Scott Joplin Music

I have heard Mimi in person (a real treat) many times at the Sedalia, MO Joplin Festival and already own many of her recordings including this one which is even better than her others. I can't say too much in praise of her talent, her creativity and her absolute skill and ability to throughly entertain with anything or any type of music she plays. She is fantastically clever at sneaking in bits of "classical" themes right in the middle of something Ragtime. She has a wonderful sense of humor and a caring personality that will let her make time to answer kids' questions about how she can "remember so many notes to play". I can't imagine ANYONE who would not THOROUGHLY ENJOY this recording.

This disc is one of my favorites in the ragtime genre..and I listen to a lot of them. I especially like to crank up the volume on the final track right before I get to work in the morning. The gate guard looks at me a little peculiar, but nothing gets you rolling like a little Regal Stomp.. the duet (even though it's a piano roll by Jimmy Blythe and his cousin) is just a tremendous piece of music. When you combine this track with ones by Jelly Roll Morton, Eubie, Fats, James P. Johnson and the 'King' Scott Joplin, it just doesn't get any better. If you've missed this disc, get it now!

These songs are not only classic ragtime, most of them are being performed by the original artists. Despite the age of the recordings, the sound reproduction is excellent. If you are a ragtime fan, DO NOT miss this one!

Digital recordings from player-piano performances. You can still hear some faint sounds of the player piano in the background, but that does add some charm to the effect. Bravo for the producers who found a nice way to preserve performances that otherwise might have literally disintegrated.

There are 3-4 tracks by several well-known artists performing their own works. Very enjoyable.

Performing Ragtime Music while touring the world with Gunther Schuller and the New England Ragtime Ensemble for 25 years, I never tired of this happy, toe-tapping music. Discovering this gem of recorded samples of Joplin, Morton, Johnson and Blake brings back many memories of performing this music for 25 years with the New England Ragtime Ensemble. We even got to meet Eubie Blake in Joplin, Missouri at their Ragtime Festival in the early 70's. Sweet guy with enormous hands. The tempi are a little fast, but that's due to the technology of the time, ie. piano rolls. There was only a set amount of time to record their music. Joshua Rifkins tempi are good but still a tad faster than what we as a group performed their works. One must admire how flawless the playing is. There was no stopping and going back to correct mistakes like today with digital. And the artists are still phenomenal in spite of having a time constraint. Listening to the cd on headphones, one can even hear the actual piano action while the piano is playing. IMPRESSIVE!!!

It was an awesome experience to hear Ragtime and early blues played by the masters themselves. When you hear the music from their own hands, if not their own pianos, it makes the music immediate, and makes even clearer the stylistic differences of the various American musical pioneers. The sound quality is excellent. I'd strongly recommend this recording to anyone who enjoys early-20th-century jazz.