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

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

Biography

Born in Newaygo, Michigan, he grew up in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and accordin ...

. In 1919, he began working with Charley Straight at the Imperial Piano Roll Company in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, 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 orchestra ...

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 Jone ...

and

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American 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 1930s, W ...

, and recorded piano solos for

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsid ...

. 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 popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

's Piano Concerto in F (in an arrangement by

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

; 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, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced songs ...

. He died in

Vista, California Vista (; Spanish for "view") is a city in San Diego County, California. Vista is a medium-sized city within the San Diego-Carlsbad, CA Metropolitan Area and has a population of 101,638. Vista's sphere of influence also includes portions of ...

at the age of 79.

Selected Compositions

* Ditto (1920) * Omeomy (1920) * Slipova (1920) * A Blue Streak (1921) * Knice and Knifty (with Charley Straight, 1921) * Rufenreddy (with Charley Straight, 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 of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. {{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 American male musicians Benson Orchestra of Chicago members

Biography

Selected Compositions

See also

References

External links