Friday, 2 October 2020

Wally Rose born 2 October 1913

Wally Rose (October 2, 1913 – January 12, 1997, Walnut Creek, California) was an American jazz and ragtime pianist. 

Wally Rose was born in Oakland, California, but lived in Honolulu, his family’s original home, in his early youth. Later, he went to school in Oakland and San Francisco and studied piano with Alice Eggers and Elizabeth Simpson. After graduating high school, Rose played with several well-known dance bands, including Anson Weeks, and performed on cruise ships through the 1930s. Around 1940, he met Lu Watters and the musicians who would eventually form the Yerba Buena Jazz Band. Rose attended some of the after-hours sessions at the Big Bear Tavern in the Oakland Hills where his keyboard technique and his ability to read music impressed Watters. 

After pianist Forrest Browne left the ensemble, Watters invited Rose to join the Yerba Buena Jazz Band (YBJB) in 1941. He played with them at the Dawn Club and was heard on all of their KYA broadcasts. Rose participated in the first two recording sessions by the YBJB in December, 1941 and March, 1942, and was responsible for the single best-selling disc of either session, “Black And White Rag.” The 78 sold a tremendous number of copies and should be credited with launching a revival of interest in ragtime. Rose served in the U.S. Navy during the war but after his discharge he was back on piano when the band returned to the Dawn Club in March, 1946. 

In 1947 Lu Watters found a new location for the band to perform, a large nightclub in El Cerrito, on the east side of the Bay. The club was named Hambone Kelly’s, and Watters proposed making it a co-operative, with the musicians able to live on the premises and to share in the profits. Rose objected to the idea, and asked to be paid as a salaried performer. He left in 1948. For over a year, Rose put his highly-developed keyboard technique to work playing light classical music. Finally, an emissary dispatched by Lu Watters convinced Rose to return to the Yerba Buena Jazz Band and Hambone Kelly’s. Though he was in and out of the band for the next two years, Rose was present on all the group’s 1949 – 50 recordings for Watters’ Down Home and Norman Granz’s Mercury label, as well as the regular broadcasts on KLX.

L-R Harry Mordecai, Lu Watters,
Wally Rose, Turk Murphy


Hambone Kelly’s closed on January 1, 1951, and Rose immediately began to freelance, once again playing light opera, gypsy music, and occasional gigs with Bob Scobey, Turk Murphy and the Firehouse Five Plus Two. Wally Rose’s 1951 – 52 Good Time Jazz recordings with Bob Scobey’s Frisco Band are excellent illustrations of his abilities as a band pianist. In 1952 Wally joined Turk Murphy’s and left in 1955, to be replaced by his star pupil, Pete Clute. Through the rest of the decade, Rose found plenty of work. He led his own groups at the Tin Angel with New Orleans blues singer Lizzie Miles and at Easy Street with Barbara Dane. 

                                 

He also worked as a soloist at Goman’s Gay ‘90s, the Palace Hotel, and other venues. In 1957, he performed at the Dixieland Ragtime Jamboree, benefiting the Musicians’ Pension Fund, where, in addition to leading his own Dixieland band, he was the featured soloist on “Rhapsody In Blue” with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. 

During the 1960’s Wally was seldom unemployed. For over a decade, he appeared at clubs such as Gold Street and the Cirque Room at the Fairmont Hotel. He also played occasional intermissions at Turk Murphy’s club Earthquake McGoon’s. Rose continued to work mainly as a soloist in the early ‘70s. He settled in for a long run as a soloist at the Gold Dust Lounge. At the Gold Dust, he played a variety of old and new pop music and did a stellar job of interacting with the audience. He was also happy to perform rags for any fans that happened to stop in for drinks. After years of staying close to home, Rose performed as far away as the Newport Jazz Festival in New York City and the Oude Stijl Jazz Festival in Breda, Holland. In 1970, he recorded his first solo album since 1953 for Blackbird Records, and a follow-up LP in 1971. Both albums included rags that were new to his repertoire. 

In 1988, the San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation recorded an album called The Two Sides Of Wally Rose. One side contained some of the popular songs Rose performed in piano bars, and the second side consisted of the rags which had established his reputation as a master of the idiom. By the 1990’s Rose was having severe trouble with his eyesight at recording sessions, so supersized 11x17 sheets were necessary for him to read the arrangements. Although he was beginning to show signs of aging, his playing on still sounded lively. Rose was named the ‘Emperor’ of the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee in 1993 and later in the year was designated ‘Gentleman of Jazz’ at the Santa Rosa Jazz Festival. 

Sadly, Rose was in the beginning stages of dementia when he appeared at the festival in San Diego. He lost his place in the music, forgot how to play familiar songs, and wound up spending much of the weekend offstage, being looked after by a friend. As the disease progressed, Rose was also afflicted with cancer. He passed away on 12 January 1997 in Walnut Creek, California.

 (Edited mainly from an article by Hal Smith @ Stanford Libraries)

 Here's a rare clip of Wally playing Grizzly Bear rag during 1995

1 comment:

boppinbob said...

For “Wally Rose ‎– Whippin' The Keys” go here;

https://www.upload.ee/files/12342386/Wally_Rose_-_Whippin__The_Keys.rar.html

1 Whippin' The Keys
2 Ragtime Dance
3 Blue Goes Rag
4 The Kangaroo Hop
5 Scott Joplin's New Rag
6 Rags To Burn
7 Ragtime Oriole
8 The Hobble Rag
9 Cleopatra Rag
10 American Beauty
11 The Lion Tamer Rag
12 Peace & Plenty Rag
13 St. Louis Rag
14 Pastime Rag
15 New Era Rag
16 Pickles & Peppers
17 Cannonball Rag
18 Junk Man Rag
19 Elite Syncopations
20 Jamaica Jinger Rag
21 St. Louis Tickle

The late pianist Wally Rose was an influential pianist who was part of the West Coast traditional jazz revival of the forties and fifties, and also brought classic ragtime back into popularity. He was a member of Lu Watters Yerba Buena Jazz band as well as two groups that evolved from Watters Band, Bob Scobey’s Frisco Jazz Band and Turk
Murphy’s Jazz Band.

Delmark have issued this marvellous CD, which reissues two LPs from the Blackbird label. This disc is comprised of a number of classic, if lesser known, rags from the pens of James Scott, Scott Joplin and Joseph Lamb and others. From the stately introduction of the opening title track through the closing ‘St. Louis Tickle,’ Rose places with grace and charm. Its refreshing to hear such a lively, but never rushed sounding, set of performances with their lovely melodies and so tasteful rhythmic embellishments. This is a gem that should not get overlooked.

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Here’s my own compilation of another two LP’s..

For “Wally Rose - Ragtime Classics (1958) & Honky Tonkin (1953)” go here:

https://www.upload.ee/files/12342399/Wally_Rose_-_Honky_Tonkin_.rar.html

01) Toppliner Rag 3:17
02) Gladiolus Rag 3:10
03) Red Pepper Rag 2:15
04) The Pearls 2:58
05) Euphonic Sounds 3:26
06) Frog Legs Rag 2:30
07) Springtime Rag 2:51
08) King Porter Stomp 2:08
09) Easy Winners 3:14
10)Pineapple Rag 2:49
11) Cascades Rag 2:49
12)Harlem Rag 2:28
13) Hot House Rag
14) Rooster Rag
15) Silent Movie Rag (Trilby Rag)
16) Triangle Jazz Blues
17) Nonsense Rag
18) Castle House Rag