Scott Joplin : The Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer

Soulful songs called “spirituals” were also sung by slaves.  These expressed their strong religious beliefs as well as their desire for freedom. Elements of both work songs and spirituals are a part of the foundation of jazz. During the 1800’s, America became known as the “land of opportunity.” Many people immigrated to different American cities in search of fortune and a better life. With these immigrants came a variety of musical traditions as well, such as Irish gigs, German waltzes, and French quadrilles. The African American composer Scott Joplin combined these newly introduced European compositional styles with the rhythmic and melodic music of the black community. This became known as "ragtime."

Son of a former slave born in Texas, Scott Joplin would later become the King of Ragtime.   Growing up Joplin worked with a minstrel troupe, leading the band with cornet during the time of the World’s Fair. He would return to Sedalia, which would be known as his home base, to play first cornet in the Queen City Cornet Band with local black musicians. He played for countless dances and shows. He was a sought after musician that caught the eye of several businessmen that would publish some of his music. 
When someone today sits down to the piano and friends say, "play some ragtime" most of the worlds response would be to play 'The Entertainer'. Everyone seems to know it and love it, people sit down on the piano bench together and try to play this ragtime tune all the time. A beloved song to many is traced straight back to Scott Jolpin. This instrumental rag is full of syncopation, a strong rhythm that people have held onto through out the years. It is one of the most memorable elements of the song. The tone of the composition is firm and doesn't change from the original key whatsoever. Joplin does use accidentals and syncopations in the composition to make the piece more captivating. The tempo is written in a 2/4 time, which makes the piece up tempo. The melody is homophonic, which means that the elements are of the same rhythm even though they play different notes throughout the piece of music. The use of crescendo and decrescendo give "The Entertainer" a firm foundation and body that helps with the attention-grabbing aspect. Truly defining itself as a ragtime classic. 

Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag was to become the greatest and most famous piano rags. The explosive popularity of this piece produced a half-million copies sold by 1909, with that continuing rate for the next two decades.  Joplin wasn’t the only composer of ragtime yet his musical imagination gave ragtime its finest expression. Backstory consists of the collaboration between Joplin and storeowner in Sedalia and publisher John Stark. Some stories even say Stark liked the music he heard one day in a nearby bar and stopped off for a beer. The Maple Leaf Rag was named after a short-lived Sedalia social club called the “Maple Leaf Club” where Joplin had been a solo performer.  The exact specifications to how the Maple Leaf Rag was published are hairy but we do know that Joplin signed a contract with Stark getting .25 minimum sale prices and one-cent royalty on each sale of Maple Leaf Rag. This song in specific had a profound influence on writers of ragtime music.  People today recognize this song and have a fond affinity for ragtime because of Scott Joplin. 

Here is a fun video showing how Scott Joplins, Maple Leaf Rag is still a favorite ragtime tune today! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP42w2Q07TY&feature=fvst

Roots

People can look at the same thing and see it differently; music is a bridge to see into another life or even another world.

Jazz must be understood as a music that derives, in its fundamental sense coming from Africa. African music is all about the raw rhythm’s, layered creating rhythmic contrast known as polyrhythm.  This organic feel can include call and response while usually, if not always accompanied by dancing or some kind of motion. Something about the way the beat grows awakens something inside you that just spills out into motion. 

You just can’t sit still.  Jazz is the same way.

“It should’ve Happened A Long Time Ago” by Paul Motian performed by the Trio-Tootie Heath, Ethan Iverson and Ben Street, was one of my favorites when listening to NPR’s “Live at the Village Vanguard”.  Tootie Heath enters in with some stellar African mallet patterns.  I loved it! Tootie puts down a foundation layer with his mallets using repetition to make a framework for the whole song. At first you don’t recognize the beat as African, the important thing is truly how the beat fit into the music.  African origins are all about the family participation and whatever you have to bring to the table is shared and appreciatively accepted. Tootie starts what seems like a random beat on drums yet when the melody floats over the mallet patterns the two are completely independent. Yet they have a unique marriage that is completely attuned to one another. This is common in African rhythm’s. It’s all about adding to the story the music is telling; layering acts as an enhancement to the music. The arrangement just seems to happen, as if you were starting a conversation. The drums and melody blend perfectly yet there actual relationship is a mystery.  The beauty in “It should’ve Happened A Long Time Ago” is the tension that is created and the way it blends into the trio grooving as one.  So many layers are added; you hear piano, bass yet what you feel is the drum. There is something so relational about the drumbeat that is deeply rooted in African music.  It becomes your heartbeat and lulls you into this state where your head and your heart connect simultaneously. This happens partially as a testament to the mystery of music and partially because of the attention to the syncopation and layers working to one goal. To portray the music’s story. Tootie does a phenomenal job of genuine showmanship as well as displaying independence in the drums but coexisting to reach a common ground with other instruments and their players. That’s when the magic happens and the jazz just spills over into our ears and creates an environment that delightfully brings us back to our African roots.  

http://www.npr.org/event/music/158904890/ethan-iverson-ben-street-tootie-heath-live-at-the-village-vanguard