Axel Pleases and Surprises (1927) - Axel Christensen @GLepRagtimeChronicle
Axel Pleases and Surprises (1927) - Axel Christensen  @GLepRagtimeChronicle
Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
To celebrate one year since I started this channel (with Axel Christensen playing 'Teasing the Klassics'), I am once again posting a Christensen recording. Thanks to all those out there who have made these past 121 videos possible.

A rare recording of Axel Christensen's voice, with himself at the piano. This is a surviving remnant of his typical vaudeville routine, which consisted of the following, according to a 1927 promotional brochure:

'For vaudeville, where his time is naturally limited to not more than 20 minutes, his routine is usually as follows:

1. Novelty Piano Solo.

2. Pianologue – A Reminder of Bert Williams, in colored dialect.

3. Monologue – Skandinavian atmosphere in dialect and full of laughs.

4. Piano Solo – Medley of popular tunes, played in his own style, with plenty of breaks, fills and embellishments to delight the modern music lover.

5. Encore: His impression of a tobacco chewing old soldier telling a duck story.

For club entertainments this routine is lengthened out to about 30 minutes by adding a character monologue in English dialect, such as:

6. The Honorable Bassington- Bassington talks on Physiology.

7 . Monologue – Mrs. Gilhooly's experience with the bottles, in Irish dialect.

8. Piano Solo – A syncophonic version of the Overture "Poet and Peasant," or "An Alpine Storm."

For full evening programs he delves deeper into his repertoire and gives serious pianologue readings such as James Whitcomb Riley's "An Old Sweetheart of Mine" and "The River Smile." This is followed by selected piano solos, interspersed with pianologues, monologues, stories, etc., etc.

Anyway, when the evening is over you'll say you've been ENTERTAINED.'

Brochure excerpt courtesy Ted Tjaden.

More Axel Christensen:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbGAQvbfY3Z2W89jwdwoQm3BlqRl0dlvE&si=PiULqgwK9kSHIbtR
Axel Pleases and Surprises (1927) - Axel ChristensenI Want to See My Child (1911) by Scott Joplin [1976 SMOOTH JAZZ SOLO]Phoebe Thompsons Cake Walk (1899) by Sadie Koninsky [1900 Cylinder Recording, Metropolitan Band]The Star of Bethlehem (1939) - The Story of the First Christmas With CarolsDont Fail Me Dice (1926) - Al Bernard & Sam SteptAlbert Reiss - Witches’ Ride [Hexenritt] (1911)St. Louis Rag (1903) by Tom Turpin [1948 Pianola Recording]Were All Back Together Again, Me and That Old Gang of Mine (1933) - Gus VanThe Sounds of World War I - A Collection of Speeches and Songs👻Comic Ghost Stories (c. 1908-1911) 👻 - Home Wax Cylinder RecordingPrelude to Act III (1911) by Scott Joplin [1976 SMOOTH JAZZ SOLO]The Murray Walk (1914) by Paul Biese and F. Henri Klickmann [Played by Princes Band in 1916]
The Ragtime Chronicle |

Axel Pleases and Surprises (1927) - Axel Christensen

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