Born Again: The Pipe Organ as Jazz Instrument

Abstract

Waller’s series of pipe organ recordings for Victor in the late 1920s constitutes a repertoire unique in the history of jazz. No other major figure made so many jazz recordings of such consistently high quality on the pipe organ. Given both the nominal similarity between organ and piano keyboards, and the number of jazz pianists making records during this era, one could ask why no strong and productive jazz tradition for the pipe organ evolved. Despite the apparent similarities, however, substantial differences do exist between the organ and the piano, differences Waller exploited. A close look at the intrinsic nature of each instrument and at the circumstances surrounding Waller’s early efforts on the pipe organ may help illuminate both the significance of Waller’s achievement and the reasons it was never duplicated.