Where are the pianos? Where is Scott Joplin?
If you want to buy a collection of ragtime music these days, you’ll find contemporary pianists and combos performing lively interpretations of classic rags. We’re offering something different: the actual ragtime disc records that common people were buying during the time of the genre’s heyday, spanning roughly 1893-1917. Real Ragtime features 29 tracks recorded between 1898-1922, which show that people at home were not listening to piano ragtime as much as we might have thought! Wow! There are a lot of banjo numbers here! While the major labels did record and release piano solos during the pioneer era of the industry (1890s-1920s), they were comparatively rare and not usually ragtime numbers. Instead, ragtime was performed by marching bands, banjoists, popular vocalists, and other unusual instruments such as accordion and xylophone. Real Ragtime gives you a breathtaking view of the varieties recorded ragtime took. On banjo, you’ll hear “The Banjo King,” Vess L.Ossman performing “Florid
