Fig Leaf Rag

Nothing beats the elegant, stately ragtime of Scott Joplin. He manages to be a savant without the lifeless quality in some of his fellow Classic Ragtime composers (James Scott and Joseph Lamb).

Treemonisha

After finally reading the libretto for Scott Joplin's opera, Treemonisha, one can see the limitations of Joplin's attempt to create an opera entirely on his own. Joplin wrote the libretto and score, and while the music is fantastic, the actual story is quite thin. In short, one year after the US Civil War, an infant Treemonisha is found under a tree at a plantation managed by Ned and Monisha, who adopt the child as their own. Fast forward several years later, and Treemonisha is the only educated person in her isolated, all-black community (she is also the only one who does not speak in "dialect"). Conjure men, who prey on the ignorance and superstition of the community, peddle their magic wares and, after Treemonisha stands up to them, kidnap her. 

She is saved by Remus, a man she taught, who dons a scarecrow costume to frighten the conjurers just as they're about to throw Treemonisha into a wasp's nest in the forest. The rest of the men in Treemonisha's community capture the conjurers, and just as their about to punish them, Treemonisha persuades them to not beat or kill them. She forgives Zodzetrick and his cohort, and the community nominates her as a leader. This is basically all that happens, with the exception of some musical scenes featuring a ring shout, Parson Alltalk (just talking, an ineffective figure in the community), corn huskers, cotton pickers, and miscellaneous additional scenes. Some of these appear to have no relevance to the plot, but they provide opportunities for songs and dances associated with black folk culture in the South.

Alexander Berlin's biography of Joplin suggests the character of Treemonisha or at least her surroundings were inspired by one of his wives, Freddie. Berlin and Rick Benjamin contextualize the opera in the context of Joplin's exposure to classical music, black musical ambitions of the era, and the political message of Treemonisha. Intriguingly, the opera is critical of organized religion as represented by Parson Alltalk, although Treemonisha is a deist of sorts. Obviously critical of the conjure men, who are inexplicably frightened of a man dressed as a scarecrow, Joplin seems to reject African-derived religious or folk traditions and the organized black church while suggesting rational, assimilation of Western education would lead the black community onward in progress. 

Yet, Joplin seems to enjoy drawing on black folk music and ragtime, incorporated into the opera. The Negro, it would seem, should embrace the best of Western knowledge but retain traditions into the future, creating a distinctly black art aesthetic that can stand beside Wagner, Dvorak, or Verdi. To reach that lofty goal, however, required leadership by the educated of the race, including women, like Treemonisha. As a "Black Athena" of her community, she will become the spark for general education and uplift of their Arkansas plantation. Of course, Treemonisha's mysterious appearance suggests mystical, supernatural conditions of the "insider-outsider" who can lead her community out of darkness and isolation. It would be interesting to compare this opera with Freeman's Voodoo.

Variations About the Cascades

The Vienna Art Orchestra's modernized, free interpretation of Scott Joplin's Cascades is worth a listen. Fusing elements of ragtime and experimental jazz, the the orchestra modernizes one of Joplin's most evocative compositions. It's quite playful, much like Joplin's original work.

Maple Leaf Rag

Another jazz interpretation of Scott Joplin from jazz musicians out of the avant-garde of the 1970s. Anthony Braxton lets loose some hints of his contemporary sound while Muhal Richard Abrams continues to pound on the keyboard in a style reminiscent of ragtime and stride piano. This would have likely worked better with the addition of a drummer, bassist, and another horn player who is more comfortable with improvisation on it. 

King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era

Although ragtime is not my preferred genre of music, my interests in the evolution of black music and, in particular, jazz, warrants an deeper understanding of the genre. Berlin's biography of Joplin is rather sparse on many details of his life, due to the paucity of reliable sources. So, in light of some of the many questions left unanswered by studies of the course of Joplin's personal life, Berlin fills in as many gaps as possible. Using his knowledge of the state of ragtime during Joplin's life, this biography is more of an overview placing the man and his compositions in the social, musical, and cultural context of his era. Joplin's struggles to find legitimacy as a composer. Plusm his views on the eventual uplift of Black America through education (seemingly the motivation for Treemonisha), as well as his seeming admiration for Booker T. Washington reveal something of Joplin's thoughts on social matters and the destiny of the "race." Something peculiar to Black America, rooted in the minstrel and "coon song" tradition, combined with march steps and syncopation, bequeathed to the country the first national music craze. One, it must be said, Joplin hoped to be considered a serious art form.

Berlin's biography is a rewarding one. It focuses heavily on the music, offering analysis of some of the innovative traits of Joplin's compositions. His work also places this son of a former slave into the debates on racial uplift, nascent Tin Pan Alley, and the status of black music in pre-jazz days. In this account of his life, Joplin emerges as a sophisticated, eloquent man who sought to elevate ragtime and be taken seriously as a composer, a struggle bringing to mind future black jazz artists who hoped to be considered true artists alongside the likes of Wagner, Bartok, or Ravel. He also dealt with publishing companies, the association of ragtime with social vices, and the financial insecurity of a musician. All struggles familiar to early jazz. 

So, what was so exceptional about the author of Maple Leaf Rag? According to Berlin's biography, Joplin's previous career in music involved violin lessons from his father, learning the piano with a German instructor, and leading a vocal quartet. Thus, long before ragtime, Joplin was involved in various forms of music, as well as having experience with vocal quartets, popular song, and African American music. His siblings were also involved with music and dance, exemplifying how musical the family was. By the 1890s, after the Exposition in 1893, he eventually ended up in Sedalia, Missouri, a center of commerce and rail transport with a lively musical scene (plus, brothels, bars and social clubs, conditions conducive for musical entertainment or innovation). There, as ragtime consolidated as a genre across the decade, Joplin began a fruitful partnership with Stark's music publishing company. Genius rags such as Maple Leaf Rag brought new dimensions to piano ragtime as well as ensuring Joplin a comfortable income from royalties.

Joplin's rags, often with four strains, experimented with different rhythms, harmonies, tonal patterns, counterpoint, and mood. He also composed marches, operas, waltzes, and, intriguingly, incorporated elements of the blues and Latin music into his works. One piece, Wall Street Rag, even contained narrative sections for each strain, demonstrating an interest in narrative music. Just as many of aforementioned ingredients were present in jazz, Joplin's approach to ragtime composition were of an exceptionally high standard, even recognized as such by whites in Sedalia and music journals in New York. At a time when most white Americans and "respectable" black Americans looked down on ragtime, Joplin's serious demeanor and attempts to elevate black music to the esteemed status of Western classical stand out. His attempts at opera, although the first one is lost, demonstrate the breadth of his musical vision. They also exhibit an excellent blend of the European tradition with African American styles, including some of the Southern African American musical traditions he was exposed to through his parents. This is several years before Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, and more of an actual operatic work than what Will Marion Cook was doing at the time. 

How does it relate to jazz? And what did Joplin think of the nascent jazz of the 1910s New York? He corresponded with Jelly Roll Morton, the self-proclaimed inventor of jazz. His friend, Wilbur Sweatman, later became a jazz musician himself. During his time in St. Louis during the early 1900s, he also participated in an active ragtime community (Tom Turpin, Louis Chauvin, etc.) where other black pianists of the artist engaged in "cutting" contests, showing off their instrumental chops, reminiscent of future jazz musicians. As a member of the black musical entertainment circles of New York, he participated in the Colored Vaudeville Benevolent Association and the Clef Club. This means he almost certainly knew or at some level interacted with James Reese Europe, Ford Dabney, and other musicians active in black cabarets in the Tenderloin district, later Harlem (which was becoming increasingly black in the final decade of Joplin's life. 

Indeed, during Joplin's New York years, blues and "proto-jazz" (or jazz, depending on one's definition of the term) were increasingly heard, which may explain some of the blues elements in Joplin's music, particularly Magnetic Rag. Unfortunately, his painful death due to syphilis deprived the world of watching the further developments of his work. However, Berlin states Joplin was ignored by Europe and others in the Clef Club, so perhaps Joplin would have remained on the margins of the new music while attempting to stage Treemonisha. Alternatively, his relationship with Wilbur Sweatman and Jelly Roll Morton may have pushed him into jazz, where he could have perhaps emerged as the most important composer in the genre's early stage. How he would have responded to improvisation on his tunes one cannot say, but his sophisticated musical knowledge could have enriched early jazz's songbook.

Weeping Willow Rag

Air, consisting of Henry Threadgill, Henry Hopkins, and Steve McCall, produced a gem in their jazz interpretation of a Scott Joplin ragtime piece. "Weeping Willow Rag" manages to accomplish the impossible: retain that bouncy, old-time feel of the original yet sounding contemporary. Since many elements of free and avant-garde jazz were a return to the roots of the music, it's not altogether too shocking that Air were able to bring to life Joplin's ragtime compositions. Even without a piano, their version captures that ragged, two-step style with rollicking drums and old-timey saxophone from Threadgill who can't help but turn this weeping willow into an upbeat one. There is a celebration of life in music such as this, which I can appreciate in similar jazz forays into the past of black music. 

Ragtime Dance

I love it when avant-garde artists look to the roots, in this case, Scott Joplin and ragtime. Although I admire Henry Threadgill, there is still much of his music I am unforgivably unfamiliar with. So, enjoy this "Ragtime Dance" for the weekend.