John Arpin • Champagne Rags

JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH

Joseph Lamb (1887-1960) is regularly considered one of the “big three” of classic ragtime composers along with Scott Joplin and James Scott. He differed from the other two in that he was white, lived way past the ragtime era, was interviewed, and actually recorded late in life.

And yet it is a bit strange that none of Lamb’s compositions, including the best-known ones (“American Beauty Rag” and “The Ragtime Nightingale”), were adopted and widely played by the jazz world. As can be heard on John Arpin’s Champagne Rags, which contains the dozen Lamb rags that were published by John Stark during 1908-19, his pieces are full of rich melodies and attractive chord changes that could certainly be jammed on by jazz artists.

John Arpin (1936-2007) was the perfect pianist to be interpreting Joseph Lamb’s works. A virtuoso who also recorded show tunes, pop music and classical music, his most lasting legacy are his recordings of classic rags. On Champagne Rags, the pianist puts plenty of feeling and life into Lamb’s pieces, sometimes pausing or slowing down slightly between themes before continuing on. He brings out the warmth that is consistently found in Joseph Lamb’s compositions.

This 1990 CD is filled with beautiful music. So, when is a Dixieland band looking for fresh material going to discover the joys of playing such pieces as “Sensation Rag,” “Contentment Rag,” and “Reindeer Ragtime?”

John Arpin
Champagne Rags
Pro-Arte CDD 497

Scott Yanow

Since 1975 Scott Yanow has been a regular reviewer of albums in many jazz styles. He has written for many jazz and arts magazines, including JazzTimes, Jazziz, Down Beat, Cadence, CODA, and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, and was the jazz editor for Record Review. He has written an in-depth biography on Dizzy Gillespie for AllMusic.com. He has authored 11 books on jazz, over 900 liner notes for CDs and over 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings. Yanow was a contributor to and co-editor of the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz. He continues to write for Downbeat, Jazziz, the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, the Jazz Rag, the New York City Jazz Record and other publications.