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Who is "Mister Roll"?

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Who is "Mister Roll"?

I'm mystified and intrigued. An artist by the name of "Mister Roll" has a number of solo piano albums on Spotify, but I can find nothing about this person/compilation/computergeneratedaudiotrack online.

 

Any help would be appreciated. Knowing the identity of this "artist" will make my life at least .025% happier.

18 Replies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelly_Roll_Morton

 

this seems to be Mister Roll! Seems to match up with his ragtime/jazz style.

I too am in love and, as you say, mystified by Mister Roll. Breathtaking piano playing but dare I call it...inhuman?! Listen to some of "his" recordings and ask yourself, are fingers really capable of such dexterous runs? If so it makes the discovery of the identity of these virtuosic hands all the more pertinent and even necessary (to me at least). Jelly Roll Morton has been dead for over 75 years so I strongly suspect it is not him. If it was, why wouldn't he receive a more direct accreditation as opposed to this mysterious pseudonym "Mister Roll".

 

I've often thought that the name itself might be a clue - Mister Roll. Could this be a reference to old player pianos which operated without human hands utilizing what is called a piano roll...just a thought. Now that's the extent of my speculation and detective work and I hope to someday solve the mystery, but until that day, whether man or machine, I will continue to thoroughly enjoy the music of Mister Roll.

 

My favorite piece in the Spotify catalog is probably " I Wonder if You Still Care for Me", it's absolutely beautiful and really elevates me to a place I like to be. As another aside, his song titles are often quite poetic and lovely, it's refreshing. That's all I got! We'll solve this yet

 

Mister Roll...pleae verify that you are not a robot

I suspect it is, as you say, old-fashioned piano rolls. I like it, too.

Mister Roll has recently been removed from Spotify and my heart is breaking. Who are you Mister Roll? Are you a person. or an algorithm designed to create piano melodies that touch my heart? How can I hear you again? Please help...

Hello: See below for letter from distraught daughter. Does anyone know where else we can listen to the mesmerizing music of Mister Roll?

IMG_6552.JPG

I have been scouring the internet trying to find anywhere to listen to Mister Roll’s piano pieces and I can’t find them! It’s so weird since that rarely happens anymore. 😞

Has there been any update? Is there anyway of contacting 'him' through Spotify? I need to find who this person is - it's killing me not knowing!!

Mister Roll reveal yourself! 

Tidal seems to have all of the Mister Roll albums

It's been many months since Mister Roll has been removed from Spotify and I am still mystified! I've spent far too long googling various interpretations of this name only to glean that whoever this "Mister Roll" is, they are heavily inspired by the life and music of Jelly Roll Morton, from album titles to song names - to his own pen name. While some of Mister Rolls discography is available on Tidal, it's missing key tracks and albums, most notable the album "Golden Gate," his last released album and my personal favorite. The only place on the internet I can find even a little taste of this album is on a French music charts website from back in the day, which seems to have catalogued each and every song on each album - but in mere 30 second segments.

Mister Roll, please come back. 2020 needs you.

http://www.chartsinfrance.net/Mister-Roll/albums-singles.html
^the website in question for those who are interested.

You can find all of the Mister Roll albums on Tidal. Not great having to go to a different streaming service just for this but it's something at least.

It is amazing how the mysterious Mister Roll had just inexplicably reentered my mind and in short order, this thread should see its first activity in a year. Maybe it's a world replete with tumult and uncertainty that collectively drew us, the faithful, to continue our search for the comfort of this piano. It cannot be articulated better than your plea to whoever might be listening, "Mister Roll, please come back. 2020 needs you." It truly, truly does. My obsession with the identity of the artist has subsided into an obsession to simply find a conduit of his work. 

"Golden Gate" was one of my favorites as well! Specifically the track, "A Song of India". Utter beauty that my heart longs for. I appreciate the link you shared. Though they are 30-second bits, a taste is better than complete silence. I have yet to try Tidal, perhaps in my quarantine, I will explore it. 

I do, however, offer a very unexpected way to listen to Mister Roll's music!
 
If you have used Instagram than you are familiar with its "Story Sharing" function. A feature of this function is the ability to add music to the background of the story you are sharing. You enter the story sharing screen, click the little "add-on" icon at the top and select "music", and from there you are able to search for any song you can think of. HERE, I discovered, from what I can tell, the ENTIRETY of Mister Roll's recordings. If not the entirety, then pretty darn close to it. Pur serendipity brought me to, what I must call, this act of providence. Like everything else we have discovered since the ominous disappearance of the already mysterious pianist, this may seem a bit desperate. But it, I am content to say, is something. And something is better than nothing.

Good luck out there! The search continues. 

Although we are only slightly closer to having the ability to hear some of Mister Roll's melodies, it confuses me how someone can simply disappear! 

Song For India was by far my favourite, I am still unsure why it stood out so much. If anyone is interested, I happen to have a voice recording of the entirety of that song... I needed to use it for the background music of a uni project, so if anyone happens to want it I'm sure I could send it somehow - although I'm not sure how legal that is!

 

Here's to hoping 2020 will get better than it's going so far by firstly bringing back Mister Roll!

I'm very happy to hear that people are still as invested in this mystery as I am! "Song of India" is a tune that has captured my heart since I first heard Mister Roll's interpretation, and I've found that no other rendition of the song I can find feels the same for me! I would love to hear whatever recordings you have, bar none the legality of it all...

How do I get it so you haha!

Hi...I did not send the comment above, but also would LOVE to get any recordings you could provide of Mister Roll.

Hi All. Found some Mister Roll for you all http://www.chartsinfrance.net/Mister-Roll/albums-singles.html

Amazing! THANK YOU!!!!

That is an amazing find, thank you! Only thirty second recordings but something is better than nothing. Can't believe it's been 4 years since I first posted on this thread. 

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