William Bolcom: The Complete Rags

by Marc-Andre Hamelin

Overview

Pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin is a remarkable talent and is well-known for his technical ability, which is certainly put to the test in this survey of the complete ragtime music of William Bolcom. The rag was a popular musical form at the turn of the 20th century before nearly completely disappearing with the emergence of jazz and its many forms. Ragtime music saw a revival in the 1960s and is once more seeing an increase in interest. It was during this earlier revival that Bolcom began contributing new music to the genre, beginning with "Glad Rag" in 1967. Bolcom's rags follow the classic style made popular by Scott Joplin and the stride piano of James P. Johnson and Eubie Blake, but they enjoy the expanded chromatism of Bolcom's time. One major inspiration for him was Joplin's lost opera, Treemonisha, which Bolcom was instrumental in premiering in the 1970s. Another was Blake, who later became a mentor to Bolcom, and the two frequently performed together. This partnership inspired several pieces from Bolcom, such as the program opener Eubie's Luckey Day. Interest in the style diminished again in the '70s, though he added a few more items to the genre. His final rag, Contentment, was written in 2015 and was dedicated to his wife and musical partner, Joan Morris. Hamelin is up to the task on this collection, which could easily drag at over two hours of rags, with many sharing similar sounds. However, his creativity keeps the program fresh: his playing is ideally light and crisp on the up-tempo works while skillfully displaying expressivity on the slower-tempo tunes. An expertly performed examination of a cyclically neglected style. ~ Keith Finke

Product Details

Release Date:	06/03/2022
Label:	Hyperion
UPC:	0034571283913
Rank:	47317

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Eubie's Luckey Day
2. Epithalamium
3. Popular Rags (3) for piano~Tabby Cat Walk
4. Knockout 'A Rag'
5. Rag-Tango
6. The Garden of Eden~Old Adam
7. The Garden of Eden~The Eternal Feminine
8. The Garden of Eden~The Serpent's Kiss
9. The Garden of Eden~Through Eden's Gates
10. California Porcupine Rag
11. The Gardenia
12. The Brooklyn Dodge
13. Contentment

Disc 2

14. Three Ghost Rags~Graceful Ghost Rag
15. Three Ghost Rags~The Poltergeist
16. Three Ghost Rags~Dream Shadows
17. Raggin' Rudi
18. Classic Rags (3), for piano~Epitaph for Louis Chauvin
19. Seabiscuits Rag
20. Estela 'Rag Latino'
21. Fields of Flowers
22. Classic Rags (3), for piano~Incineratorag
23. Knight Hubert
24. Lost Lady Rag
25. Classic Rags (3), for piano~Glad Rag
26. Last Rag
27. Brass Knuckles

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Marc-Andre Hamelin   Primary Artist,Piano

Technical Credits

Philip Brunnader   Photography
Simone Canetty-Clarke   Photography
Viola Scheffel   Liner Note Translation
Judith Sherman   Producer,Engineer
Todd Harris   Booklet Editor
William Bolcom   Liner Notes,Composer
William Albright   Composer
Simon Perry   Executive Producer
Marie-Stella Paris   Liner Note Translation
Allen Jones   Illustrations
Jeanne Velonis   Assistant Engineer
John Von Rohr   Piano Technician