Customer Reviews

Scott Joplin, King of Ragtime Writers (from Classic Piano Rolls)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

What else were you expecting? You think they had 8 track recorders in Joplin's day? You think they had digital or even analogue technology?? Heck, dude, they didn't even have ELECTRICITY! lol

I'm just happy to know that Joplin's original recordings on this CD are the closest thing we have to hearing original recordings from the Classical Masters. I wish the piano roll had existed in Beethoven's day...or Chopin's. I doubt many people would be screaming about the digital conversion quality if it had. ;)

The piano rolls featured on this CD date from the turn of last century and the 1960's. The selections are good. Just the right thing to spark some interest in Ragtime music for my 12 year-old son. (It did!) I was hoping the selections would be more faithful to the period. Perhaps they are! But, while purists will enjoy the true-to-the-scoreness of the tracks they will also be disappointed in many of the tempos.

One reviewer noted that the songs sounded mechanical. I agree, some do. The end of Maple Leaf Rag, for instance, culminates in such a frenetic pace I thought I was listening to a hurdy-gurdy race.

We also purchased The Complete Music Of Scott Joplin. This is a 4 CD set. There is a lot of music for the money. John Arpin plays with lots of vituosity and embelishments. But 4 Cds are less convenient.

I do enjoy a liveliness to my ragtime, and this did inspire my son to play a couple of pieces so I am very happy.

This CD shows the beginning of jazz. This is where it all began. Scott Joplin is a great composer of ragtime. It is a fun CD to listen to, but it must be listened to in context of it's historical meaning, or it can become very monotonous. If you're not an avid jazz lover, this probably isn't for you.

I have for a long time owned the LP of the piano rolls created by Joplin.
Piano rolls are music produced by relatively crude machines and are unable to give more than a pale imitation of the player's style.
You are much better off listening to good exponents of ragtime like Joshua Rifkin than thinking that piano rolls are actual music.

These recordings are not re-mastered Scot Joplin works but rather "piano rolls" and as such are very mechanical sounding.At no place on the catalog info does the words"piano roll" appear and therefor this album is a swindle. Tin Ear

very nice and great album, except the maple leaf rag the rags are played by scott joplin

everyone who likes ragtime should buy this!