Century Of Ragtime

(Vanguard Records, New York, NY, 1997)

Status: Available online

Track Listing CD 1 of 2: Ragtime Piano Solos

  1. Stars and Stripes Forever Eubie Blake
  2. Harlem Rag Trebor Tichenor
  3. Maple Leaf Rag Dick Hyman
  4. Rags to Burn Richard Zimmerman
  5. Charleston Rag Eubie Blake
  6. The Easy Winners (A Ragtime Two Step) Max Morath
  7. The Entertainer Richard Zimmerman
  8. The Ragtime Dance Joshua Rifkin
  9. Pickles and Peppers (A Rag Oddity) Max Morath
  10. April Fool Rag Mimi Blais
  11. Scott Joplin's New Rag Joshua Rifkin
  12. The Chevy Chase Rag John Arpin/Catherine Wilson
  13. 12th Street Rag Richard Zimmerman
  14. Bohemia John Arpin/Catherine Wilson
  15. Kitten on the Keys Dick Hyman
  16. Musical Massacre Mimi Blais
  17. Toad Stool Rag Morton Gunnar Larsen
  18. One For Amelia Max Morath
  19. Graceful Ghost William Bolcom
  20. Roberto Clemente David Thomas Roberts (1979). Roberto Clemente, the legendary right fielder of the Pittsburgh Pirates, was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico in 1934 and died on New Year's Eve, 1972 off the coast of his native island in a plane that never reached the Nicaraguan earthquake victims to whom it was carrying supplies. Although familiar with Clemente during his career, I was no more mindful of him than of some other outstanding ballplayers. It was the film about him shown during the 1979 World Series that transformed my image of Clemente into a myth to be recalled with affection. Incisively moved by this poetic series of glimpses of his career and the circumstances of his death, I had decided by the film's end that there must be a ragtime composition for Clemente, a piece evocative of the man as I had viewed him via the documentary.
    I have referred to Roberto Clemente as a "folk elegy" and a "country funeral." Marked "warmly and solemnly," it is a rag forthrightly typifying the plaintiveness -- the gentle anguish, even -- that I have always associated with the lyrical medium of ragtime.

Track Listing CD 2 of 2: Ragtime Orchestras

  1. Mississippi Rag St. Louis Ragtimers
  2. Echoes From the Snowball Club Ophelia Ragtime Orchestra
  3. Eli Green's Cake Walk Dawn Of The Century Ragtime Orchestra
  4. Cotton Pickers Rag and Cakewalk New Leviathan Oriental Fox Trot Orchestra
  5. St. Louis Rag Paragon Ragtime Orchestra
  6. Belle of the Philippines Ophelia Ragtime Orchestra
  7. Frog Legs Rag The New England Ragtime Ensemble
  8. Dixie Blossoms Dawn Of The Century Ragtime Orchestra
  9. Black and White Rag Paragon Ragtime Orchestra
  10. Grace and Beauty New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra
  11. Mephisto Rag New Leviathan Oriental Fox Trot Orchestra
  12. Harmony Rag Pacific Coast Ragtime Orchestra
  13. American Beauty Pacific Coast Ragtime Orchestra
  14. Castle House Rag The New England Ragtime Ensemble
  15. Reindeer Rag New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra
  16. Cleopatra Rag New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra
  17. The Rag Baby The University Of Wisconsin Eau Claire Symphony Band
  18. Gold Rush Rag The University Of Wisconsin Eau Claire Symphony Band