Ragtime and the banjo: Scott Joplin’s ‘The Entertainer’ as played by Jimmie Arnold on his ‘Rainbow ride’ album
Jimmie Arnold was one of my favourite banjo players and Scott Joplin was undoubtedly the most important of the composers who defined the ragtime idiom, which was popularized in the 1890s and 1910s. This recording is indicative of the fact that ragtime thrived on the creative appropriations of other musical idioms. Although performed on the 5-string banjo, which is strongly associated with bluegrass music, rather than on the 4-string, the recording brings out the banjo background of ragtime music. (more…)