Blowing Off The Dust

I was recently contacted by a gentleman in New York who has had to curtail playing the piano due to the challenges of aging and

We got old. Fifty years added to our twenties, thirties, and forties in 1974 equals old for those who have managed to survive. And. for

My grandmother used to say she couldn’t see because she had Cadillacs in front of her eyes. Well, it must be genetic because I’ve gone

This month I conclude my reflections on the first Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia in July of 1974. Hopefully someone will write about the

As I blow the dust off of the fifty-year-old files of Joplin Ragtime Festival documents, it isn’t just the dust causing my eyes to tear.

There was a knock at the door and when I answered the fellow introduced himself as David Reffkin (not to be confused with Joshua Rifkin

News from Galen Wilkes that Dennis Pash was rushed to the hospital in December brought back a flash of memories and of course great concern

It never ceases to amaze me the details I can remember from the first Sedalia ragtime festival 50 years ago. Yet, I can’t for the

Recently while working on the history of the 1974 Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, I was distracted by an article an old friend had written, and

It has been great fun to recall old memories of the first 1974 Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia. This month I remember two gentlemen

This month I continue to write about the premier 1974 Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, Missouri. Last month I featured Flint Long, piano contest

As I was blowing the dust off some unsorted clippings recently, I found a clipping on the contest held at the first Scott Joplin Ragtime

For the next year I will be blowing the dust off stories of the first Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival held in Sedalia, MO, July 25-27,

For the last three years, I have been self-confined due to the Covid pandemic. Only frequent visits to the doctors’ offices 10 miles away and

Today when I ask younger people where they first discovered ragtime, I get a lot of answers relating to the popular recording media of their

It had been a reasonably normal day, perhaps even a little more pleasant than most. However, toward the middle of the afternoon, a minor cough

The owner has graciously turned over much of the Perry part of what exists currently consisting of seven deteriorating cardboard boxes. Sedalia’s superb local historian,

As I have often mentioned, having a column in this publication has opened the world of ragtime for me. It is often an adventure to

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