Issues of Syncopated Times in the past year have had a number of marvelous articles about Max Morath. Though I’ve known him for more than forty-five years, these pieces have further enlightened me to an unexpected degree. So much of his career, as laid out by Andy Senior and in several writings by Larry Melton (1,2,3), was new to me, and Matthew de Lacey Davidson’s interview on Max’s recording methods and decisions examines areas rarely explored.
My first awareness of Max Morath was in 1960 or ’61, when I happened upon one of the installments of his early TV series on the ragtime era. Aside from his phenomenal abilities to entertain, I was blown away by the way he used music to elucidate the history and sociology of the early 1900s and, in reverse, how these other disciplines were so closely reflected in the music. This was, for me, a new way to view music. I don’t recall how many of the installments of this series I had seen, but for years afterwards I tried never to miss any of his TV appearances.
Then, one day in the summer or fall of 1976, I answered the telephone and found myself speaking to Max Morath. He was looking for information on a composer he was recording and someone referred him to me. I had the information at hand and, of course, was thrilled to share it with him. We spoke for a while on various musical subjects, and before ending the call he said, “If yo
