Two James Scott Rags on Edison

James Scott (1885-1938) was part of the triumvirate of great ragtime composers, along with Scott Joplin and Joseph Lamb. The title of one of his most famous compositions, "Grace and Beauty," is a good description of his music - it has a personal melodic lilt that gives it a different flavor than Joplin's music. Several of Scott's rags were quite popular in the early decades of the 20th century, and "Climax Rag" became something of a jazz standard. In later years however, Scott and his music were somewhat neglected until the ragtime revival of the 1970s.

Fred Van Eps (1878-1960) was an incredibly prolific banjo player in the early days of the record industry, recording for all the major labels and many of the smaller ones. Although he recorded much pop/dance music, he specialized in ragtime, recording dozens of examples of the genre early in the 20th century.

Van Eps turned to two James Scott rags, "Grace and Beauty" and "Ragtime Oriole," rather late in the day for ragtime. He recorded these two pieces for Pathe in September, 1923 and again for Edison the following February. Ragtime was no longer the revolutionary music it had seemed two decades earlier; jazz was now the latest thing. And the influence of jazz seems to have affected Van Eps' performance style: he has replaced the straight 16th notes in the sheet music with a slightly jerky attempt at a jazz "swing." One guesses that the composer would have admonished Van Eps with the title and subtitle of one of his later rags: "Don't Jazz Me - I'm Music."

In any case, it's interesting to hear these performances of Scott's rags performed during his lifetime. Accompanied by John Burckhardt on piano, here is Fred Van Eps, from Edison 51514, recorded in New York City on February 6, 1924:

Grace and Beauty

Ragtime Oriole