DESCRIPTION:
These two songs are from the Broadway hit "Tip Toes." Issued in February 1926, this Fox-Trot piano roll (number 7290) is played by Harry Perrella, who had a close history and association with the music of George Gershwin. Harry Perrella (real name Romeo) (1900-1939) was a pianist in Paul Whiteman's Orchestra from September 1924 until February 1928. He was the third pianist, after George Gershwin and Milton Rettenberg, to master the solo piano parts of Rhapsody In Blue. He was the son of Italian immigrants. In the late 'teens, his father, Alfredo Pascquale Perrella, was a musician in Hugo Riesenfeld's Orchestra at the Rialto Theatre in Manhattan. At the same time Harry (at age 18) played in the Healy Restaurant on 149th Street. In the early 1920s he performed with The Arkansas Travelers and Sam Lanin Orchestra. In 1923-24 he was with Ray Miller's band. In the mid-1920s he made many piano rolls for the Welte-Mignon Reproducing Roll Corp. His last engagement was at Le Mirage, a Manhattan night spot. He was survived by a wife, Florence.