Ragtime is in many ways the quintessential American music. It arrived at the turn of the last century with many transitions, notably the discovery of the means to record sound, and the determination of Afro-Americans of genius to be appreciated as artists. The music we call ragtime represents not only a moment of great anticipation (as the advent of jazz was on hand) but also of fulfillment. There are perhaps, 200 classic ragtime pieces that represent a corpus of extraordinary beauty - some of the most straightforward, melodious, and out and out joyful music that there ever was.

In the early 1960’s guitar players started to tackle arranging this music. David Laibman and Dave Van Ronk were in the vanguard of this movement. Van Ronk’s arrangement of St. Louis Tickle became a rite of passage for fingerstyle guitarists. Laibman’s arrangements of Scott Joplin’s classic rags amazed and challenged the fingerpickers from coast to coast and across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe.

By the 1970s other guitarists tried their skills playing ragtime. In the last fifty years this pursuit has carried on. This collection presents eight outstanding guitarists and their approaches to arranging and playing cake walks and classic rags. Tackling the material in this collection will greatly help your development and mastery of the fretboard and what Rev. Gary Davis called your six-string piano. Both your hands will get a complete aerobic workout! An audio download link is included with performances of each title.

Rémi Balsacq
- After the Cakewalk
- Cotton Bolls
- The Sun Do Move
- Walkin’ On De Rainbow Road
Steve McWilliam
- Peaches and Cream
- Steven Hicks
Temptation Rag
- Kinklets – A Ragtime Two Step
- Carrie’s Gone to Kansas City
- Cracked Ice Rag
Dorian Henry
- Alabama Peach Carnival
- Columbia Rag
- Echoes from the Snowball Club
- International Cake Walk
Lasse Johansson
- Junk Man Rag
- Russian Rag
Dick Fegy
- Bowery Buck
- Kismet Rag
Leo Wijnkamp
- Hilarity Rag
- The Sycamore - A Concert Rag
David Laibman
- Gladiolus Rag
- Magnetic Rag
- Ethiopia Rag
- Ragtime Nightingale
- Contentment Rag
- Pleasant Moment • Ragtime Waltz
- Ragtime Oriole