Renewed Interest in J.W. ‘Blind’ Boone
Larry Melton April 30, 2022
I must begin by congratulating the esteemed editor of this publication on his election as a 2022 Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association. It
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I must begin by congratulating the esteemed editor of this publication on his election as a 2022 Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association. It
This is a pleasant article for me to write, though it resurrects a reminder of unpleasant times. I hope readers will find the healing nature
The City of Sedalia and the Furnell Family Companies previously announced the beginning of construction on a large Pavilion in downtown Sedalia to be used
I have been fighting several bold infections since Thanksgiving that have left me feeling lethargic as a petrified sloth. As a result, I have quite
A few days ago, Chris Robinson sent me a YouTube website address to watch the 2021 Christmas Parade in Sedalia, Missouri, featuring the Scott Joplin
I surprised myself when I placed the phone back on its port and just sat to let the inspiring emotion of the previous conversation mellow.
The intrepid West Coast Ragtime Society has announced the overwhelming success of their 2021 virtual 35th annual Ragtime Festival. For the second year, the all-video
I recently made a connection that has been in front of me for 40 plus years and which has nearly bowled me over. I spent
I was writing an autumn poem for our local nature reserve newsletter this morning describing family trips I remember as a kid. I grew up
As Max Morath celebrates his 95th birthday on October 1st this year, we are reminded of his career that spanned eight decades and included nearly
The emergence of music festivals in America during the last century contributed greatly to the preservation and appreciation of the nation’s musical heritage. I have
I came to the Internet’s social media late but have benefitted immensely from the discovery. It can be unnervingly controversial, or thought provoking, and informative
When Peter sent his latest CD, I was intrigued that he had been working with Jeff Barnhart. Jeff’s novelty ragtime is as unique and wonderfully
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Max Morath often credits “Lady Luck” with at least part of his success. However, listening to his stories and reading accounts of his long life
I have been thinking a lot about our ragtime community these past months in forced isolation. Not that I have been unaware of the other
Many of us have not heard from Matthew de Lacey Davidson for some time. Though he is now retired from performing, his ragtime recordings are
I am blowing off the dust this month with Max Morath. There are so many stories from his long career, but I am beginning with
The weekend of June 4-5 belonged to the virtual concerts and symposia of the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival Foundation. That would ordinarily have been
Dr. Ian Hominick at the University of Mississippi in Oxford produced a fine 2021 virtual program to keep the Old Time Piano Playing Contest at
During the June 4-5 weekend, the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival Foundation Announced that Bryan Cather received the 2020 Award posthumously and Mimi Blais received
David Mallette, energetic advocate for Texarkana (Arkansas and Texas) and director of the Regional Music Heritage Center there, died On Saturday June 5, 2021, at
As I watch civilization slowly emerge from our pandemic hibernation, I realize we still live in a dangerous world. I find myself in a tentative
For many admirers, a personally signed autograph is a treasured keepsake. For over fifty years I avidly accumulated these bits of personalized ephemera. It all
The Fungus Five plus Two (“our music grows on you,”) the Gutbucket Syncopators, Waldo’s Ragtime Orchestra, and The Gotham City Jazz Band are only a
If anything can dispel the gloom of a negative historical anniversary, it is music. That seems to have been what motivated Dr. Michael J. Budds
George Segal died March 23. 2021 near his Santa Rosa, California home. He was perhaps best known for the broad scope of his television and
I believe I have made more valuable and lasting friendships in the past year of so-called social isolation, than I have made in the past
Well known sheet music collector and music aficionados Janice Cleary died February 8, 2021 in Omaha, Nebraska, she was 96. She had recently donated her
As I begin writing this column for February, we are only a week into the new year. However, I have already had what will be
It doesn’t seem like five full years since the first issue of The Syncopated Times began appearing in our mailboxes. Since the February 2016 issue,
I remember reading Bill Hoffman’s fine column last year in The Syncopated Times describing his first visit to a West Coast Ragtime Festival (WCRF) and
Sadly, Steve Radeck informs us that “Professor” Don Burns has died at the age of 81. Don was a familiar ragtime entertainer in western New
Recently, I have been considering the relationship between ragtime and the railroads more intently than ever. First, because Marcello Piras wrote to inquire about railroad
When I get a message from Ed Berlin, it gets my immediate attention. Last month I received a most fascinating document Ed was passing along,
Last month I began my comment on the confusing heritage of Sedalia’s Maple Leaf Club (MLC). Was it the benign men’s social club of the
The River Raisin Ragtime Review Board of Directors announced on Thursday, Kelsee Vandervall will be the new Music Director following the retirement of founding director
“There has to be a balance between literally white-washing or ignoring history and presenting it in actual context…it appear(s) no matter what approach is taken,
Writing for The Syncopated Times reminds me of the experience of being alive. We go from experiencing the joy and ecstasy of the music we
Several years ago, I met a remarkable young man at the Sedalia Ragtime Festival named Brandon Byrne. Later, I discovered an on-line newsletter he produces
I knew of Peter Bergin as a fine performer from his YouTube postings, so I was delighted to learn he was recording an album utilizing
Like many reading this, I suspect you are nearly overwhelmed by the negativism accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a pessimistic time and for many
One of the great ragtime adventure stories I ever heard was of Peter Lundberg’s tour of America in 1963, vising and interviewing ragtime greats across
I met Steve Spracklen almost 50 years ago when I arranged a concert through Bob Vernon billed as “Three Generations of Ragtime.” Steve, Peter Lundberg,
I grew up in the 1940’s reading science fiction stories of time travel and of mysterious flying carpets. Today as I sit here in still
One of the earliest second-generation ragtime performers, Gale “Gaslight” Foehner died on February 9th this year. He was 91. His career as a ragtime pianist
As I was contemplating a column for this month, I came across a Facebook posting that inspired this article. It was a recent photo in
THIS EVENT IS POSTPONED UNTIL AT LEAST MAY 31st DUE TO CORONAVIRUS 2020 will be the 100th anniversary of “Ragtime” Bob Darch’s birth and, thanks
When Andy Senior mentioned in an email that Lew Shaw was publishing a second Jazz Beat volume of personality essays, I decided it was time
The docents at the KATY Depot Visitors Center in Sedalia regularly receive inquiries about the city and its ragtime heritage. Since the folks there are
From Larry Melton: When I read that Buck Henry died on January 8th, I remembered fondly the night we first met in Sedalia at a
Over the years I have lost track of the “Complete” Joplin sets that have been produced. The first such effort I acquired was Richard Zimmerman’s
When the notifications icon bell at the top of my Ragtimers Club Facebook page has a red number in double digits on a Sunday afternoon
This is supposed to be a column for the new year, but I find myself beginning to write on Thanksgiving Day, thinking of all the
I knew Treemonisha. Well, I should have written “a Treemonisha.” I certainly knew her as surely as if the fictional heroine of Scott Joplin’s opera
The sad word has come to us tonight, that Ian passed yesterday, Sunday Morning the 19th. We have posted an obituary: Pop Idol turned Ragtime
From The Ragtime Ephemeralist to Rusty Brown For some time now I have wanted to interview Chris Ware for The Syncopated Times. Over the years
My column requires a disclaimer this month because frankly, it amounts to little more than a grandfather bragging obnoxiously about his grandchildren. That written, I’ve
The Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation (SJIRF) has recently announced the Larry Karp Memorial Fund Award Program. The award will recognize and educate young ragtime
In my April 2018 column, I wrote of the accomplishments of the good people of Texarkana and the work they are doing to preserve their
Not many 27-year-old performers have a professional career spanning over a decade and a half, including a performance at Carnegie Hall with Michael Feinstein and