Wally Rose

Whippin' The Keys Wally Rose

Pianist Wally Rose was the original piano player in Lu Watters Yerba Buena Jazz Band, the band that started the Traditional Jazz revival of the 1940s and '50s. He also played with Bob Scobey in 1950-51, Turk Murphy in 1952-54 and spent many years as soloist in San Francisco. In 1953 Rose recorded two influential solo LPs: Ragtime Classics and Ragtime Piano Masterpieces. Rose remained active throughout the '70s and '80s. Whippin' the Keys was recorded at two sessions in 1968 and 1971. The twenty solo ragtime selections were originally issued on two Blackbird LPs (Rose on Piano, Blackbird 12007 and Whippin' the Keys, Blackbird 12010). They are reissued here for the first time.