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 rag for Barack Obama January 26, 2009

A rag for Obama? Why not? James Scott wrote the New Era Rag in 1919 in anticipation of the roaring twenties. Scott Joplin dedicated rags to specific people. Tom Turpin wrote the St. Louis rag for the World’s fair in 1904. This is my contribution to the exciting stage America and the world is entering. [...]

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 [...]