![]() ![]() Its clinical and morbidly entertaining approach creates an invaluable compendium for jazz fans and scholars alike. With Jazz and Death, the causes behind the great jazz funerals may no longer be misconstrued. Scott Joplin (18671917), the King of Ragtime, bridged the worlds of classical and popular music and died of the effects of neurosyphilis after a prolonged. Many did jail time, and others succumbed to the ravages of “horse.” The receipts were stolen, however, and this eventually caused the production to shut down. He wrote a ballet and created his first opera, both of which were seeing some good box office successes. Too often, the musical scene demanded that those who play jazz be “jazzed.”Īfter World War II, as heroin addiction became the hallmark of revolution, talented bebop artists suffered long absences from the bandstand. Everything Could Have Changed 1902 was an important year for Joplin. Heavy drinking, even during Prohibition, was the norm in the clubs of New Orleans and Kansas City and in the ballrooms of Chicago and New York. By 1916, Joplin was experiencing the devastating physical and mental effects of syphilis, a disease he had probably contracted almost 20 years earlier. A discussion of Art Tatum's visual impairment leads to discoveries in the pathology of what blinded Lennie Tristano. It notes the significance of dental disease in affecting a musician's embouchure and livelihood, as happened with Joe “King” Oliver. Reviewing the medical records of such jazz icons as Scott Joplin, James Reese Europe, Bennie Moten, Tommy Dorsey, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Wardell Gray, and Ronnie Scott, the book spans decades, styles, and causes of death.ĭivided into disease categories, it covers such illnesses as ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), which killed Charlie Mingus, and tuberculosis, which caused the deaths of Chick Webb, Charlie Christian, Bubber Miley, Jimmy Blanton, and Fats Navarro. Forensics, medical histories, death certificates, and biographies divulge the way many musical virtuosos really died.Īn essential reference source, Jazz and Death strives to correct misinformation and set the story straight. Spencer, M.D., conducts an inquest on how jazz greats lived and died pursuing their art. ![]() We remember Scott Joplin for his jaunty rhythms, fiendish workouts for the fingers, and courage in finding a powerful musical voice in a world that didn’t always welcome him.When a jazz hero dies, rumors, speculation, gossip, and legend can muddle the real cause of death. In 1883 he formed a vocal quartet with three other boys, and performed in Texarkana and nearby towns. His father teaches him the violin and later he has lessons from Julius Weiss, an emigrant music professor. In 2020, he has nearly 200,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, where one of his most popular tracks is an arrangement by violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman of ‘The Ragtime Dance’ for violin. Joplin was born in Texas, and moves to Texarkana at an early age. Joplin died in a mental facility, convinced he had failed at his goal – to become an African American composer of “serious music”. There are no existing manuscripts in his hand, and only three photographs of him have survived. We have little left of the man behind the music. Then in 1973, came Academy Award-winning film The Sting, that used several of Joplin’s compositions including ‘The Entertainer’ and ‘Solace’. His untimely death, caused by syphilis which descended into dementia, marked the end of ragtime and a sad lapse in interest around his music.īut his compositions were rediscovered and had a second wave of popularity in the early 1970s, when Joshua Rifkin released an extremely successful album of his pieces. Treemonisha: Overture (Scott Joplin) Joplin’s legacy Read more: Meet George Walker, the first Black composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music > “He found it very difficult to get his work performed.” ![]() ![]() “Joplin was way ahead of his time,” Henry adds. He writes for The Times: “What is great about Treemonisha is that the heroine does not die like most classical leading ladies – by the knife, by poison or yearning for a man – but becomes a leader of the community. Its moral message is education as a fundamental right for all African Americans.Ĭomedian Lenny Henry recently championed the opera in a documentary on forgotten Black classical composers. The opera, a celebration of African American culture, combines the Romanticism of the early 20th century with Black folk song tradition. A music historian at the time called the performance a “semimiracle”. Treemonisha, sometimes erroneously referred to as a “ragtime opera”, was never staged during Joplin’s lifetime – only being confirmed in its entirety in 1972, by the Houston Grand Opera. But he also wrote two operas, one – Treemonisha (1911) – for which he was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1976. History has remembered Joplin as the “ragtime guy”. Scott Joplin's 'The Entertainer' played on a 1915 piano Joplin’s operas ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |