Customer Reviews

Complete Rags

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
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Well I'm sorry the one feller got a broken jewel box, but he should be rating the music, not the packaging! The fact is, compared to virtually any other performance of Scott Joplin's music you'll hear, William Albright nails it perfectly. The man studied Joplin, listened to his piano rolls, read his writings and learned his thoughts on what Joplin's intentions were and has captured them beautifully. His playing on these recordings is exquisite and consistant--you wouldn't know if he sat down and did the whole thing in a day or a year; his interpretations remain the same. Rifkin is good, but to me, a bit shallow and sometimes overdone, and as a musician and engineer, I can tell when he's in a different mood, or when his producer added a bit here or there. This Albright compilation is clean and sets the standard by which one should approach the mastery of Scott Joplin. As this is a complete collection and expertly recorded, for all but live performances, I would suggest others go record something else. William Albright has done it all!

If you're really looking for "complete," you want "The Entertainer - The Very Best Of Scott Joplin" (search it). That album has twice the tracks of this one. But you can't beat Albright's interpretation.

This is delightful listening. All 34 pieces are pure piano Joplin rag the way it was meant to be played. We got this set for one of our sons who requested it as a learning aid: he wanted to be selected as pianist for a college theater performance. It must have worked, because he got the job! He gave it back to us recently, so, 10 years down the road we listened to all of it for the first time. Don't expect to hear music such as Hamlisch's sountrack of "THE STING" - Joplin didn't write for orchestration, so any of his pieces you might hear with accompaniment are adaptations/interpretations. All of Joplin's rhythm and tone bloom beautifully and perfectly on piano alone.
Joplin was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer in 1976, poor reward for the man who revolutionized American popular music and set much of the foundation of American jazz. This compilation rightfully opens with his most successful 1899 piece "Maple Leaf Rag", which was the first instrumental to sell over one million copies of sheet music - imagine that, more sheet music sold than Mozart! But do listen through the entire set, and you will hear an incredible range of mood and tone. It isn't just ragtime - it's the root of modern American popular music.
Pianist and music professor William Albright was a composer and celebrated organist. He was also a ragtime enthusiast, happily for those who love this music. His untimely death in 1998 was a setback for fans who awaited his concert tours and newest compositions.

This guy sure slows down the tempo to Joplins music.When he does he takes apart the music so you can explore all the nuance of this early Jazz form. That covers a lot of territory and is a very enjoyable art journey.Some of the pieces are too slow and introspective for my taste.Its like he is laying it out for piano players.Joplin wrote for dance halls and home playing partying folks,after all and one suspects that was fast paced baby!This album does not really go there.

I purchased this CD to replace an identical one which I literally wore out, so obviously I'm satisfied with the quality of the performance and the selections included. However, the jewel box arrived in a state of total ruin - it was in pieces - no possible way to use it. I presume that the sender checked the condition of the jewel box before mailing it, but somehow it was damaged in transit (?).