The "Gramophone Records" section has been updated with recordings by the great Zez Confrey – a musician who transformed popular music into high art and served as the vital link between the ragtime era and the age of jazz.

Zez Confrey (1895-1971) was a key figure in the history of American music and one of the first to systematize the language of jazz. His primary achievement was the creation and popularization of the "novelty piano" style. Unlike traditional ragtime, this style was characterized by immense technical complexity, the use of virtuosic passages, unusual harmonies, and the imitation of various sounds. Zez Confrey revolutionized playing technique by introducing complex rhythmic patterns and "broken" intervals, which later became the foundation for jazz pianists.

The book  “Modern Course in Novelty Piano Playing”, written by Zez Confrey and published in 1923, became a bible for thousands of pianists. The musician was the first to explain how to take a simple popular melody and transform it into a virtuosic showpiece. His exercises for developing finger independence and rhythmic stability are still widely used in jazz colleges nowadays.
Confrey created a genre that marked the pinnacle of piano ragtime's evolution. He proved that popular music could be every bit as technically challenging as the works of Ferenc Liszt or Frédéric Chopin.

Confrey was the "king" of paper music rolls for player pianos. His recordings for the QRS Company preserved the definitive performances of the era. This legacy has allowed modern researchers to accurately reconstruct the playing style of the 1920s, which would otherwise have been lost due to the poor quality of early audio recordings.
We invite you to experience the living tradition of jazz and appreciate the virtuosity that laid the foundation for modern improvisation. Visit our "Gramophone Records" section.

Our new musical selection features Zez Confrey’s most famous work, written in 1921 – “Kitten on the Keys.” The composer transformed the animal’s chaotic yet rhythmic “walk” into a complex, precisely measured musical structure. This piece became the hallmark of the novelty piano genre and a true cultural phenomenon of the time. Despite its playful title, the composition is technically formidable, demanding perfect finger independence, rapid-fire passages, and a confident stride-style.