Current ragtime artists12/16/2023 ![]() No sound film performances exist from the ragtime era (1897 to 1917) and no documentaries on ragtime are currently available. It is a vibrant, innovative, endlessly rich musical form. ![]() Why Ragtime? Ragtime is the largely unrecognized bedrock of our musical heritage. ![]() And especially for young audiences today, we hope to provide them with a rare opportunity to experience this wonderful music and connect to the roots of the American music they hear today. With this production we hope to document and save a big part of our musical heritage for future generations. Will be produced by veteran award-winning documentary producer, Charles Hobson of Vanguard Documentaries, Inc., Will Nix of Creative Projects Group, and Janice Lee and Terry Waldo of Waldo/Lee Music Productions Inc. This Is Ragtime: The Birth of American Music Baltimore native and son of ex-slaves, Eubie Blake, who ignited the Harlem Renaissance and "The Jazz Age" when he brought Ragtime to the Broadway stage and Irving Berlin, writer of the snappy ragtime lyrics and music that led to his crowning as the "King of Tin Pan Alley." These and other great American composers created a body of music that expressed as never before the spirit, vitality, and inventiveness of American life. The roster of geniuses includes: the reclusive Scott Joplin, composer of "Classic Rags" and syncopated operas worthy of comparison with the European masterworks New Orleans Creole composer Jelly Roll Morton who defined the style of Ragtime that ultimately became known as "Jazz". The program will illuminate the lives and contributions of the original creators, primarily African Americans. Evolving from diverse European and African sources, it first appeared in 1897 and immediately became a "syncopated rage." America went "Ragtime Mad." This new music endured for twenty years as the nation's favorite form of "pop." And as George & Ira Gershwin stated in their first collaboration: "The Real American Folk Song Is a Rag." Our program will tell the intriguing story of Ragtime from its beginnings in slave music and the "red light districts" through its various revivals during the twentieth century. These segments will be interlaced with narration, fascinating talks with musicians and historians, photos, and rare historic film footage. The documentary will derive from source material in Terry Waldo's award-winning book, This Is Ragtime, and will feature newly produced and other recorded versions of the original music as performed by the greatest interpreters of Ragtime. This Is Ragtime: The Birth of American Music will be a 90-120 minute television music/documentary for distribution to the PBS network. To find our documentary on IDA's website, IDA provides this service to projects that meet the fiscal sponsorship requirements and that are in line with their mission statement. Fiscal sponsorship is a legal and financial arrangement which allows IDA (a 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit organization) to confer its nonprofit status and financial oversight to documentary projects. ![]() ![]() The International Documentary Association is an organization that provides support services to 3,000 members in 50 countries. Mail to IDA, c/o Fiscal Sponsorship, 3470 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 980, Los Angeles, 90010.Īll donations are legally tax deductible and contributions over $250 will receive a receipt from IDA. Please make the check payable to International Documentary Association (IDA), writing “This Is Ragtime” in the Memo. Help to support this important musical documentary project with your tax-deductible donation through our 501(c)(3) non-profit fiscal sponsor, The International Documentary Association. This Is Ragtime: The Birth of American Music is dependent on grants, and private and corporate donations for funding. ![]()
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