Musicologist Artis Wodehouse follows up her splendid Yamaha Disclavier realisations of piano roll recordings by George Gershwin and Jelly Roll Morton with a release devoted to Zez Confrey. Next to Gershwin, Confrey was arguably the most influential figure among numerous classically trained virtuoso popular music pianists who thrived in the 1920s. His fame ebbed over subsequent decades, partly due to ill health and decreased public performances, and also to changing musical tastes. Still, a few of his compositions, such as Dizzy Fingers and Kitten on the keys have endured as novelty numbers or encore-type fare.

One hopes that this disc will instigate a modest Confrey revival. The music isn’t deep or urgent, yet oozes charm and pianistic ingenuity in every bar. Listen to Confrey’s signature syncopated repeated figures tripping up and down the keyboard (Jeff Taylor’s excellent notes liken them to a ‘stuck phonograph needle’), and you’ll understand where the phrase ‘tickling the ivories’ comes from. Or listen to Greenwich Witch and Jaywalk, with their sly harmonic twists and almost orchestral navigation of the keyboard’s geography, and Confrey’s influence on seminal jazz figures such as Earl Hines and Erroll Garner becomes crystal clear.

Confrey took full advantage of the piano roll’s editing potential, frequently expanding his notated textures with added double notes, filled-in chords, and flourishes well beyond the scope of two hands. As a result, works like Humorestless (a jazz-age send-up of, you guessed it, Dvorak’s Humoresque) turn into giddy piano duets. On the other hand, Confrey’s ‘classical’ and ‘jazz’ juxtapositions of his 1926 showpiece Fantasy of Today offers plenty of virtuosic dazzle without recourse to ‘over-dubbing’. A selection of compositions from the 1930s reveal Confrey’s more serious, introspective side, notably Relaxation and Tap dance of the chimes. Since Confrey didn’t make these on rolls, Artis Wodehouse provides her own beautifully recorded Disclavier interpretations.

Once you’ve caught the Confrey bug, seek out ‘Keyboard Wizards of the Gershwin Era –Volume 4’ (Pearl) for a fascinating cross-section of Confrey 78s. Will Warner Classics commission Wodehouse to restore the Stravinsky piano rolls next?