John Edward Hasse, The Music Man

Few jazz fans would argue the value of ragtime, including both its continued popularity and its huge contribution to the early development of jazz. And we know the folks to thank, the ragtimers, past and present, who’ve been “ragging” since before the turn of the last century. I recently received Tom McDermott’s latest recording for Arbors that features his interpretation of the music of the first great composer of classic ragtime, Scott Joplin. In recent years, the folks at the Smithsonian Institution have devoted much time and effort to preserving and promoting classic ragtime and the legacy of its composers and performers. Toward that end, few have done as much as Smithsonian’s recently retired curator of American music, John Edward Hasse, who began his music career as a ragtime pianist. John Edward Hasse been a very busy man, not only as a curator but also as a performing ragtime and jazz pianist. My wife Jean and I were fortunate to meet John when he was still a student at Indiana University in Bloomington. When we were visiting Jean’s friends in Indianapolis, they suggested we go to Nashville to hear some good jazz. I thought that would be a long trip; however, I soon discovered that Indiana also had claimed a small city with the same name. We went to a popular restaurant there called “The Ordinary.” I can attest that John was far from ordinary. When we heard h