Award-Winning Self-Taught Composer in Chicago Society’s “Rediscovering Ragtime”

February 2006—On February 23, in Fulton Recital Hall, Chicago Society put on its first-ever arts event, “Rediscovering Ragtime: An Evening with Reginald Robinson.” The event was a performance and discussion from Reginald Robinson, a nationally-acclaimed musician, a recipient of a 2004 MacArthur “Genius” Grant, and a Chicago resident. Over the course of the evening, Robinson charted the evolution of ragtime, alternating between enthusiastically retelling the genre’s history and playing significant works on the piano. He started with the traditional syncopated African beats that heavily influenced ragtime rhythms and continued with the works and stories of seminal composers like Eubie Blake, Scott Joplin, Louis Chauvin, Joseph Lamb, and John William “Blind” Boone. Towards the end, Robinson explained how “Jelly Roll” Morton used Ragtime to create America’s next dominant musical genre: jazz. Enhancing Robinson's discussions were his collected photographs of ragtime composers, some dating back to the nineteenth century, which were projected on stage as he spoke and performed.

After concluding his discussion of ragtime history, Robinson told the story of how he himself came to love this seemingly forgotten genre, performing a number of his own compositions, and highlighting his influences from the works of a century ago. The evening was capped off by a short question and answer session, in which Robinson explained, among other things, the significance of ragtime in the 21st century. “This is music that black people created and then forgot about,” he said. “We tend to make music and then move on, but if you talk about the blues, jazz, hip hop, you’ve got to talk about ragtime too. I hear ragtime in hip hop every day. During Black History Month, everybody wants to talk about how George Washington Carver made the peanut. What about Scott Joplin?”

Financial support for this event provided by SGFC, the Franke Institute for the Humanities, the Civic Knowledge Project, and the University of Chicago Department of Music.

Additional photographs will be available shortly.

Press Links:

“Ragtime Great Reginald Robinson Combines Education with Syncopation” - Chicago Maroon, February 28, 2006

“Ragtime Revival” - University of Chicago Magazine, February 27, 2006

“Ragtime Blues” - The Chicago Tribune Cover Story, April 29, 2005

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