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Ragtime Piano

Jelly-Roll Morton Eubie Blake Charles L. Johnson Tom Turpin

James Scott (1885 - 1938) James Scott was born in Missouri in 1885, the second child in a family of six, to struggling former slaves. He was gifted with perfect pitch and gained a thorough grounding in both playing and theory from local pianist John Coleman. In 1902, he got a job at the Dumars Music Store, where he worked as a window-washer and store sweeper. However, as the demand for Scott’s clever tunes grew, the Dumars Store was inclined to publish his work. In 1906, James took a trip to St. Louis where he met Scott Joplin and John Stark. Joplinrecognized a musician worthy of acceptance into his inner circle ofkeyboard masters. Stark published Scott’s “Frog Legs Rag” in 1907, and it became the second leading moneymaker behind Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag”. From that moment on, Stark published any rag James could throw at him. It was a profitable business relationship that ended in 1922 with the publication of “Don’t Jazz Me Rag- I’m Music”. Ironically, the song contained a multitude of elements that would later be associated with jazz. Broadway Rag (1922) Climax Rag (1914) Don't Jazz Me Rag (1921) Efficiency Rag (1917) Evergreen Rag (1915) Frog Legs Rag (1906) Grace and Beauty (1909) Great Scott Rag (1909) Hilarity Rag (1910) Honey Moon Rag (1916) Kansas City Rag (1907) New Era Rag (1919) Ophelia Rag (1910) Paramount Rag (1917) Peace and Plenty Rag (1919) Pegasus - A Classic Rag (1920) Prosperity Rag (1916) Quality - A High Class Rag (1911) Rag Sentimental (1918) Ragtime Betty (1909) Ragtime Oriole (1911) The Suffragette Waltz (1914) Sunburst Rag (1909) Victory Rag (1921)

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