Tom Reiss

While writing 'The Orientalist,' I played a soundtrack that alternated between ragtime and Azeri mugams, Russian operas and German and Italian pop songs from the 1920s and 30s. When I finally finished, I gorged on all my music from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.

American Author

Michael McDonald

Whenever I sing blues from the '50s or the kind of blues that you might have heard Eric Clapton or Duane Allman emulate, I often feel the similarity of some of the ragtime stuff I sang early on. A lot of the phrasing and the harmonization is the same.

Chris Ware

Ragtime has about the same amount of respect as comics. And in a way they're similar art forms. Ragtime is highly compositional, and the emotion in the music is built in, whereas in jazz a lot of that emotion comes from the way it's performed.

American Artist

David Hepworth

The age of the rock star was coterminous with rock n' roll, which, in spite of all the promises made in some memorable songs, proved to be as finite as the era of ragtime or big bands. The rock era is over. We now live in a hip-hop world.

British Journalist

James Weldon Johnson

My appearance was always good and my ability to play on the piano, especially ragtime, which was then at the height of its vogue, made me a welcome guest.

American Poet

Russell Lynes

Ragtime was a fanfare for the 20th century.

American Critic

Scott Joplin

American Musician

Hoagy Carmichael

American Composer

Ragtime developed in African American communities, reflecting cultural history, not just a music style.

Historical Music

Ragtime is a predecessor of jazz, so its rhythm is complex, emphasizing syncopation and off-beat rhythms.

Jazzy Origins

Ragtime is primarily played on the piano, so its mention often implies a piano performance.

Piano-centric

 found the pulse of this proud I am a couple years ago I had the opportunity to design all of the magic for a Broadway musical called ragtime and in that show there was a character called

Mind-blowing illusions PIPE...

 that music in that order and the order of play as it is on the cassette and it's fantastically evocative those ragtime tunes for the last year I've been writing a