COMPACT DISC REVIEW

By

Jack Rummel

Paragon Ragtime Orchestra

(Finally) Plays The Entertainer

Rialto Recordings 6005

The Entertainer / Magnetic Rag / Stoptime Rag / Kinklets / Rose Leaf Rag / Contentment / Pleasant Moments / Frog Legs Rag / Elite Syncopations / Bohemia / Dixie Dimples / The Sycamore / A Breeze From Alabama / The Rosebud March / Prosperity / Eugenia / The Easy Winners / Reindeer Rag / Search-Light / The Strenuous Life / Maple Leaf Rag.

            Rick Benjamin founded the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra in 1985 for the express purpose of rediscovering and performing many of the long-forgotten works from the early Twentieth Century, relying heavily on a massive collection of arrangements from the library of Arthur Pryor.  Since that time, we have been treated to eight delightful CDs of forgotten gems, each containing a favorite classic rag or two for good measure.

            His audiences, however, kept requesting more of those familiar classics, especially the works of Scott Joplin, and this posed a problem for Benjamin, for although Joplin was considered a genius in the art of piano ragtime composition he was not especially skilled as an arranger of orchestrations.  The liner notes accompanying this disc describe this dilemma in wonderful detail and go on to tell how Benjamin, finally acquiescing to the wishes of his audiences, arranged 13 of the selections himself and what guidelines he used in doing so.

            Every title on the playlist should be familiar to ragtime lovers, but suffice it to say that the selections were all chosen from the works of Joplin (14), James Scott (3), Joseph Lamb (3) and Arthur Marshall (1).  Besides Benjamin, additional arrangers who passed muster and are included here are Harry Alford, Frank Losey and Carl Williams – all from the early ragtime years.

            The results are delightful.  There are almost no single instrument solos longer than a few bars.  Instead, the listener becomes aware that the melody has shifted seamlessly from one voice to another many times during a single section.  Not all repeats are honored but interest never flags.  The arrangements sparkle with a newness that may catch the seasoned orchestral aficionado by surprise.  Benjamin gives a nod to Joplin ’s admonition not to play ragtime fast, yet no track is so slow as to be funereal, as some orchestras have done in the past.  As is the case with all the other PRO CDs, the sound quality is pristine and the graphics are first rate.

            The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra has a winner here and because director Rick Benjamin (finally) gave in to the requests from his listeners we are all enriched.  Recommended.

            Available for $16.00 plus $2.75 S & H per order (for any number of CDs) from Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, P.O. Box 247, Lewisburg, PA 17837.