Jazz and the Parlor Pianist

I've always liked Gottschalk (and a little goes a long ways), but I'd never thought of his place in the genealogy of Jazz.

A phenomenon in his lifetime but relegated to the status of parlor pianist today, Gottschalk nevertheless was the complete package: talented, good looking, highborn. Educated at the Paris Conservatoire and a peer of Fredrick Chopin, Gottschalk carved an impressive pedigree when he hit the concert trail in the Western Hemisphere during the years leading up to and including the American Civil War.

A very fine round up of Cd's on the Naxos of Gottschalk's best works.

Read it here.