Early next year, make sure to check the Festival Roundup section for the Zehnder’s Ragtime Festival, occurring every April in Frankenmuth, Michigan. I attended one
Christina Pepper is a solid pianist and prolific YouTube content creator; since meeting her and attending her symposium at the Scott Joplin Festival in 2023
Charles Ives’ kaleidoscopic synthesis of American music in his own work is one of the most fascinating musical perspectives of anyone ever. This synthesis is
My latest visit to the extensive collection of piano rags found on www.ragtimepiano.ca has yielded another little-known gem from the Original Ragtime Era: Percy Wenrich’s
Matthew de Lacey Davidson’s latest composition (Three Ineffable Rags, 2026) is a suite of three short piano rags. Davidson’s tonal style is dissonant yet soft-edged.
My favorite single bar of music is measure 13 of the C section of Scott Joplin’s Leola (1905), an archetype of Joplin’s lyrical finesse; to
This review of Dick Hyman’s Scott Joplin: The Complete Works for Piano is personally meaningful for me. The very first CD I ever bought, and
In the summer of 2024 Jacob Adams wrote Three Piano Rags Op. 47 and dedicated them to me (thank you, Jacob!). No. 2 in D
Alexander Peskanov is a Ukrainian composer, pedagogue, and powerhouse pianist. His 2004 recording of Scott Joplin for Naxos (Naxos 8.559114) is highly virtuosic, sometimes to
I love comparing the myriad recordings of Scott Joplin’s music, particularly the more comprehensive collections of his work. Thus I am pleased to evaluate Alessandro
Charles Leslie Johnson’s Golden Spider Rag (1910) is a simple, straightforward piece. The opening chords of the introduction would later be expanded into the A
Tom Brier’s voluminous output of quality piano rags is highly esteemed among his fellow Ragtime artists. His Razor Blades has become a standard and can
Broadway Rag (1922) is James Scott’s final published composition. It is thickly-chorded in keeping with Scott’s style. However, the tonic chord resolutions in the B
May Aufderheide was only 21 years old when Buzzer Rag, her fourth published composition, was issued in 1909. Much of the piece’s melodic material is
Top to bottom, bar for bar, W. Brett Youens’ piano rags are as well-crafted as anyone’s. Kangaragaroo (2009) is in the uncommon rag key of
Awakening is the latest CD and sheet music folio from St. Louis composer Richard Egan. I very much enjoy this new collection of Egan’s original
Personal disclosure: I very much miss George Winston. His artistry was an important formative influence on mine, and a Christmas card containing a note of
The Joplin/Hayden collaboration Kismet Rag (1913) is probably Scott Joplin’s most underrated composition. The piece’s opening section is a bit challenging to play, requiring pianistic
Last month I reviewed Matthew de Lacey Davidson’s double album The Graceful Ghost. This month my focus is on another multi-disc set issued by Davidson
Antoinette (1906) was the last of Scott Joplin’s three marches in 6/8 time to be published. The suspension of a melodic B over a C
The memorably-titled Elite Syncopations (1902) is one of Scott Joplin’s most finely-crafted compositions. The piece’s B and C sections are Mozartian in their simplicity. Many
This year has seen pianist and composer Matthew de Lacey Davidson prodigiously successful in album production: his 2024 releases include two CD sets totalling five
The Eagles and Ivories Ragtime Festival occurs every January in Muscatine, IA, so-named because bald eagle watching is an activity unique to the festival and
Igor Stravinsky’s theatrical chamber work A Soldier’s Tale (L’histoire du soldat in French, 1918) is widely considered a masterpiece of 20th century music. Musicians such
