Hankering for recorded music that is witty, engaging, and filled with surprises—music written with a twinkle in the eye? Check out the Spencer Myer's new Steinway & Sons recording of the Piano Rags of William Bolcom (b. 1938). Also available as a hi-rez download, Myer's delightful takes on Bolcom's rags dispel any notion that the rag is a predictable but ultimately limited art form.
In Jed Distler's too-short liner notes—I wish they had given this eloquent piano expert more space, but the CD issue doesn't even mention that all but two tracks on the recording were captured in 24/192 at Sono Luminus Studios in Boyce, VA—we learn that Bolcom first discovered the rags of Scott Joplin and others in 1967, when he was a 29-year old faculty member at Queens College, CUNY. He immediately began to compose rags of his own, at one point even trading rags by mail with the late composer/pianist William Albright.
From Bolcom's first rags, the Three Classical Rags, to his latest efforts, Estela: Rag Latino, Knockout: A Rag," and The Brooklyn Dodge, which were completed by 1998, it is clear that the form inspires his mind to fire on all cylinders. The inventive twists and turns first appear in the second rag on the 16-rag recording, Glad Rag from Bolcom's first three-rag collection, Classic Rags. Inspired by Joplin's ragtime opera, Treemonisha, the work includes a surprising slowdown where you'd least expect it.
From there on, it's one rhythmic and harmonic surprise after the other. The early Poltergeist, one of Bolcom's three Ghost Rags, is a major tease. Bolcom describes it as an exploration of nearly every "frozen" appoggiatura and substitution in the harmonic book. Whether you know what that means, you will certainly recognize the intentional old-time melodramatic feel of Dream Shadows, which the late pianist, Paul Jacobs, describes as a "white telephone rag" that would not sound out of place in a Joan Crawford flick.
Moving closer to the 21st century, Knockout: A Rag includes literal knocking on the piano. I found it so energizing that I ceased my note-taking and, instead of ducking from the blows, jumped up to dance. Estela: Rag Latino has been described as Bolcom meets Bernstein on the West Side, and is inventive as all get out.
Everyone will have their favorites in this representative sampling. I loved Old Adam from The Garden of Eden, and thought the opening hilarious. In a very different vein is "The Serpent's Kiss," a very silent film traversal that includes a pouncing bite, devious turns, and strange percussive effects. You may not wish to listen to all 16 rags consecutively, in one sitting. But playing a few at a time, as one might sample sweets on a dessert cart, can serve as a reminder that, despite the headlines of the present day, joy can prevail.
