“I could see that, if not entirely disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.” P.G. Wodehouse, The Code of the Woosters
Dave Jasen always seemed far from being gruntled in his 84 years. In fact, he often seemed to thrive on being contrary. Nevertheless, he was a ragtime revival pioneer, a finger bustin’ ragtime performer. a consummate collector of the music and literature, and a sought-after scholar on all things syncopated. Oh yes, and he was the first biographer of P.G. Wodehouse, American/British humorist, prolific writer of stories, and early Broadway musicals.
According to David’s own account, he first discovered ragtime when he was in elementary school in Long Beach, New York, twirling the radio dial one night, he suddenly heard something new to him that the announcer called ragtime. That was his first exposure to music that was to fill the rest of his life. His father was a dentist on Long Island and as he grew up, piano lessons were a large part of his life and quickly, collecting the original sheet music, recordings, books, and other ephemera of early ragtime occupied his time.
David went to the American University in Washington D.C. and while working toward a bachelor’s degree he gave ragtime recitals in the Great Hall most nights for four years. He pursued several careers out of college and by 1970 he was working as an assistant to the president of Long Islan
