Although we today tend to associate it chiefly with the giants of the
form, which include Scott Joplin, James Scott and Joseph Lamb, ragtime
music is also the rich and extraordinary legacy of many forgotten composers
from all over the United States. Increasing awareness of the vast variety
of the ragtime repertoire has made possible the publication of a large
number of relatively obscure pieces.
We present here a cross-section of
this lesser-known ragtime music, ranging from the haunting folk melody of
Levee Revels (1898) to the cinematic flair of Key-Stone Rag
(1921), from the cakewalk At a Georgia Camp Meeting (1897)
to unique, strutting Bantam Step (1916). From San Francisco to
New York, New Orleans to Chicago, ragtime became synonymous with popular
music. Charley Straight and J. B. Walsh summed it up perfectly when they
wrote that "Everything is Ragtime Now".
While the bulk of this music survives in piano editions, ragtime was performed
on a wide variety of instruments. Most of the composers were, however, accomplished
pianists, who wrote with this instrument in mind. The inimitable Eubie Blake
once remarked about playing ragtime, "Learn it as it is written, then play
it your own way." We have taken this to heart, ornamenting repeated sections,
underlining the elements of improvisation and creativity essential to the ragtime
style.
program notes -- Allan Martin
Track Titles
1. Razzazza Mazzazza....Artrhur Pryor (1906)
2. Levee Revels...W.C. O'Hare (1898)
3. The Junkman Rag...Luckey Roberts (1913)
4. Bantam Step...Harry Jentes (1916)
5. The Jazz-Dance Repertoire...Shelton Brooks and Chris Smith (1920)
6. Sponge...W.C. Simon (1911)
7. Honey Rag...Egbert van Alstyne (1909)
8. Mandy's Broadway Stroll....Thomas Broady (1898)
9. The Original Chicago Blues...James White (1915)
10. At a Georgia Campmeeting...Kerry Mills (1897)
11. Cleanin' Up in Georgia...Harry Guy (1899)
12. Trombone Johnsen...E.J. Stark (1902)
13. Felix Rag...H.H. Skimming (1910)
14. Echoes from the Snowball Club...Harry Guy (1899)
15. Too Much Raspberry...Sydney Russell (1916)
16. The Amazon Rag...Teddy Hahn (1904)
17. Who Let the Cows Out?...Charles Humfeld (1910)
18. Turkey in the Straw, A Rag-Time Fantasie...Otto Bonnell (1899)
19. Majestic Rag...Ben Rawls and Royal Neel (1914)
20. Key-Stone Rag...Willie Anderson (1921)
21. Everything is Ragtime Now...Charley Straight and J.B. Walsh (c.1913)
Complete list of audio CD titles in the NPM catalogue
which feature or include the works of De Organographia:
French
Music from the 14th Century -- Ars Nova period realizations
on replicated period instruments.
Music of the
Ancient Greeks
Carnevale
-- Renaissance Italian Festival Music
Music of
the Ancient Sumerians, Egyptians and Greeks
One Horse
Open Sleigh -- 19th Century Christmas Music on original and
replicated instruments
Now
make we joye -- Renaissance Christmas and other Celebratory
Music
Everything is
Ragtime Now -- rare rags from the early 20th Century played
on period instruments, featuring Allan Martin
L'Autre
Jour -- harp music from the 18th & 19th Centuries,
featuring Laura Zaerr
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email us: NPM@NorthPacificMusic.com