good ragtime music

[donjuan]

Can you tell me some truely GREAT ragtime pieces?  I want something that goes further than Joplin's common "Entertainer" or "Maple Leaf Rag"

thanks

[nanabush]

I like Gershwin's Rialto Ripples.  I also have a ragtime book, and one of the pieces is called "Paramount Rag"... I can't find the book right now, so I dont remember the composer.. Probly if you look that one up u'll come up with something.

[thalbergmad]

Check out James P Johnson.

Really part of the stride school but good ragtime music.

[stevehopwood]

Ragtime is ragtime. Good fun but not exactly the culmination of a musical civilisation.

Are you looking for something that cannot exist?

Steve 

[ted]

Donjuan:

The other two major classical ragtime composers of the past are James Scott and Joseph Lamb. They would be worth your initial investigation. Recent years have seen the development of the idiom by several exceptionally gifted composers of piano music who believe the precise opposite to Steve; in other words, that ragtime and its contemporary derivatives do constitute a high point of serious Western art music.   

Judge for yourself whether or not this is so. Listen to the piano compositions of David Thomas Roberts in particular. Scott Kirby, Frank French, Hal Isbitz, Reginald Robinson and Brian Keenan are other contemporary pianists and composers working in this and related idioms.

If you find their recordings and scores difficult to locate on the internet, send me a private message or email and I shall help you. 

[pianote]

definitely check out William Bolcom.

My favorite piece.... The Serpent's Kiss from the Garden of Eden Suite.

[mikey6]

Elelna Kats-Chernin has a whole heap of rags published (man tnat can sound insulting if you don't know what i'm talking about ).  She write's them as a break from her more serious compositions.  'Russian rag' is fairly popular and has been arranged for several combinations.

[visionsofnighttime]

Hey donjuan, the most awesome rag is the "Mississippi Rag" by William Krell. You can get a great-sounding midi of it here:

https://www.les-stooges.org/pascal/musique/piano-jazz/bolling/ragtime.php?la=en

Played by Claude Bolling.

[pianiststrongbad]

Though this tends to lead to stride, I'd still recommend Jelly Roll Morton and Art Tatum.  James P. Johnson is also great.

[jlh]

Dover has a ragtime compilation book out with like 20 or so composers.  I can't think off hand what the title is, but I do have it somewhere.

[bench warmer]

Percy Grainger's  In Dahomey also known as Cakewalk Smasher. Immense fun to play & it's about a 6 minute long piece of music. There's a bit of technical prowess invoved also.

[donjuan]

thanks for all the replies!

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Ragtime is ragtime. Good fun but not exactly the culmination of a musical civilisation.

Are you looking for something that cannot exist?

Steve

granted. perhaps I should rephrase... I am looking for ragtime that is the best at being ragtime!  I expecially like the stuff that has those moments of unrestrained ecstasy and great rhythm

definitely check out William Bolcom.

My favorite piece.... The Serpent's Kiss from the Garden of Eden Suite.

I found a recording of it for 2 pianos, which I really like.  do you know where I can get the solo version?  I would also like to hear 'through Eden's gates' from the same suite.

My library has this Bolcom book, which contains the suite: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store/smp_detail.html?cart=3358243322139395&item=2887778
but I am having the most difficult time finding recordings of the other pieces.  Do you know where I can hear them?

Hey donjuan, the most awesome rag is the "Mississippi Rag" by William Krell. You can get a great-sounding midi of it here:

https://www.les-stooges.org/pascal/musique/piano-jazz/bolling/ragtime.php?la=en

Played by Claude Bolling.

wow, I didnt realize how good ragtime sounded in MIDI.  I can't find sheetmusic for it though..

Percy Grainger's In Dahomey also known as Cakewalk Smasher. Immense fun to play & it's about a 6 minute long piece of music. There's a bit of technical prowess invoved also.

you really got me interested in this one  I found a place to order sheetmusic (https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store/smp_detail.html?cart=3358243322139395&item=1047400)
, but I can't find a recording.  can you help me out?

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thanks!!

[bench warmer]

You can sample a snippet of it here at Amazon.  Hamelin really takes it quickly.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002ZY3/002-2796613-5731224?v=glance&n=5174

[tyler_johnson]

Magnetic Rag by Scott Joplin.