COMPACT DISC REVIEW

By

Jack Rummel

Ragtime Music

Performed by Mr. Steven E. Spracklin & Friends

Sprac-Co-Klen SCD-624

Frog-i-More Rag / Triangle Jazz Blues Rag / Bittersweet Rag / Charleston Rag / Aviation Rag* / Rialto Ripples / Billy Goat Strut / Hot Hands / Calico Queens / Mississippi Rag* / Harlem Rag† / Alexander’s Ragtime Band / Delta Saloon Rag / Boone’s Rag Medley No. 2 / Peaceful Henry* / Scott Joplin’s New Rag / Agitation Rag / That Teasin’ Rag‡.  (*Played by Spracklin’s Hometown Ragtime Band)  (†Two-piano duet with Susan Spracklin Cordell)  (‡Three-piano trio with “Ragtime Bob” Darch and Susan Spracklin Cordell)

            Steve Spracklin’s business card – several years old now – says “Steamboatin’ Director” for the Delta Queen Steamboat Company out of New Orleans .  A picture dated 1970 on an earlier CD of his shows him as a protégé of “Ragtime Bob” Darch.  A search on Google turned up no useful information.  The page on this later CD that is usually devoted to liner notes is totally blank.  Too bad, because this is a good recording and inquiring minds would like to know more.

            The music, however, speaks for itself.  Recorded at different sessions on a variety of pianos, this disc features a playlist of familiar rags plus four original compositions by Darch that were probably their premiere recordings.  Spracklin is a talented performer and his renditions are clean and assured, no matter what the tempos may be.  There is only one slow cut (Triangle Jazz Blues Rag), though – the rest range from medium to zippedy-zip.

            The three tracks played by Spracklin’s Hometown Ragtime Band (Aviation Rag, Mississippi Rag and Peaceful Henry) bounce merrily along and make a very pleasant alternative to the piano numbers, creating a happy ensemble sound.  The two-piano and three-piano cuts are less successful, however.  Harlem Rag, with its twin keyboards, only gains a fuller presence – pleasing to the ear but with little inventiveness – and That Teasin’ Rag, with its muffled sound and lack of originality, degenerates into a three-piano free-for-all and is of historical value only.

            Several cuts stand out.  Charleston Rag is a powerful, stomping cut and is one of the best versions I’ve heard, with Frog-i-MoreRag and Hot Hands, similarly performed, coming in close behind.  The Darch rags (Bittersweet Rag, Billy Goat Strut, Calico Queens and Delta Saloon Rag) are in an early, nostalgic vein and Spracklin plays them with a light touch.  They feature single-note melody lines which evoke a simple innocence that belies the composer’s wise-cracking, barroom persona.  I especially liked Bittersweet Rag, and of the band tracks Aviation Rag was a winner.

            Despite the different recording locations and dates, the resultant sound is well-balanced.  The cover photo is eye-catching, but the emptiness inside could easily have been filled with some historical data.  Steve Spracklin has given us an album of good-timin’ ragtime here, best enjoyed over a beer and not by romantic candlelight.

            Available for $12.00 plus shipping from www.scottjoplin.org/store.htm .