MP3 Ralph Press - The Great American Ragtime Revival

Ragtime Piano with Sound Effects.

12 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Ragtime, JAZZ: Dixieland



Details:
Ralph Press plays twelve Piano Rags by six of the Greatest Ragtime Composers: Scott Joplin, Tom Turpin, James Scott, Charles Johnson, Charles Hunter and Joseph Lamb.Sound effects have been added to create a unique and entertaining listening experience.

Mr. Press was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1951 and began playing the piano at the age of five. He took classical piano lessons for 5 year from Mr. James di Martini of The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music followed by two years with Mr. Adam Garner of The First Piano Quartet. After this initial phase of formal training Mr. Press pursued the path of independent musical study. He is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School and The State University of New York at Stony Brook. Mr. Press is an acknowledged computer expert and is the President of The Digital Entertainment Network at www.tden.com.

Ragtime, which stands for "Ragged" time, is an American Syncopated style of piano music that was played predominantly between 1880 and 1920. Ragtime contains elements of Classical, Blues, Dixieland, Gospel, and Jazz music. Some of its major proponents (e.g. Scott Joplin) were in fact classically trained musicians.

Ragtime underwent a large resurgence of popularity during the 1970's when 'The Entertainer' by Scott Joplin was featured in the movie The Sting. While Scott Joplin was the most prolific of the Ragtime writers and is generally recognized as The King of Ragtime, there are other equally inspired Ragtime composers whose works are also featured on this CD.

Sound effects have been added both within and between pieces. The combination of Ragtime and sound effects produces quite an exciting effect. Of particular interest is Victory Rag which was composed by James Scott to celebrate the end of World War I. Our version opens with FDR's 'Fear Itself' Speech and contains cheering crowds, marching men, mechanized vehicles, jet fighters, and a twenty one gun salute, all of which are implied in the music.