One of my fondest memories (and there were many) of last summer’s Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia is of meeting Kyle Stark and his family for the Maple Leaf Rag contract marker ceremony. We […]
While blowing off the dust this morning, an old newspaper clipping fell out of a scrapbook and it took me back to Sedalia, Missouri in 1974. No, not to the ragtime festival this time but […]
For some time now, I have been gathering material on “Ragtime” Bob Darch in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of his birth in 2020. I have discovered many others have recently written or are writing […]
Blowing of the Dust with Larry Melton I enjoy working with the ephemera of the Ragtime Archive in Sedalia and, as a diversion, I work with my own accumulation of personal scrapbook treasures. As I […]
1983 was a busy year… I note that as the Director of Symposia for the 2017 Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival, Bill Edwards will present a Legends Panel of ragtime performers and authorities from the […]
Earlier Festivals in Sedalia As I am writing this, the 37th Annual Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, Missouri, is well under way and by all Internet accounts it is off to a great start. […]
Haze of Memory Not very much happened of ragtime interest in Sedalia in the years after World War I. The bustling town moseyed along, growing a bit, but generally it settled into a social and […]
Ed. Note: The picture above shows a portion of approximately 9,000 piano rolls in Trebor Tichenor’ s collection, reputed to be the most extensive in the world. I found the picture in Bittersweet Volume V, […]
The author’s uncashed check for his first article in The Mississippi Rag This month I’m not so much blowing off the dust as I am clearing out some cobwebs, and delightful cobwebs they are thanks […]
Fred Hoeptner’s paper on the origin and use of the term “ragtime” delivered at last Summer’s Joplin Festival in Sedalia has had me thinking about how ragtime was defined and received in “The Cradle of […]
The Age of Sound I recently discovered that the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry has made the final selections for it’s now completed “500 most significant sound recordings” list. I’ve been reflecting on both […]
Tom Ireland at age 21 Among the treasures of the Sedalia Ragtime Archive are sections of G. Thomas Ireland’s old clarinets. Though Sedalia ragtime is usually associated with Scott Joplin, Arthur Marshall, Scott Hayden and […]
“Ragtime angel” Danny Matson I was visiting recently with a friend about angels. Not the Gabriel types, with trumpets blaring, or the ones like Clarence waiting to get their wings, or the baseball players, or […]
Blowing Off The Dust with Larry Melton “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for fifteen minutes.” This line, credited to Andy Warhol from a Stockholm exhibit catalog in 1968, has gone through several attributions […]
(A strongwoman supports a pianist—with his piano—circa 1920. The case could be made that they’re both athletes.) Blowing off the Dust with Larry Melton Throughout mid-February, I was suitably entertained watching the Winter Olympics. I […]
Artist’s rendering of a restored Scott Joplin mural in Texarkana, the project is now complete. (Courtesy The Arts and Historic District Committee, of Texarkana) Blowing Off The Dust with Larry Melton A fond memory from the […]
The 1951 Joplin Memorial placard presentation in Sedalia. In the front row, from left, are Charles Hanna, Sr., Mayor Herb Studer, Z. Lyle Brown, J. B. Hylick, and Abe Rosenthal in the black tux. Blowing […]
Blowing off the Dust This month I am going to use this tiny Sedalia newspaper snippet from 1902 to discuss some thoughts on research and then segue to writing about another important letter I received […]
(The (Ragtime) Knights of the Round Table at the Ivory Grill in the Bothwell Hotel: Jack Love, Larry Melton, Danny Matson, and Arlo “Chip” Busby. Chester Katnipski (not pictured) is the photographer.) Blowing off the […]
Blowing Off The Dust By Larry Melton I spend a lot of time blowing the dust off of old newspaper clippings, especially articles about the ragtime festivals in Sedalia over the years. Most, of course, […]