Jim Riggs At The Wurlitzer Organ - I Want To Be Happy

I Want To Be Happy (Youmans/Ceasar) AMPICO performance by J. Milton Delcamp The AMPICO, The Wurlitzer and Jim Riggs When I was very young, about 6 years old, my fathily had an upright player piano. It made a strong impression right away. I loved running it, primarily to watch the holes in the roll as they passed by the tracker bar. But there was something about that kind of music that grabbed hold of me deep inside and has never gone away. My ears were primed. When I first heard a Wurlitzer pipe organ (at age 13) my astonished impression was, "...like player piano music, only WAY better!" The theatre organ took elements common to the best piano roll arranging---delightful harmonies, rhythmic breaks, counter-melodies and stylistic variations---and infused them with the orchestral richness and sheer sonic power only it can generate. I was instantly hooked for life; from that moment on I knew the theatre pipe organ was my instrument. Skip forward several decades to the Little River Studio in Wichita, KS. During dinner one evening, the Steinway/PianoDisc was playing in the background. Just then, it started playing J. Milton Delcamp's AMPICO recording of "I Want To Be Happy", a long-time favorite that I'd not heard in many years. Inspiration very often comes from the smallest things, sometimes from merely making a request of one's host. Mine was, "Do you mind if I played the Wurlitzer along with this piano roll?" I zipped down to the console and started experimenting. After 4 or 5 run-throughs we pretty much ended up with what you hear on track 1 of this CD. We looked at each other and knew we'd stumbled upon something special: a combination of talents and instruments that linked across 80 years and results in some of the most joyful music ever to involve the theatre pipe organ. The AMPICO and the Wurlitzer were simply made for each other and are the perfect combination. Over the next few years I would make my way back to Wichita every so often and each time lay down 4 or 5 more piano/organ tracks, which I started calling "Phantom Duets". You hold the final result in your hand. I have never played music that is happier, more orchestral or just plain fun than these Phantom Duets. When playing them I think of those fabulous pianists who recorded these reproducing roll performances so many years ago. I'm sure they would have approved (and quite possibly wondered why they didn't do it themselves way back when). So sit back and enjoy some music that's about the most deeply satisfying and personal work I've ever done. It was a long time coming and I'm absolutely delighted it's finally here. The Phantom Duet Process For purposes of this recording, rather than using actual paper AMPICO rolls, the arrangements have been translated by organist and piano technician Jack Gufstafson into a digital format for use with the PianoDisk player system. The Little River Studio Wurlitzer organ is equipped with a Steinway model B (7 foot) grand fitted with the PianoDisk. The organ itself runs off a Uniflex digital relay system, allowing for recording and playback. When recording the duets, the PianoDisk plays the chosen song file independently while I play the pipe organ enhancement. The Uniflex records my playing, complete with registration changes and expression, into it's memory and simultaneously records the piano information into a separate MIDI file. When playing back a complete duet the Uniflex plays both the organ file and the separate MIDI track in synchronization. Tempos and synchronization can be adjusted to provide a high level of precision.