"Happy New Year Ian. FVE sounds great on this piece; glad to share a recording that is new to many listeners."
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Shawn McSweeny
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Shawn McSweeny's Discussions
Fred Van Eps Plays "Polly"
2 Replies
A couple of days past his 147th birthday, here's Van Eps playing another…Continue
Started this discussion. Last reply by Shawn McSweeny on Friday.
Alex Magee Plays `Canadian Capers`
31 Replies
To help celebrate Canada's 158th birthday today, Alex Magee plays his…Continue
Started this discussion. Last reply by Shawn McSweeny Jul 12, 2025.
Sid Turner Plays 'Chansonade'
4 Replies
'Chansonade?' Well, not really. That's the title his old friend Tarant…Continue
Started this discussion. Last reply by thereallyniceman Jun 23, 2025.
Ossman`s 'Ragtime Medley' Transcribed
11 Replies
The Clifford Essex score for 'Ragtime Medley' doesn't represent Ossman's…Continue
Started this discussion. Last reply by Shawn McSweeny Jun 16, 2025.
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"Hi Shawn,
Happy New Year and thanks so much to FVE playing for us. I love his bright and vibrant playing and he has always been my favourite! What a great tune and arrangement this is."
Fred Van Eps Plays "Polly"
A couple of days past his 147th birthday, here's Van Eps playing another novelty piece. It was composed by John Stepan Zamecnik, (b. Cleveland, OH, 1872), an American composer and conductor, best remembered for the "photoplay music" he composed for use by pianists, organists, and orchestras during silent films. Zamecnik studied at the Prague Conservatory of Music under…See More
"Thanks Ian . . . If only the player window could also improve the recording quality."
"Somerset_March%20_J_P_Cunninghame.mp3
Marmie_Rag_J_P_Cunninghame.mp3
All three should be at or near score pitch and tempo. "
"Perhaps Ian (the Really Nice Ian) will create a little player window for the recording."
"Great research and interesting story.
Here is JPC playing "Wainalong Rag".
Wainalong_Rag_JP_Cunninghame.mp3"
"There are a few more recordings of JPC performing his own compositions : Easy Stunt Two, Minuet, Marmie Rag, Somerset March and Wainalong Rag. No score is known for some of these. If your friend has a talent for record…"
"Enjoyed listening to the mp3. Nice arrangement and at a relaxed tempo, as ragtime was originally intended. "
"Correct. No recording available for transcription, hence no opportunity to compare a recorded performance to the CE score."
" Re : Is there some place that Ossman's recording may be heard?
Not that I'm aware of. It's one of quite a few that are so rare they are't found in any of the on-line collections. "
"Here is "Shufflin' Pete". I believe I posted this some years back but it didn't find its way to the library.
Shufflin%20Pete%20Solo-%20Pno%20Acc-TAB.pdf
This is one of several compositions where the UK publisher, usually CE,…"
"Assuming you are referring to the graphic at the top of the Discussion : in Photoshop I combined the original piano score cover art, a scanned and then "ovaled" photo of Alex, and added some text in a colour matching the deep green border…"
"Happy 249th Independence Day (a day late), Chris ! Let's hope the U.S. has many more.
Thanks very much for sharing your much clearer version of Magee's performance. The Arden & Ohman duet was a treat."
"Ning strikes again. My reply has vanished. And so has my second attempt. Here comes the third I hope. The Magee recording is playing nearly a half step sharper than the piano recording. The pianos are playing at C on the duet recording.…"
"Hello Chris!. I'd love to hear the recording. It does not seem to be attached or linked to your post.
-jody"
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Comment Wall (2 comments)
- At 2:50pm on February 19, 2014, thereallyniceman gave Shawn McSweeny a gift…
- At 4:39 on January 21, 2016,
Peter LaBau said…
Hi Shawn- sorry to be slow to respond, I only check in here once in a while, all the while knowing I need to do it more frequently! Thanks so much for your note, and it's so nice to know that something I did affected you in a such a positive way. In answer to your question- yes, I have the banjo Doug did for me all those years ago- in fact, he did the banjo twice for me. Th original inlay patterns he did on the fingerboard had to be thrown away- the fret scale was off, and it never played in tune. As beautiful as it was, I had to replace the fingerboard, and in so doing I went from a flat board to a radiused one, which is what I have on all my instruments now. The flat inlays couldn't be moved over, so for the longest time, I had just the pear bars that descended from the nut, and the rest of the board was just blank. Two years ago, I sent the banjo neck back to Doug to have him add bars up at the top of the board, and add in some position markers in between. Here's what it looks like now:
The pot is a 1910's Tubaphone- 11-1/2" diameter, and the neck is a 28" scale. I have another pot like this that I'm having Kevin Enoch make a new neck for- I'll use that one for raised "D" bass- I use two banjos when I perform- I find that retuning just one instrument never works out real well- the bass string keeps changing after changing pitches. You're Canandian, right? Toronto? It would be fun to meet up one day- I'll hope that might happen. All the best to you- Peter
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