Greatest Ragtime Album of All Time March 16, 2011

The greatest ragtime album of all time (in my opinion) is John Arpin’s "The Kings of Ragtime". To fall into the "greatest of all time" category for anything demands a superb musical performance and John delivers that. What I like most about the album is that Arpin has selected a broad spectrum of composers that [...]

A Blind Ragtimer? February 7, 2008

Many of you have heard of blind pianists like Ray Charles, George Shearing, Ronnie Milsap and Art Tatum but did you know there was a blind ragtime composer? Charles Hunter (1876-1906) was an American composer of ragtime music who was born almost totally blind. He attended the School for the Blind in Nashville, Tennessee, where [...]

Spotlight on Nightingale Rag September 21, 2007

The Nightingale Rag was published by Joseph Lamb in 1915. It is Classic ragtime at its finest. Note: The Illustration contains the name Nightingale Rag but the Sheet Music is titled Ragtime Nightingale. I first heard John Arpin perform the Nightingale Rag on CBC Radio some 25 years ago. I was moved by the lyrical [...]

What is Classic Ragtime? June 11, 2007

Classic Ragtime is essentially sheet written ragtime music that peaked in popularity around the period 1897-1917. Classic Ragtime resembled classical music in that it was what I call "note perfect". i.e. you could interpret the composer’s work but it would not be considered "Classic" if you improvised on it. Invariably the left hand marked time [...]

Who was Tom Turpin? May 15, 2007

Tom Turpin was a composer of Ragtime who lived 1873-1922. He is credited with publishing the first rag by an African-American, the “Harlem Rag” of 1897. He also published the Bowery Buck, Ragtime Nightmare, St. Louis Rag, Pan Am Rag and The Buffalo Rag. Listen to the Harlem Rag He was the owner of the [...]

Comparison of Ragtime styles and interpretations March 5, 2007

“They all played the Maple Leaf Rag” is an album that both ragtime enthusiasts and those new to ragtjme will enjoy. There are 15 different interpretations of Scott Joplin’s 1899 Maple Leaf Rag, all recorded between 1907 and 1969. If you aren’t familiar with the original tune, I recommend listening to Ralph Sutton’s 1950 version [...]

Definition of ragtime February 14, 2007

Ragtime flourished from the mid 1890′s until around 1920. It was predominently sheet written music and was distributed before the days of recording. Pianos were as common as TVs are today so sheet music sales were huge. I play “Classical Ragtime”, a structured style developed by several composers including Scott Joplin, Joseph Lamb, Tom Turpin [...]

Ragtime Kidd Repertoire February 13, 2007

I love many styles of music and I believe it is healthy to accept the merits of each. Playing at the Holiday Inn for years and various tour boats have secured me with a broad repertoire covering styles like Pop, Rock and Roll, Jazz Standards, Ragtime and Boogie-Woogie. What is Boogie-Woogie? I maintain it was [...]

Ross the artist February 13, 2007

I have performed at many functions in the Kingston area for over 20 years. I developed a love for Ragtime in 1982 when I became hooked on the Classic Piano Ragtime book by Rudi Blesh. I studied under John Arpin, Toronto’s great pianist and President of the Toronto Ragtime Society at the time. One of [...]