845-A) December 07, 1928
“Jack In The Box”
Zez Confrey And His Orchestra
(Victor 21845-B) January 3, 1929
Here are two excellent examples of novelty ragtime, a subgenre of ragtime that emerged in the United States just as ragtime began to fade away in favor of jazz. One of the originators of the genre was composer and pianist Zez Confrey.
Despite the artist’s credit on the label, the actual band was a Victor in-house studio ensemble most likely directed by Nat Shilkret but possibly Leonard Joy. Confrey does not perform on either of these recordings, and it is not known whether he was even present when they were made.
The genre is sometimes referred to as novelty piano, as most of its compositions were written for that instrument. It differed from earlier forms of ragtime by its musical complexity. Because the sale of music during the ragtime era was mostly in the form of sheet music for use on home pianos, for a composition to be financially successful, published arrangements needed to be simple enough to be successfully performed by the average amateur pianist.
The advent of automated player pianos enabled people to enjoy exact replicas of performances by the world’s best pianists in their own homes, and novelty ragtime piano compositions were perfect for showcasing their technical virtuosity.
The genre was not limited to the piano. Arrangements were published to be performed by dance bands and salon orchestras – and this is my favorite form of the genre.
Novelty rags were occasionally performed and recorded by American dance bands throughout the 1920s. But it was in, of all places, mid-1930s Germany that the orchestral variety of the genre reached its greatest popularity and where the best-recorded examples were made. It wasn’t merely another American musical import – many really nice novelty rags were written by German composers. The best and most frequently found German examples were recorded by Otto Dobrindt and His Piano Symphonists and Hans Bund And His Bravour Dance Band (issued in England as Jack Bund).
Of the two compositions featured here, “Jack In The Box” is the most famous and was composed by Zez Confrey.
If you enjoyed these recordings, I try to feature as many recordings of orchestral novelty ragtime as I can obtain in Radio Dismuke’s playlist.
You can also find the following examples I have previously featured elsewhere on this blog.
“Will O’ The Wisp” and “Rouge Et Noir” by Otto Dobrindt’s Piano Symponists
“Puppe und Kobold” by the Bravour Tanz-Orchester
I am not sure if the composition in the following recording was intended as a novelty rag, but it is definitely performed in the same spirit:
“Sleepy Chinese” by The Castilians