A dozen or so years had passed since the first ragtime publications, and this earcatching, toetapping piano style was gradually coming into its full flowering. Woolsey the music box rag luckey roberts one o them things. Scott joplin maple leaf rag scott joplin mashed potatoes calvin lee woolsey the music box rag c. It is a musical style marked by friendly rivalry and shared pleasures. According to the internet sources given below, charles luckyth roberts was an american pianist, composer of popular music and writer of many broadway shows. Johnson, fats waller, and willie the lion smithand there is little to be added to the picture for readers of those books, except. Pianists will have loads of fun and audiences ears will be tickled wit. He had a sturdy and original piano playing, which came directly from ragtime. Charles luckyth roberts, better known as luckey roberts, was an american composer and stride pianist who worked in the jazz, ragtime, and blues styles.
By reputation he was potentially one of the giants of twentiethcentury american music, but unfortunately he left little documentation in support of this position, owing to the absence of early recordings and the obscurity of his compositions and piano rolls. An interview with pianist daniel souvigny the syncopated. Charles luckeyth luckey roberts was a transcendentally gifted pianist of the san juan hill ragtime school and a composer of both popular and. Driving this evolution was the increasing interest of a new breed. In one of my early piano books, there was a simplified arrangement of the maple leaf rag by scott joplin. Luckey roberts, willie the lion smith, fats waller, and james p. So, like a jockey, a sumo wrestler, or a basketball. In a year when the academy award went to a film score based on piano rags by scott joplin and when the new england conservatory ragtime ensemble is one of the hotter attractions on the concert cir. Johnson, roberts developed the stride piano style of playing about 1919.
Stridz please enjoy the new improvements full mp3 recordings replacing midi, improved search capability, new look and feel, and more. Terry waldo, pianist, brings ragtime to the village corner. Another early piece, pork and beans, was one of the first ragtime. The junk man rag luckey roberts louisiana rag leon block march majestic scott joplin medic rag c. Scott joplin and his era ships in 23 days edward a. Roberts was legendary for his epic reach on the piano. The first book for pianists, titles in german and english intermediate theory i by james bastien patriotic songs for piano. One of the most significant innovations in the early history of jazz music was the dramatic transformation of piano playing that took place as jazz migrated from new orleans to chicago to new york, the capital of ragtime. Luckey roberts, ragtime king in highresolution audio. A musical and cultural history ships in 23 days edward a.
Explore releases from charles luckey roberts at discogs. Charles luckeyth roberts 18931968 was an accomplished pianist and composer. Roberts is a legendary figure in the transition from ragtime to jazz. Johnson, through a succession of pianists like willie the lion smith. James chapmanleroy smith operatic rag julius lenzberg the original chicago blues james white poison rag c. Ragtime pianists play scott joplin the new york times. Even though he never grew beyond 410, roberts had a wide span on his hands, allowing him to reach a reported octave and a fifth. Richer than ragtime before, stride piano offered more freedom with sounds, more flexibility in the game and came mainly under improvisation. Music box rag by charles luckey roberts 1914, ragtime. Luckyth luckey roberts the nonpareil scott joplin palm leaf rag scott joplin peace and plenty rag james scott peacherine rag. If you are the publisher or author of this book and. Luckey roberts news newspapers books scholar jstor january 2015 learn how and when to remove.
Born in philadelphia and a lifelong quaker and teetotaler, roberts began to play the rent parties in harlem around 1908 and was often t. As might be expected, the composer whose works were most frequently played at the ragtime jamboree friday night in the gershwin theater at brooklyn college was scott joplin. Luckey roberts, ralph sutton the circle recordings amazon. Fats, jimmy, lion, lamb and all the other ticklers. Harlem stride piano appeared towards the end of 1910s when jazz was expanding in harlem.
Starting in the early 1910s charles, who was now going my luckey as a variation on his given middle name, made his way from atlantic city into manhattan and harlem where he was engaged by an offbroadway troupe. One of his early compositions, ripples of the nile 1912, was restyled moonlight. Highly recommended to anyone liking ragtimejazz type piano. A celebration of african american musician and composer luckey roberts charles luckeyth roberts, 18871968. He was along with eubie blake one of the precursor of harlem stride piano. Where even serious students of ragtime history could learn a lot from the pairs previous publication, that american rag, most of the subjects here have been covered repeatedly by fulllength bios andor autobiographieseubie blake, james p. His books are always well researched and authoritative. To learn more about vaudeville, please see no applause, just throw money.
Charles luckyth roberts august 7, 1887 february 5, 1968, better known as luckey roberts, was an american composer and stride pianist who worked in the jazz, ragtime, and blues styles. Charles luckeyth luckey roberts was a transcendentally gifted pianist of the san juan hill ragtime school and a composer of both popular and classical material. Piano ragtime music files, descriptions, and sheet music covers ragtime piano recordings, sheet music art, nostalgia and ragtime research resources center new cd available. Roberts has been called one of the hardest pounding colored players of any weight. Drawing on the authors personal interviews and biographies, the book traces stride from generation to generation, from the originators eubie blake, luckey roberts, and james p. In 1920, as the 25year old fad of ragtime was beginning to wane and the blues was becoming the new fad, new yorks jazz. After that i just learned more and more ragtime, while more recently expanding into other subgenres such as. Post college, he is the author of numerous books, including rags and. Johnson, he is considered one of the founders of the harlem stride piano school. A first book of ragtime 2011 edited by david dutkanicz, this folio offers 24 greatly simplified versions of rags by joplin, lamb, scott, blake, turpin and others. Berlin paperback published 1996 ed berlin is one of the premier authorities on ragtime.
But the 1920s existed, from the prohibition, the peak of ragtime, and stride piano to the great depression, the birth of the recording industry, player pianos, and the great migration to harlem, new york. Despite his small size, luckey roberts was a strong guy and had very large hands which let him reach large gaps on the keyboard almost two octaves. It is a selfsufficient style of game because it fills all the sound space and it is also very visual. I have a book called ragtime rediscoveries which i picked up in the bargain sale at our local music shop.
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