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Listen
to sound samples from the CD below
1. Triplets
2. Rainbow Ripples
3. Chromatic Fox-Trot
4. Cross Corners
5. Log Cabin Blues
6. Jovial Jasper
7. Ragtime Robin
8. Dotty Dimples
9. 12th Street Rag
10. Valse Classique
11. One Fleeting Hour
12. American Patrol
13. Intermezzo Russe
14. Dancing Stars
15. Dance of the Toy Regiment
16. Bunch of Roses
17. Do Another Break
18. St. Louis Blues
19. Yellow Dog Blues
20. Charleston Capers
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Masters of the Xylophone
George Hamilton Green
and Joe Green with the
All-Star Trio, Green Brothers Xylophone Orchestra and the George
Green - Frank Banta Duo
Today, more than 80
years later, the artistry of George and Joe Green is captured on this
soundtrack from original 20s and 30s recordings of these virtuoso Masters
of the Xylophone. No one knows for sure, but it is thought that there are
thousands of recordings of the Green brothers. Of the hundreds of records
available, the selection of twenty for this collection wasn't easy. The
private collection of recordings and publishers' record catalogues of Lew
Green, Jr. was a useful starting point.
The headlines read "Boy plays Xylophone of Own Construction" when,
in 1906, George Hamilton Green (1893-1970) first created a sensation by
performing solo xylophone on a homemade instrument with his father's band
in Omaha, Nebraska. He performed throughout the Midwest as a concert and
vaudeville artist, was a dance orchestra wizard, and in 1916 began one of
the most prolific recording careers in history.
George was not only a busy performing artist on record and radio,
be also composed pop tunes, maintained a busy teaching schedule and, as
the saying goes, literally wrote the book on the xylophone which he felt
was "the perfect ragtime instrument."
His older brother Joe Green (1892-1939) was as well known and
sought after in the recoding business. Joe received national acclaim when
he toured with John Philip Sousa's band as a featured xylophone soloist
from 1915 through 1919. Not only a xylophonist, but also a percussionist
and timpanist. Nat Shilkret and the Victor Company used Joe extensively
for recording dates. he was also timpanist for the Victor Red Seal
Operatic recordings.
The Green brothers played in hundreds of groups in recoding studios
and on radio airways. Their most notable group was the Green Brothers
Novelty Orchestra (mid-20s to early 30s) in which George and Joe, along
with their younger brother Lew (1909-1992), a guitar and banjo player,
performed the soundtrack for the first Disney cartoons, Steamboat
Willie, The Opry House, and Skeleton Dance.
Joe died in 1939 of complications following an operation. George
retired from music shortly thereafter to pursue a lengthy career as a
cartoonist from his home in Woodstock, New York, until his own death in
1970.
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