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Zez Confrey

 
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Zez Confrey
 
 
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Edward Elzear "Zez" Confrey (April 3, 1895-November 22, 1971) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 composer
Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
 and performer of piano
Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
 music.

Zez Confrey was born in Peru, Illinois
Peru, Illinois

Peru is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,835 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ottawa, Illinois–Streator, Illinois Ottawa-Streator micropolitan area....
, the youngest child of Thomas and Margaret Confrey. After World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 he became a pianist and arranger for the QRS piano roll
Piano roll

A piano roll is the music storage medium used to operate the player piano, pianola or a reproducing piano. The piano roll was the first medium which could be produced and copied industrially and made it possible to provide the customer with actual music fast and easily....
 company.






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Dizzy Fingers Sheet Music Cover 1
Edward Elzear "Zez" Confrey (April 3, 1895-November 22, 1971) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 composer
Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
 and performer of piano
Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
 music.

Zez Confrey was born in Peru, Illinois
Peru, Illinois

Peru is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,835 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ottawa, Illinois–Streator, Illinois Ottawa-Streator micropolitan area....
, the youngest child of Thomas and Margaret Confrey. After World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 he became a pianist and arranger for the QRS piano roll
Piano roll

A piano roll is the music storage medium used to operate the player piano, pianola or a reproducing piano. The piano roll was the first medium which could be produced and copied industrially and made it possible to provide the customer with actual music fast and easily....
 company. His novelty piano
Novelty piano

Novelty Piano is a genre of piano music that was popular during the 1920's.A successor to ragtime and an outgrowth of the piano roll music of the teens, novelty piano can be considered a pianistic cousin of jazz, which appeared around the same time....
 composition "Kitten on the Keys," released in 1921, became a hit, and he went on compose many other pieces in the same genre. This piece was inspired by a cat at his grandmother's house that he discovered prancing up and down the piano keyboard.

After the 1920s he turned more and more toward composing for jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 bands. He retired after World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 but continued to compose occasionally until 1959. He died in Lakewood, New Jersey after suffering for many years from Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that often impairs the sufferer's motor skills and speech, as well as other functions....
. He left behind more than a hundred piano works, miniature operas, and songs, plus numerous piano rolls, music publications, and recordings.

Selected works

  • My Pet (1921)
  • Kitten on the Keys (1921)
  • You Tell 'em Ivories (1921)
  • Poor Buttermilk (1921)
  • Greenwich Witch (1921)
  • Stumbling (1922)
  • Coaxing the Piano (1922)
  • Nickel in the Slot (1923)
  • Dizzy Fingers (1923)
  • Three Little Oddities (1923)
  • African Suite (1924)
  • Humorestless (1925)
  • Jay Walk (1927)
  • Jack in the Box (1927)
  • Sparkling Waters (1928)
  • Moods of a New Yorker (1932)
  • Smart Alec (1933)
  • Giddy Ditty (1935)
  • Rhythm Venture (1935)
  • Blue Tornado (1935)
  • Meandering (1936)
  • Wise Cracker Suite (1936)
  • Amazonia (1945)
  • Fourth Dimension (1959)


Selected Discography

  • Zez Confrey: Creator of the Novelty Rag, Zez Confrey (1976)
  • The Dancing Twenties, Various Artists (1976)
  • The Piano Roll Artistry of Zez Confrey, Zez Confrey (1982)

External Links

  • at Smithsonian Folkways