Search - American Ragtime Ensemble :: Prestidigitations: Contemporary Concert Rags by J. L. Zaimont

Ragtime is in my blood its catchy tunes and buoyant rhythms. Side by side with more elaborate concert works, I ve been composing rag-based pieces for more than three decades. And when these two musical domains continually intersect in my imagination, the manner of each mutually enriches the other, generating concert-framed works that tap into infectious ragged time as deep-down, or overt, source. Very often elaborated in their forms, these concert works could be thought of as wholly American counterparts to such music as Chopin s polonaises and mazurkas, similarly derived from national dance forms. My compositions based on ragtime rhythms and turns of phrase are brought together here for the first time, as a program in themselves. Though the pieces share kinship in employing syncopation as fundamental building block, with tunes marking each major segment, they differ quite noticeably in attitude chiefly because I m fascinated with ragtime s tendency to smudge the beat, and to phase in and out of the predominating beat stream. Also, I decided to write rags whose tempi cover a much wider range than is usual for ragtime: from motoric fast gearing down through a moderate two-step, and finally slowing altogether into the most gentle rocking. By moving from tempo to tempo syncopation gets redefined; and without undue pressure the music covers a gamut from extrovert to quite-private statement. It s a pleasure for a composer when a piece achieves escape velocity , traveling beyond the original orbit of its premiere to where many artists/ensembles independently take it up. Such has been the case with most of these pieces. David Reffkin, recipient of the 2006 Scott Joplin Award and Director of San Francisco s American Ragtime Ensemble, has adapted several of these movements for his group. Along with their original piano versions, two Reffkin arrangements are included here Reflective Rag and Lazy Beguine (from the Snazzy Sonata), plus my own flute and piano trans