By the age of 10, Thomas Waller was playing piano and organ proficiently and beginning to compose in syncopation. In fact, by the end of
James P. Johnson is another gifted performer/composer whose music bridged the span between ragtime and jazz and he was an early innovator of Harlem stride.
After the original Classic Ragtime composers those who improvised on their syncopation came next, and Jelly Roll Morton in New Orleans was one of the
Not all of the original classic ragtime composers were men. Among the talented women, May Aufderheide has likely been the most popular. May wrote seven
Recorded ragtime music is fortunate to have had several fine historians (see References). Several of these diligent men and women have given us fine discographies
Since early Classic ragtime seemed to evolve from the cakewalk, dance, and march music around 1900 it was natural for it to become an instrumental
Eubie Blake (born James Hubert Blake in Baltimore) learned to play the piano as a child of four or five. He became a living link
John Stark began publishing Scott Joplin’s compositions, he sought out other composers who wrote in the Classic Ragtime style, In St. Louis, Stark found Artie
The genius to be acknowledged as the third great “classic” ragtime composer is Joseph Lamb. Unlike Joplin and Scott, Lamb was white and from an
James Scott is often the second of the three acknowledged great “classic” ragtime composers with Joplin and Lamb. He was born in Neosho, Missouri, but
John Stark was one of the America’s foremost publishers of “classic” ragtime sheet music and of early American Classical Music. He was born in Kentucky
Since Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag seems to be the pivot around which ragtime revolves, it is appropriate to relate a bit of his biography
On August 10, 1899, at 114 East 5th Street, Sedalia, Missouri three men gathered at the John Stark and Son Music Store to sign a
The earliest identified American ragtime compositions had their origins in the south and were inspired by minstrel music, particularly the folk banjo, and the popular
Since there are some TST readers and many young people who are not well acquainted with ragtime backstories, this column will attempt to provide an
