West Coast Ragtime Society
Dedicated to the preservation and promtion of Ragtime and vintage American music.
This Page Updated 2/15/2008
Prior Update: 1/27/2008

Performers

The following is a list of various performers or their agents who have a web page.

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For reviews on ragtime recordings and folios by Jack Rummel visit http://www.ragtimers.org/reviews.  
Also, see the Sacramento Ragtime Society web site for CD reviews at
http://ragtimemusic.com/srs 

Barfota Jazzmen  This Swedish band perform traditional jazz and ragtime.
This is the web site for ragtime and jazz pianist Jeff Barnhart.
"Classically trained with a doctorate in music from Columbia University, Mark Birnbaum graduated into keeping ragtime alive and serving as staff pianist on the popular Joe Franklin television show. This Manhattan based pianist can play everything, and continues to do so throughout the New York City metropolitan area." Edward Jablonski, 2003, Official Biographer of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin & Harold Arlen. His recordings and MP3 files are available on this site.
Mimi Blais The new Queen of Ragtime!
SPECIAL PROJECT: Mimi wants to know what is in your piano bench
Canadian ragtime pianist, Mimi Blais, is tackling possibly the toughest project of her life. She wants to compile a history of Canada’s part in the ragtime music craze that swept North America and Europe in the years between the late 1890s and the mid-1920s, which historians call the Ragtime Era. Click her for information about how you can help.

Bohém Ragtime Jazzband  The Bohém Ragtime Jazzband is from Hungary and  was founded in 1985. Its members are young professional classical musicians and amateurs. century.

Nan Bostick & Tom Brier We are pleased to announce that Ken Burns is using two cuts from Nan Bostick's and Tom Brier's CD ("Dualing" at the McCoy's) in his upcoming documentary "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson" to be aired on PBS in late autumn as part of Burns' "American Lives" series. The selected pieces are "Indian Summer" and "Borneo Rag," both composed during the ragtime era by Nan's great uncle, Neil Moret. Nan's and Tom's CD may now be ordered on-line through http://www.cdbaby.com/bostickbrier.
The Greenfield Bowie Piano Music Homepage This web site features midi sequences of compositions by Greenfield Bowie, a pianist and music composer from Austin, Texas, USA.
Cornucopia Concert Band The band is from Seattle, Washington. The band is available for era dances, celebrations, rigid air ship comissionings, pipe organ dedications, steam boat gatherings, town concerts, and other such gatherings where family oriented musical merriment is desired.
  Roy Eaton is an award-winning classical pianist and recording artist.  In the past several years he has released four critically acclaimed albums: "Joyful Joplin" (Newport Classics), "Meditative Chopin" (Seventh Wave), "Joplin Piano Rags" (Sony Classical), and  "24/7+7", the complete preludes of Chopin, Gershwin, and William Grant Still (Summit).
"Perfessor" Bill Edwards  "Perfessor" Bill Edwards is a composer and performer. This web site features his midi performances. His sheet music and recordings are available on the site.
of Kansas City, was formed in the fall of 1973 with the idea of preserving and performing the instrumental string-oriented dance music indigenous to the Midwest in the late 19th and early 20th
  John Farrell's Hot Piano Page This site has mainly jazz and stride midi  files with a few ragtime pieces.  Site also has ragtime and jazz piano rolls and CDs for sale.
Don French performs ragtime, traditional jazz Dixieland, and well known standards.
"Ragtime" Ruby Fradkin - 12-year-old stride, blues pianist from Los Angeles, CA. The web site includes biographical information, recordings, performance schedule and sound samples.
Frank French Web Page Frank French is one of the foremost interpreters of the music of the Americas. As a performer, composer, and teacher his work encompasses the broad scope of musical experience from the mid-nineteenth century to the new millennium. He also has two other web sites that has his music, schedule, etc:
http://home.att.net/~frank.french/wsb/index.html

http://www.cdbaby.com/frankfrench
Meg Graf plays ragtime piano as a soloist and in small combos. She arranges ragtime music for instrument combinations [i.e., piano/banjo/bass; piano/flute, etc.]  In addition, she also plays flute, bass sax, fiddle, and several other instruments. Her repertoire includes classic rags, novelty numbers from the 1890s through the 1940s, and Dixieland jazz. She may be reached at 541-461-8071, by e-mail at meggraf@hotmail.com. or regular mail at 811 Skipper Ave., Eugene, OR 97404. For more information, visit the Calamity Jazz website at www.calamityjazz.com. Meg's CD, "Eatin' Time -- A Ragtime Feast," is available at www.cdbaby.com/meggraf.
Jeffrey C. Hall, composer & performer. Enjoy "a little ragtime" with this CD of ten original rags, arranged for piano, two guitars, banjo, brass, and bass and realized on synthesizers. Some of the tracks are in the style and mood of Classic Ragtime, while others definitely are not, and throughout there are hints of classical influences. The CD will be shipped to you in a slim CD jewel case, and includes a cover insert with notes on the music. The total playing time is 45:48. http://www.flagmusic.com/ekr.php

The JRO was constituted in 2002 in Trieste, in the north east corner of Italy, by percussionist Livio Laurenti, who gathered together 11fine young local musicians to form one of the very few large ensembles world-wide who perform ragtime and tunes of the twenties. The orchestra is composed of: two violins, viola, cello, double bass, flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, tuba, piano and percussion. For information about recordings and performances, visit the JRO Website.
HAMADA Takasi is a Japanese classic ragtime composer and guitarist.
His CDs are available for sale on his Ragtime Guitar page.
In addition he has a selection of MP3 files on the site. 
Triplet Records Inc. is pleased to announce the arrival of Muskoka Solace, a collection of ten Scott Joplin compositions performed by Steve Hunter.
"I first heard the music of Scott Joplin [in 1970] when I was 14...and was smitten... Joplin’s music instantly resonated with me...I’ve never stopped playing Joplin’s music...the bittersweet melodies always soothe my soul in a world that offers very few safe places." Steve Hunter. 
About Stephen Kent Goodman
HollandEntertainment.com is the home for Bohemia Records and the official website for Brian Holland, one of the premier ragtime and traditional jazz pianists in the country. Here is where you - a fan of early American, Ragtime and Jazz music - can find out about artists, festivals, recordings, and much much more. 
Kazunobu Uetsuji Ragtime GuitarKazunobu Uetsuji - Ragtime Guitar  "We love Ragtime! But, Ragtime is piano music. So, I am arranging it for the Guitar." Kazunobu, Osaka, Japan, plays and teaches Ragtime Guitar and has performed at the Scott Joplin festival in Sedalia. He's transcribed and recorded the complete works of Scott Joplin plus works by other Ragtime composers. Web Site: http://homepage3.nifty.com/B/english.htm. Contact Kazunobu at uetsuji@nifty.com.
Nora Hulse Ragtime Pianist Nora Hulse specializes in rags by women composers. She also has recordings and music folios available for sale. She can be contacted at her web site: http://www.nora.hulse.com, by regular mail at:  P.O. Box 1247, Lake Ozark, MO 65049 or by e-mail at  nora@hulse.com
Martin Jäger.
Swiss ragtime pianist, composer, educator Martin Jäger plays his own rag compositions (Rags by MJ) as well as Classic Ragtime, Novelty, and Gershwin. Recordings and folios are available on Martin's web page, click here. Contact Martin at martin.jaeger@ken.ch
Glenn Jenks is a dynamic pianist, composer, teacher, and performer. He lives and works in Camden, Maine where he has resided since 1975, and where he also finds time to grow roses. His recordings and sheet music are available on the site.
Brian Keenan Web Page  Brian Keenan is one of a group of composer/pianists who are exploring syncopated piano repertory of North and South America and taking it in exciting new directions. The styles that Keenan demonstrates in performance include: Classic Ragtime,   the Midwestern sounds of Folk Ragtime, today's New Ragtime and Terra Verde, a revolutionary new music which incorporates New Ragtime with European romantic music and diverse American and Latin-American piano traditions. Keenan's own compositions make use of these idioms together with the inspiration from his Minnesota river country heritage.
Scott Kirby Web Page Pianist/composer Scott Kirby specializes in distinctly American musical styles which include Classic Ragtime, New Ragtime, Creole Music and Terra Verde. As a performer, he is also an educator, providing historical context and musical insight into the program as it unfolds. Whether on the concert stage or in the classroom, Kirby offers a musical experience which is both informative and intimate, educational yet highly personal.
Carl Sonny Leyland has the boogie in his bones. Hearing him play takes one back to the rent parties and lowdown back alleys of the early part of the twentieth century. As a youth in Southampton, England, Leyland became fascinated by the rhythm and sounds of boogie woogie piano...At age 15 Leyland began performing with local favorites the Bob Pearce Blues Band, and within a few years was featured as a soloist at many European festivals...in 1988 Leyland immigrated and settled in New Orleans, where he headed his own trio...Carl currently resides in Southern California and can be seen as a solo performer & leader of the Carl Sonny Leyland Trio throughout California and the United States. Visit Carl's web site http://www.carlsonnyleyland.com.
Bradley N. Litwin, contemporary Ragtime Jazz & Stride Blues Guitarist Can Sing. Litwin represents the arrival of music that marries peak finger-style guitar performance with a vocal style that engages from the first phrase, and dazzles as it shifts from dark to light, funny to tender, and smooth to rollicking. Taking on the rompin' stompin' finger-style guitar of Blind Blake, Robert Johnson and Lonnie Johnson, adaptations of Fats Waller and Willie "The Lion" Smith, the smooth singing of the Mills Brothers and Nat King Cole, and the exhilaration of Bessie Smith, Litwin emerges with a sound all his own, and one that music lovers have been waiting a long time to hear. Treating roots music like an old friend, who just stopped by after decades past, he carries on with a front porch conversation, as though it were never interrupted. http://www.jujubee.com/litwin.htm
Lake Arrowhead Early Jazz Band This Lake Arrowhead, CA band was formed in 1998 by Dr. Karl Koenig. They play the early dance music that influenced early jazz and perform the early cakewalks, rags, and the jazz music of the 1920's, adding saxophones to the regular instrumentation.
Johnny Maddox Web Site CDs by Johnny Maddox are available on this site.  Also includes MP3 files.
Larisa Migachyov...I was born in Russia (to poor but honest parents), attended a fairly serious Russian music school,  immigrated to the US with my family, continued taking piano lessons, playing exclusively classical music (mostly Chopin), but decided not to pursue music as a profession, majored in engineering instead, with a minor in math, discovered ragtime only about 2 years ago, hastily learned a version of Scott Joplin's Pineapple Rag to play at a meeting of the San Antonio Ragtime Society, and have been addicted to ragtime (both performing and composing) ever since. I currently attend law school at the University of Pennsylvania, after several years of working as an engineer in Silicon Valley. I also operate an online math tutoring site. Whew!
Bob Milne is a top ragtime/boogie-woogie pianist, composer, and author. He lives in Lapeer, Michigan.  His recordings and books can be ordered from his site.
MIXED PICKLES Vintage Dance Co.  This group performs lots of ragtime dances, often with the New York Ragtime Ensemble.  MIXED PICKLES is a new Philadelphia based dance company that researches, performs and teaches American dances from our earliest colonial period all the way up through the 1940s. Their name reflects not only their attitude toward a tradition - dance - that is both social and entertaining, but to the exciting mixture of cultures and classes that have influenced the way that Americans dance; the French, English, Irish, Black and Latino; from the elegant ballroom to the rowdy dance hall.  MIXED PICKLES' carefully researched dances, charming period costumes and attention to appropriate manners and etiquette all combine to create a fascinating living picture of the story of America's social life.
Mont Alto Ragtime and Tango Orchestra This Colorado based orchestra was formed in 1989 to play dance and salon music of the teens. The Motion Picture Orchestra, a subset of the larger group, started scoring silent films in 1994, after discovering the music collection of Al Layton, a theater music director in Colorado in the 1920s. The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra accompanies silent films in authentic period style.
Max Morath
Use the Musi-Cal Search to locate concert schedules for your favorite musicians, check out festival links or browse club listings!
Ophelia Ragtime OrchestraThe orchestra was formed by Morten Gunnar Larsen, with the intention of playing orchestrated arrangements of classic ragtime pieces. The band’s repertoire has expanded to include other popular music from the beginning of the last century and now includes 1920’s hot music, songs from early stage musicals, vaudeville melodies, and waltz, tango, and novelty tunes. 
Original Rags are the leading ragtime duo in the UK.  Steve Graham (Trumpet, Mandolin) and Mike Denham (Piano, Swannee Whistle) play ragtime and early jazz classics.  They perform for arts centres, jazz festivals, in concert halls and pubs.  Their two highly acclaimed CDs are available via the web site www.originalrags.net.
Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne  This is the site of Jane Voss, an earthy singer and a superb songwriter, and Hoyle Osborne, a master of ragtime and early jazz piano and a distinctively original composer. Their site contains their performance schedules and lists their recordings that are available.
P&J Concerts  P&J Concerts arranges ragtime performances in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Rick Benjamin's Paragon Ragtime Orchestra  The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra is the world's only year-round, professional organization performing ragtime-era music: vaudeville hits, silent movie accompaniments and dance-hall favorites.
Ragtime Society Frankfurt This orchestra was founded in 1975. The RSF plays classic rags, songs and other musical formats from the ragtime era. They perform in clubs, on small cabaret stages as well as in concert halls and in festivals all over Europe. Over the years special events were  the self-organized concerts in their home town Frankfurt during the 80s.  Since 1995, the RSF has presented together with Lilo's Puppet Show their own version of scenes and motives from Scott Joplin's opera Treemonisha.
John Reade's web site is dedicated to keeping alive the classic jazz style and ragtime traditions. John's great interests are playing and composing ragtime piano, and mathematics. While a Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Birmingham John played jazz piano with the Zenith Hot Stompers. Throughout his career in mathematics John  maintained a lively, active interest in playing ragtime and jazz. He has been the regular pianist in the Harlem Hot Stompers since 1969.
David Thomas Roberts...eclectic, Neo-Romantic composer-pianist at the heart of New Ragtime and Terra Verde music, author of such works as "Roberto Clemente," "Through the Bottomlands," "Discovery" and the suite, NEW ORLEANS STREETS. Visit web site: www.davidthomasroberts.com
The Good Old Songs Played By Squeek Steele Squeek has been playing the piano since 1943. She performs in Virginia City, Nevada usually at the  "Bucket of Blood Saloon" or down at the "Gold Hill Hotel".  She is available to perform for parties, weddings, receptions, fund raising program, formal concerts and other events. Her recordings are available from her site.
The Swiss Ragtimers, founded in 1993 by pianist Martin Jäger, have specialized in silent movie accompaniments and ragtime performances within Switzerland. Besides classic ragtime, they perform Martin's own compositions such as China Rag, Swiss Rag or the second prize winner in the 2000 Scott Joplin Ragtime Competition, entitled Arabian Rag. Recordings and folios are available on Martin's web page. Contact Martin at martin.jaeger@ken.ch.
Butch Thompson Jazz pianist & clarinetist Butch Thompson has traveled the world from Cairo to Tokyo playing traditional jazz and ragtime. Well known for his long association with public radio's A Prairie Home Companion, he has dedicated his career to bringing the music he loves not only to jazz fans, but also to general audiences.
Turpin Tyme Ragsters  The Turpin Tyme Ragsters are a 6-Piece Ragtime music ensemble based in Kansas City. Their repertoire reflects the diversity of music from "turn of the century" America, including songs like Dill Pickles, The Entertainer, Creole Belles, Razza Mazza, Kansas City Rag, Easy Winners, The Chrysanthemum, Peaceful Henry, 12th Street Rag, Ragtime Dance...and many more.
Dave Tucker is an internationally-known performer of early jazz styles and many forms of early syncopated music including ragtime, European novelty piano and the Harlem stride of James P. Johnson, Willie “The Lion” Smith and Fats Waller. His CD's reflect his intense research, study and numerous experiences since first becoming a regular performer on the ragtime circuit. In 2005 Dave joined the New Hots Jazz Orchestra, specializing in dance standards of the 20's and 30's. He Joined the Jefferson Street Strutters in 2007, a Dixieland band based in Northern Virginia. Dave performs regularly in the Washington D.C. region. For more information, visit Dave's web site www.turboragtime.com.
Ian Whitcomb America's Foremost Tin-Pan Alley Man, Ukulele Virtuoso,
and Grammy Award-Winning Recording Artist. His recordings, books, videos and songbooks are available from the site.
Galen Wilkes' Ragtime Website Galen Wilkes has been an active promoter and historian in ragtime since the 1970s. His interests focus on the arts/entertainment and folkways/culture of early 20th century United States. He is primarily known as a composer, researcher and broadcaster. His folios, recordings, and writings are available on the site.
Artis Wodehouse/Keyboard Wizards This site gives details about her recordings, music folios of transcriptions and books, as well as her biography, articles and reviews of her work, and information about upcoming performances and presentations. Her recordings and folios are available on the site.

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