Arthur Pryor and the Birth of Ragtime

In 1893, twenty two year old Arthur Pryor performed his first trombone solo with Sousa’s Band. The time and place couldn’t have been better. The sights and sounds of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago surrounded. For many country folk, this was their first time hearing Sousa’s famous band, now featuring the young Arthur Pryor. The Exposition has been confirmed to be the location where rags were first played to the masses. Overtly syncopated music was on exhibit, and it was with the help of native Missourian Arthur Pryor. Arthur Pryor is known mostly for his extraordinary ability on the trombone, and his legacy lives on through new students of the instrument studying his arrangements in basic training books. Aside from his phenomenal accomplishments as a trombonist and bandleader, he had a unique mindset when it came to ragtime. Pryor was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, an absolutely choice location and region for the birth of authentic classic ragtime. Pryor as a young boy took to many instruments other than the trombone, including the string bass and piano. It was his skill on the piano that proved most overlooked. From the start of his time with the Sousa band, he began writing music, though the popularity of his pieces was hit and miss. Through the mid 1890s, Pryor toured with the Sousa band, playing solos and his own compositions. In 1895, he wrote a very tantalizing number