This year has seen pianist and composer Matthew de Lacey Davidson prodigiously successful in album production: his 2024 releases include two CD sets totalling five discs. Both albums merit a “deep dive” and are recommended for listening. This month our focal point is The Graceful Ghost, a broad survey of contemporary piano rags composed between 1960 and 2021, some originally recorded and released by Davidson in 1994, others brand new. Thirty-seven works by eighteen composers are packed onto two discs, making this collection a welcome addition to a contemporary Ragtime connoisseur’s listening library. Galen Wilkes, Jeff Barnhart, and Davidson himself contributed essays to the album’s liner notes. Doug Benson should be given special credit for working as sound engineer on this large project.
William Bolcom’s Three Ghost Rags (including the twice-recorded titular piece) is a highlight of the album. Three pieces by Max Morath—One for Norma, One for Amelia, and The Golden Hours—are included and lovingly played, though Davidson’s anticipatory left hand accents sometimes obscure Morath’s harmonic voicings in One for Amelia. I was glad to see two pieces by William Albright in the playlist. Davidson’s rock-solid playing technique and manner of phrasing work well with Albright’s surprising, mischievous turns-of-phrase in Sweet Sixteenths and The Sleepwalker’s Shuffle.
