Roy Bargy

Roy Bargy
Roy Bargy
	Bargy in 1922
Background information
Birth name	Roy Fredrick Bargy
Born	July 31, 1894; Newaygo, Michigan, U.S.
Died	January 16, 1974 (aged 79); Vista, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Composer, musician
Instrument	Piano

Roy Fredrick Bargy (July 31, 1894 – January 16, 1974) was an American composer and pianist.

Biography

Born in Newaygo, Michigan, he grew up in Toledo, Ohio. In 1919, he began working with Charley Straight at the Imperial Piano Roll Company in Chicago, performing, arranging and composing. He was the leader, pianist and arranger of the Benson Orchestra of Chicago from 1920 to 1922 (when he was replaced by Don Bestor), and later worked with the orchestras of Isham Jones and Paul Whiteman, and recorded piano solos for Victor Records.^{[citation needed]} In 1928, he was the first pianist to record George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F (in an arrangement by Ferde Grofé; with Paul Whiteman and his Concert Orchestra).^{[citation needed]}

From 1943 until his retirement, he was music director for Jimmy Durante.^[1]

He died in Vista, California at the age of 79.

^ Jasen, David A.; Tichenor, Trebor Jay (1978). Rags and Ragtime. Dover. pp. 222–26.