Three Tune Tuesday - Ragtime!

It's time again for Three Tune Tuesday, that day of the week where members of the Hive community shares three songs of their liking with the rest of the community.

Prefer to listen? Check out the Podcast!

Blind Skeleton Three Tune Tuesday on Apple Podcasts
[Three Tune Tuesday on Blind Skeleton] (https://blindskeleton.one/)

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I take a slow, relaxing approach to Three Tune Tuesday: I like to share pre-1924 78rpm songs from my collection, and record them while playing on an appropriate time-period windup phonograph. I encourage you to take a few moments and slow down with me. Settle down, close your eyes, and take yourself back.. way back.. in time, to a distant uncle's parlour in the early 1920's. There are comfortable seats, pleasant conversation, and old music.

Black History Month is still in full swing. This week I'm doing some celebrating by looking at some early ragtime tunes!

Ragtime emerged in the late 1800s as an extension of earlier African-American religious music and dances. The first published ragtime song is Harlem Rag, written by Tom Turpin in 1897.

Though typically played on Piano, Vess Ossman and his orchestra played this song with the banjo as the primary instrument in 1907.

Maple Leaf Rag

1903 saw the first ever Broadway musical, In Dahomey, produced and performed by an all black cast. It was successful enough that they toured Europe and played for King George. Most of the score and sheet music no longer exists, which is sad, but the song Swing Along! did survive and was recorded here by the Orpheus Male Choir in 1916.

Swing Along!

Ragtime also had a very strong influence on the up-and-coming music style known as jass, and later as jazz. James Reese Europe was a very influential African American musician who founded the Clef Club Orchestra which played in highly acclaimed and top end venues in New York. He insisted that ragtime was more than just entertainment, but was a legit and sophisticated art form worthy of respect. This is his Castle House Rag, which shows a connection to jazz.