Fine recordings of ragtime, vintage jazz, and dance bands

This 2017 three CD set, played by Richard Dowling is, in my opinion, probably the best “complete works of Scott Joplin” that I’ve heard. What makes this set so great, in my estimation, is that a certain set of parameters were decided upon in advance. The first, and most important perhaps, was Dowling’s determination to follow Joplin’s (purported) own words that “…each note will be played as written…”

The second parameter was that this album was to be recorded not on an American Steinway, but a Hamburg (German) Steinway.

The third major parameter that is attached to the project, and I thought that this was probably the best, is that instead of programming the works chronologically (either by year of composition or year of publication), they are presented in an order according to the taste of the performer and the producer.

The last major parameter is Dowling’s stated desire “…to emphasize the beauty of Joplin’s music, through manipulation of tone color and voicing on the piano…” This Dowling achieves in abundance.

“Paragon Rag” is VERY different from how predecessor Max Morath recorded it. Morath juxtaposes “swingy” rhythms and triplets with more straight rhythms and plays the C section much slower than the rest. Dowling plays it pretty much the same speed all the way through (a quick march tempo), and it still sounds great. Bass notes are often much stronger than in Morath’s version.

In “The Strenuous Life,” in the second section, the second to last chord before the cadence in the middle is louder than the one played on the cadence. This is more evidence with which to conclude that everything that happens in this album is based on conscious decisions.

In “A Breeze from Alabama,” Dowling uses rubato to good effect throughout, and this helps the transition from one tonal center to another from the second to last to the last section.

With “Pineapple Rag,” Dowling is often not holding on to chords in the right hand, and the staccato effect is used greatly in the bass octaves in final repeat. This is an example of Dowling occasionally playing something different from what is in the score – to great effect.

“The Easy Winners” is very different from Bill Bolcom’s version. In Dowling’s interpretation the piece is much sprightlier and has a greater use of detaché in the right hand. The third section brings out inner and implied harmonies very beautifully.

“The Cascades” is excellently understated. Dowling changes the score by repeating the “A” section before the “C” section. This is an excellent change which never would have occurred to me. And there is plenty of contrast in the “D” section with the bass being strongly prominent. Again, Dowling ends the piece quietly on the cadence, to his credit.

There are not many recordings of “The Favourite,” which is mostly a march with some syncopations. Dowling achieves great clarity here by bringing out the inner voices in first section in the first few bars. It is a very charming piece very charmingly played, with nice soft touch in the second section resisting the temptation to play it with a hard tone.

After bringing out the elegance and melodiousness Dowling turns right around catches the bucolic and folk-like/banjo-like quality of the “Swipesy Cake Walk” despite the fact that Dowling largely plays it much as written.

It is greatly pleasing to hear that even though Dowling set himself a certain number of rules while playing these pieces, he did not obey those rules slavishly. He controlled the performances, rather than the performances controlling him.

I wish that there had been more room to say even more positive things about this album.

Producer Bryan Wright is a musicologist as well as an exceptional pianist himself, which explains the great empathy he has for the performer, enabling Dowling to give the best results. The eloquent booklet notes are written with great regard to historical accuracy, and each of the rags receives a small page of explanation along with a beautiful reproduction of the original cover on archival quality paper in an exceptional 72-page booklet. Wright also recorded the whole project himself, with editing assisted by Dowling himself. It makes the listener truly wonder what on earth it is that Mr. Wright CANNOT do?

In this amazing set, Dowling proves himself to be a very considerable artist, showing great intentionality with every note played and every work recorded. And he proved that you can play the pieces largely “as written,” to my delighted surprise. In every way imaginable, this album is a phenomenal artistic success.

Recommended without reservation.

“Breakin’ Notes” is a complete split from the musical layout of Mr. Wright’s previous CD. The first half are (mostly) rags from the earlier period of ragtime’s history; four works by Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke form the center of the programme; followed by works written after ragtime’s initial period of popularity.

“Efficiency Rag” has not been recorded that much (except, of course, by William Bolcom), and we can hear how Wright’s playing has matured over the intervening years. It is played neither too fast nor too slow, with great attention to articulation and good shaping with dynamics.

“Kinklets” by Arthur Marshall has not been recorded much (I can only think of Morath’s and Bunk Johnson’s recordings off the top of my head), and Mr. Wright plays it with a similarly detaché style, occasionally adding little changes to the rhythm in the right hand, and adding a Eubie Blake-style “walking bass” at times, which we know is historically accurate from Marshall’s own comments about his and Joplin’s playing. A very distinctive and unique interpretation, easily equal to Morath’s classic version.

Julia Lee Neibergall’s “Hoosier Rag” is much more effective as a piano solo than I thought it would be thanks to Mr. Wright’s interpretation (the only other version of which I know is by Morath’s string group recorded in the 1970s on Vanguard). It’s interesting to hear Neibergall’s occasional deviations for the oom-pah or octave-chord patterns in the bass so common to most rags. Wright will also not hesitate to change the score a bit to add greater interest, for example, in Joplin’s “Euphonic Sounds,” he speeds the third section up a little. It makes the listener sit up and take notice.

Wright also shows his considerable command with two “modern” rags: Martin Spitznagel’s jaunty and novelty-like “Red Elephant Rag,” which darts up and down the keyboard with a lovely “blues-like” third section; and David Thomas Roberts’ haunting and elegiac “Roberto Clemente,” wherein Wright once again shows his exceptional use of dynamic contrast.

The highlights of this album are the four pieces by Bix Beiderbecke. Three of them were never recorded by Bix, so we only have the sheet music to go by, and sheet music is often notoriously inaccurate in such matters. “In a Mist” is the “magnum opus” of the four pieces, and although Wright doesn’t play it exactly like Bix, I agree with his approach, i.e., that it should NOT be played like Debussy, but instead fairly metrically with very judicious use of rubato at the ends of phrases. In doing so, Wright cleverly shows the listener that these works are not just “doodling” at the piano, but well-conceived “frozen” improvisations with distinct sections.

I once played “Upright and Grand,” and have known about Frank Banta’s recording for most of my life, but did not feel I could make it “work.” Wright does a great job here, playing it mostly “straight,” with no vaudevillian glissandi (as Banta once did in an early 1920s recording), then adding his own little coda based on previous material which deviates from the written score.

No fact checkers are necessary with Mr. Wright’s eloquent and beautifully designed booklet; he is a pure scholar through and through, and one can be absolutely certain of near-perfect accuracy in his well-written and thoughtful notes in the beautifully ornamented booklet accompanying this album.

The last word will also be Mr. Wright’s: the final track on “Breakin’ Notes” is The Legend of Lonesome Lake by Eastwood Lane. I had not heard it before, and I suspect a great many others would be in the same boat. It is not my favourite work in these two collections, but it is definitely my favourite performance of all the tracks. Why? Because Wright takes an obscure work, that perhaps isn’t the greatest American syncopated piano piece ever written, but plays it with enormous conviction, in a suitable manner which highlights all the rhythms, structures, and harmonies in those works which preceded and followed it (with even a couple of harmonic progressions which Bix used). We are afterwards left with a genuine sense of accomplishment, not just for the performer, but for the subtle, stylish and detailed way in which both the music and the programme notes are laid out for us. And that, in my opinion, is what REAL musicianship is all about. This album would be a welcome addition to anyone’s CD collection.

Recommended without reservation.

“Syncopated Musings” would be an impressive debut album by anyone at any level of maturity, but I was stunned to see that Mr. Wright was only 22 years old at the time of the recording. I don’t think that I would have been able to produce something with this level of subtlety or maturity at that age.

The first track, May Aufderheide’s “The Thriller!” is played a little faster than Max Morath did, but it is cleanly articulated, with mostly punctuated and clearly separated notes in the bass, with the occasional little changes in the melodic lines, and dynamics (e.g. the second strain is played a little louder during the repeat). I’m not a big fan of repeating sections, but if you’re going to do it, there has to be some variation, and Mr. Wright does so while holding the listener’s attention.

Arthur Marshall is not well enough known by many people who listen to this music, and Mr. Wright chooses “Ham And!” for the second piece. It is not played or recorded often, but this is by far the best rendition I’ve heard. There are, again, wonderful and noticeable changes in dynamics with great emphasis on the “blues-like” riffs in the right hand in the 3rd section.

Scott Joplin’s “Country Club” is also played with similar conviction, with a slight increase in tempo in the 3rd section. It’s this kind of attention to detail which keeps the listener listening. Joplin’s “Magnetic Rag” is played with similar reverence, and with small amounts of rubato which accentuate the phrases.

In “Pastime Rag No. 4” (which is full of chord clusters, very harmonically advanced for early ragtime) Wright plays it slower than Bill Bolcom did in his 1970s recording, but with a swinging lilt that gives it a “vaudeville” touch (while at the same time being informed by classical music) – an aspect of the piece which I had never heard before. A delightfully new interpretation and played with gentle, soft dynamics.

I’ve known Harry Jentes’s “Bantam Step” for decades, and always wanted to play it, but never felt that I could bring it off. Mr. Wright does so in fine style, with sharp attacks in the right hand, excellent variation in dynamics, and occasional added notes in the right hand (particularly in the last section as there are long held notes, probably best suited for band arrangements), and added 5ths in the left hand. It is both satisfying to hear and stylistically accurate. I’m sure the composer would have approved.

My two favourite tracks are Scott Joplin’s and Louis Chauvin’s famous “Heliotrope Bouquet,” and Joplin’s ragtime waltz, “Bethena.” I’m going to stick my neck out and say that I think that the former receives an even better rendition than it did from William Bolcom. It’s not an easy piece to play, particularly if repeats are observed, and Wright keeps our attention all the way through again with his charming and subdued use of rubato and his subtle soft ending.

“Bethena” starts with use of soft pedal, and minimal use of sustaining pedal. It is played fairly quickly and not at all sentimentally. This is a perfect rendition, and does not become loud until the second section.

Bryan Wright is also a phenomenal writer as well. The enclosed beautiful booklet is scholarly, accurate, and great fun to read.

All in all, I think this is an exceptional album. Recommended without reservation!

Rather peaceful music to listen to.

Another great record from the unique series of hi-fi stereo 78 rpms that Rivermont is issuing. The recording is excellent, its quality is enhanced by the 78 rpm, and the music is well conceived and played in a great revival of the 20's hot dance music.

What is on tap here is a double helping, as in 2 discs, of music performed by an exceptionally talented pianist. His conception, execution, sense of time and space, his dynamics, all literally cannot be described using the English language. Or I lack the eloquence to meet the challenge. To steal a favorite expression from Duke Ellington, Matthew De Lacey Davidson is beyond category. You owe to yourself to acquire this disc. It is a keeper.

I often wonder if today's young people are ever going to learn. I wonder this when I see a group of kids together, but texting instead of talking to each other. Then this disc comes along and gives me hope. Here are kids who know how to communicate with a capital "C"! I believe this band plays trad jazz as well as it can be played. Beautifully recorded too. Wonderful stuff!

The music is great, the liner notes comprehensive, the overall quality of the production is as close to perfect as is humanly possible. I love everything about these discs.

Excellent sounding 78's in STEREO!

A great music collection covering different music style. Vince Giordano shouldn't be forgotten. The Peacherine Ragtime society is great when your mood is gloomy and Sonico make a great job in reconstructing Tango music.

In an age where many companies are pumping out inferior pressings, especially when compared to records (I don't say vinyl) from the '50s through the '80s, it is such a pleasure to anticipate the next offering from Rivermont. My son asked me why the new records he just bought do not sound as good as an old Doris Day album I gave him. (He listens to heavy metal a lot.) He thought there was something wrong with his Fisher. Yes, he too has a vintage system. These are true audiophile recordings and the selections offered are fantastic even though I consider myself a music lover, not an audiophile, meaning I listen intently to my music, not my system. Bravo Rivermont! Keep up the great work. I believe I have every 78 rpm you offered in my collection.

Thom

Hochwertige Schallplatten, hervorragend aufgenommen. Schnelle Lieferung, sehr zuverlässig. Top-seriöser Händler mit viel Leidenschaft.

I loved this CD. The musicians were excellent and faithful to the character of 1920s music. I only wish I lived in the Chicago area so I could hear them live.

Every release by Rivermont is a treasure, and this one is no different. Irving Aaronson may be almost forgotten today, but this album--one of two of Aaronson's work released by Rivermont--is a rollicking, joyous celebration of the spirit of the 20's and should be more broadly heard.

Unsurprisingly, Rivermont have hit it out of the park with this record. Vince's band have never sounded better! “Goin’ To Town” is the track I most enjoy, but all of them have beautiful fidelity and rhythm. Very pleased with my purchase!