Roy Fredrick Bargy (July 31, 1894 – January 16, 1974) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

Biography

Born in Newaygo, Michigan, he grew up in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

. In 1919, he began working with

Charley Straight Charles Theodore "Charley" Straight (January 16, 1891 – September 22, 1940) was an American pianist, bandleader and composer. Biography Straight, who was born in Chicago, started his career in 1909 accompanying singer Gene Greene in Vaudeville ...

at the Imperial Piano Roll Company in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, performing, arranging and composing. He was the leader, pianist and

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

of the Benson Orchestra of Chicago from 1920 to 1922 (when he was replaced by Don Bestor), and later worked with the orchestras of

Isham Jones Isham Edgar Jones (January 31, 1894 – October 19, 1956) was an American bandleader, saxophonist, bassist and songwriter. Career Jones was born in Coalton, Ohio, United States, to a musical and mining family. His father, Richard Isham Jon ...

and

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American Jazz bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 193 ...

, and recorded piano solos for

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...

. In 1928, he was the first pianist to record

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

's Piano Concerto in F (in an arrangement by

Ferde Grofé Ferdinand Rudolph von Grofé (March 27, 1892 April 3, 1972), known as Ferde Grofé () was an American composer, arranger, pianist, and instrumentalist. He is best known for his 1931 five-movement symphonic poem, ''Grand Canyon Suite'', and for ...

; with

and his Concert Orchestra). From 1943 until his retirement, he was music director for

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

. He died in

Vista, California Vista (; Spanish language, Spanish for "view") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is a medium-sized city within the San Diego-Carlsbad metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, V ...

at the age of 79.

Selected Compositions

* Ditto (1920) * Omeomy (1920) * Slipova (1920) * A Blue Streak (1921) * Knice and Knifty (with

, 1921) * Rufenreddy (with

, 1921) * Behave Yourself (1922) * Jim Jams, No. 7 from Piano Syncopations (1922) * Justin-Tyme (1922) * Pianoflage (1922) * Sunshine Capers (1922) * Sweet And Tender (1923) * Feeding The Kitty (1924) * Get Lucky (1924) * Trouble In Thirds (1925)

References

External links

* * *
Roy Bargy
at the Red Hot Jazz Archive
Roy Bargy recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bargy, Roy 1894 births 1974 deaths American male composers Ragtime composers Victor Records artists People from Newaygo, Michigan 20th-century American composers 20th-century American pianists American male pianists 20th-century male pianists 20th-century American male musicians Benson Orchestra of Chicago members

Biography

Selected Compositions

See also

References

External links