We have faced many obituaries of major figures in music since the pandemic and a similar increase in the number of program and event cancellations
I was delighted to receive an email from Walter Ray last week regarding my TST column on contemporary performances of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha. He is
My first attendance at a live concert in months brought many emotions and memories. First, and foremost I was reminded how much pure joy radiates
I have written a lot about Treemonisha over the years and since 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the first two fully staged productions of
I have met or learned of some of the most interesting people through conversations with Max Morath. Recently he happened to mention his work in
It is always a pleasure to receive comments from readers. This past month I was delighted to hear from an old friend in Sweden, Peter
As a child in 1949, I had a routine of surreptitiously going into the living room after everyone was asleep to listen to late night
When Joe Bebco forwarded an inquiry about Max Morath from Anne Phillips recently, I anxiously responded. Anne and her husband, bassist Bill Phillips, were neighbors
Have you ever immersed yourself in a trivial pursuit while important tasks needed your immediate attention? Well, a friend recently added six inches of sheet
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
