Edward A. Berlin's
Website of
Ragtime and Scholarship

BOOKS
King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era. Oxford University Press, 1994; paperback, 1995.
Reflections and Research on Ragtime. Institute for Studies in American Music, 1987. Winner of an
ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award.
Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History. University of California Press, 1980; 1984; Backinprint.Com
edition, 2002. Translated as El Ragtime. Ediciones Tres Tiempos, Buenos Aires, 1985.

STAGE SHOW
Ragtime: America's Music. Stage show with Brass Band, Orchestra, Pianist, Singer, Dancers, and
Narrator. Perrformed at the Great American Brass Band Festival, Danville, KY, June 11, 1998.

ARTICLES
“Dick Cary’s Tuesday Night Friends,” The Bulletin of the Society for American Music 27/3 (Fall
    2001), 1-2.
“Mark Tucker (1954-2000),” Mississippi Rag (February 2001), 10. Reprinted in The Bulletin for
    the Society for American Music 27/1 (Spring 2001), 23.
“The Opera Diva and Ragtime,” Mississippi Rag (February 2001), 43.
“On Ragtime: Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha,” CBMR Digest 13/2 (Fall 2000), 18-19.
“Flashback,” American Legacy 5/3 (Fall 1999), 72.
“The Eclectic World of Tom McDermott,” ISAM Newsletter 28/2 (Spring 1999), 9.
“Reflections on the Ben Harney Mystery,” Mississippi Rag (Sept. 1997),17-18.
“Spinning 78s,” ISAM Newsletter 26/1 (Fall 1996), 7.
“On Ragtime: Dan and Will McCabe,” CBMR Digest 9/2 (Fall 1996), 6-7.
“Ragging in Hungary,” Sonneck Society Bulletin 21/3 (Fall 1995), 8-9.
“The Bunk Johnson Memorial Hospital in Sweden,” Mississippi Rag (April 1995), 12.
“On Ragtime: That International Rag,” CBMR Digest 7/2 (Fall 1994), 3-4.
“On Ragtime: Ragtime and Musical Comedy,” CBMR Digest 5/1 (Spring 1992), 6-7.
“Scott Joplin's Treemonisha Years,” American Music 9/3 (Fall 1991), 260-276.
“On Ragtime: Ragtime and the Church,” CBMR Digest 4/2 (Fall 1991), 6-7.
“On Ragtime: A Different Perspective on Tin Pan Alley,” CBMR Digest 4/1 (Spring 1991), 4-5.
“An Interview with Mildred Steward: Daughter of Arthur Marshall,” Rag Times 24/4 (November
     1990), 1-3; 24/5 (January 1991), 4-5.
“On Ragtime: Understanding the Language,” CBMR Digest 3/3 (Fall 1990), 6-7.
“On the Trail of A Guest of Honor: In Search of Scott Joplin's Lost Opera.” Pages 51-65 of A
    Celebration of American Music: Words and Music in Honor of H. Wiley Hitchcock. University
    of Michigan Press, 1990.
“On Ragtime: Scott Joplin the Educator,” CBMR Digest 3/1 (Spring 1990), 3-4.
“Scott Joplin and the Jefferson Davis Monument Fund,” ISAM Newsletter 19/1 (Nov. 1989), 8.
“On Ragtime: Echoes from the Past,” CBMR Digest 2/2 (Fall 1989), 6-7.
“Scott Joplin in Sedalia, New Perspectives,” Black Music Research Journal 9/2 (Fall 1989),
     205-223.
“More on R. A. Higdon,” Rag Times 23/3 (September 1989), 6-7.
“On Ragtime: The Musical Spillers,” CBMR Digest 2/1 (Sp. 1989), 8-9.
“On Ragtime,” CBMR Digest 1/2 (Winter 1989), 4-5.
“On Ragtime” [Ragtime Operas]. CBMR Digest 1/1 (Summer 1988), 7-8.
“Scott Joplin's First Two Publishers,” Rag Times 22/2 (July 1988), 6-7.
“On Ragtime: The Ragtime Clubs,” Black Music Research Newsletter 9 (Fall 1987), 13-15.
“On Ragtime,” Black Music Research Newsletter 9 (Spring 1987), 10-11.
“Ragtime Songs,” a chapter in Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music, edited by John E.
     Hasse. Schirmer Books, 1985.
“Cole and Johnson Brothers' The Evolution of 'Ragtime',” Current Musicology 36 (1983), 21-29.
“Ragtime in Old New York,” NYC Jazz 3 (June 1980), 22.
“Ragtime and Improvised Piano: Another View,” Journal of Jazz Studies 4 (Spring 1977), 4-10.

LINER NOTES
Scott Joplin. The Complete Rags, Marches, Waltzes & Songs. Recorded by Guido Nielsen.
    Basta 30-91262, 2003.
Thatsum Rag! The New Columbian Brass Band. Dorian DOR-93165, 1999.
The Flowering of Vocal Music in America, vol. 1 (the American Moravians and A. P. Heinrich),
    New World Records, NW 230.
Additions to notes for The Wind Demon (mid-19th century American piano music), New World
     Records, NW 257.
Gene Autry: Back in the Saddle Again. Columbia Encore Series P14380.

REVIEWS
Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1891-1922, 2-CD set of vintage
    recordings. Journal of the Society for American Music 1/4 (November 2007), 539-540.
John William "Blind" Boone: "Merit, Not Sympathy Wins", CD of original piano rolls. Mississippi
    Rag (August 2006), 33.
Cakewalks, Rags and Novelties: The International Ragtime Discography (1894-1930), by Allan
    Sutton. ARSC Journal 36/1 (Spring 2005), 89-90.
The Songwriter Goes to War. The Story of Irving Berlin’s World War II All-Army Production of This
    Is The Army, by Alan Anderson. Mississippi Rag (July 2005), 37.
Brent Watkins. The Heroes of Parlor Town, Vol. 1. Mississippi Rag (June 2005), 42.
The Wizard of Oz: Vintage Recordings from the 1903 Broadway Musical (Hungry Tiger Press).
     Mississippi Rag(January 2004), 42-43.
Brun Campbell: Joplin’s Disciple (CD; Delmark Records 753). Mississippi Rag (May 2002), 40.
That American Rag: The Story of Ragtime from Coast to Coast, by David A. Jasen & Gene
     Jones. American Music 19/4 (Winter 2001), 474-476.
Spreadin’ Rhythm Around: Black Popular Songwriters, 1880-1930, by David A. Jasen & Gene
     Jones. ISAM Newsletter 29/2 (Spring 2000), 6.
“On Ragtime: Review of The Rag-Time Ephemeralist,” CBMR Digest 13/1 (Spring 2000), 8.
Stage production Shake That Thing! Waldo’s Ragtime Revue. In Mississippi Rag (March
    1999), 43.
Stage production Fables in Slang: A Ragtime Review. In Mississippi Rag (July 1999), 35.
Brass Knuckles: An Excursion into Contemporary Ragtime Composition (CD; Albany Records,
    Troy 253), performed by Tony Caramia. American Music 16/3 (Fall 1998), 371-373.
Grace and Beauty. Ragtime Classics Played by Scott Kirby (CD; Viridiana VRD2007).
     Mississippi Rag (September 1998), 28.
“Gershwin on Disc,” ISAM Newsletter 28/1 (Fall 1998), 5-6.
Bohém Ragtime Jazzband: Early Hungarian Jazz (Pannon Jazz PJ1023). Mississippi Rag
    (January 1998), 40.
Titanic: Music As Heard On the Fateful Voyage.(CD; Rhino R2 72821). Mississippi Rag
    (October 1997), 28.
Gems of Texas Ragtime (music folio). In Mississippi Rag (April 1997), 31.
Total Joplin (CD-ROM), Sunhawk Corp. Mississippi Rag (Feb. 1997), 33.
Rhythmic Movements, performed by Joseph Smith (Premier Recordings PRCD 1028) and Space
    Shuffle and Other Rags, performed by Matthew Davidson (StompOff Records CD 1252).
    American Music 13/2(Summer 1995), 249-251.
The Music of James Scott. In NOTES (Sept. 1994), 418-419.
Pickles and Peppers and other Rags by Women (LP), Virginia Eskin. American Music 6/4 (Winter
     1988), 474-475.
101 Rare Rags. In Rag Times 22/1 (May 1988), 9.
Jazz A-Z. In Sonneck Society Bulletin 14/1 (Spring 1988), 41-42.
“An Old Sound Renewed,” ISAM Newsletter 16/2 (May 1987), 13.
Cripple Creek. A Ragtime Suite for Piano, by Max Morath. ISAM Newsletter 16/1 (Nov. 1986), 14.
Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton: The Collected Piano Music, and Zez Confrey: Ragtime, Novelty
    & Jazz Piano Solos. In American Music 4 (Spring 1986), 112-14.
Scott Joplin. The Complete Works, 2nd ed., ed. Notes 40 (Sept. 1983), 147-49.
“Three Views from Berlin,” ISAM Newsletter 11 (May 1982), 4.
Rags and Ragtime, by David A. Jasen and Trebor Jay Tichenor, and Scott Joplin, by James
    Haskins and Kathleen Benson. Notes 35 (March 1979), 616-619.
This Is Ragtime, by Terry Waldo. Notes 33 (June 1977), 838-340.
Scott Joplin and the Ragtime Era, by Peter Gammond. Journal of Research in Music Education
    24 (Fall 1976), 155-156.
The Art of Ragtime, by William J. Schafer and Johannes Riedel. Black Perspective in Music 3
    (Spring 1975), 105-107.
Classic Piano Rags, ed. Rudi Blesh. Black Perspective in Music 2 (Fall 1974), 218-219.
The Operatic Style of Marc Blitzstein in the American “Agit-Prop” Era, by Robert J. Dietz. Current
    Musicology 18 (1974), 120-126.
Harlem Suite, by Arthur Cunningham. Black Perspective in Music 1 (Fall 1973), 188-189.

ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLES
African American National Biography. Oxford, 2008. Louis Chauvin, Ben Harney.
Encyclopedia of the Great Black Migration. Greenwood Press, 2006. Scott Joplin.
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Macmillan, 2001. Ragtime; Scott Joplin.
American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 1999. Scott Joplin; John Stark.
The International Dictionary of Black Composers, 1999. Scott Joplin.
Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History. Macmillan, 1996. Ragtime; Scott Joplin.
The Encyclopedia of New York City. Yale University Press, 1995. Eubie Blake;
James Reese Europe; Scott Joplin; Ragtime.
The New Grove Dictionary of American Music. Macmillan, 1986. A Principal Adviser (Ragtime);
author of the following entries: Ragtime; Scott Joplin; James Weldon Johnson; Max Morath;
Kerry Mills; Theodore Metz; Ragtime section of the New York City article.
Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 6th ed. Schirmer, 1978. Edited entire dictionary;
wrote dozens of original, unsigned entries and supplemented and revised hundreds of others --
among them: Adam de la Halle; Emanuel Bay; Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de St.-Georges;
John Jenkins; James Weldon Johnson; Sissieretta Jones; Scott Joplin; David Moritz Michael;
James Pierpont; Kerry Mills; Charlie Parker.
Collier's Encyclopedia. (1997 ed.) Scott Joplin; Ragtime.
The Encyclopedia of American Biography, 2nd ed., HarperCollins, 1996. Scott Joplin.
Grolier Encyclopedia, 1985 and later; hardback & CD ROM. Edited music articles; wrote the
following entries, some signed: Scott Joplin; Mannheim School; March; Mason Family; Minstrels,
Troubadours, and Minnesingers; Mode; Music Box; Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra;
Porgy and Bess; Ragtime; Rock Music; Ned Rorem; Salsa; Gunther Schuller; John Philip Sousa;
The Star-Spangled Banner; Leopold Stokowski; Tin Pan Alley.

LECTURES
Scott Joplin Memorial Concert, St. Michael's Cemetery, East Elmhurst, NY, May 16, 2009.
"Scott Joplin: An Illustrated History"; MC for concert
West Coast Ragtime Festival, Sacramento, CA, November 22, 2008. “The Scott Joplin Biography:
Recent Discoveries and Stories I Was Afraid to Tell”
Scott Joplin House, St. Louis, MO, September 13, 2008: Roundtable discussion with Dick
Zimmerman, Trebor Tichenor, and David Reffkin: “The Future of Ragtime Research”; September
14, 2008: “The Scott Joplin Biography: Recent Discoveries and Stories I Was Afraid to Tell”
Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, New York, NY, November 17, 2007. Jews and Ragtime, presented
with pianist Alex Sandor and vocalist Cantor Dan Singer.
Scott Joplin Memorial Concert, St. Michael's Cemetery, East Elmhurst, NY, May 12, 2007.
"Scott Joplin and Opera"; MC for concert
Society for American Music, Pittsburgh, PA, 2 March 2007. "Eleanor Stark: From Moszkowski to
Classic Ragtime"
Scott Joplin Retrospective and Memorial Concert, St. Michael's Cemetery, East Elmhurst, NY,
May 13, 2006. "Scott Joplin 101: The Basics"; MC for concert.
Elebash Lecture, Graduate Center, City University of New York, October 6, 2005.
“Ragtime New York, 1896-1917: The Places, People, and Sounds”
Rockaway Music & Arts Council Picnic Concert, Fort Tilden, NY, August 21, 2005.
“The What, Where, When, and Who of Ragtime”. MC for concert.
Rocky Mountain Ragtime Festival, Boulder, CO, July 2005. “Echoes of Ragtime”
Scott Joplin Retrospective and Memorial Concert, St. Michael's Cemetery, East Elmhurst, NY,
May 21, 2005. "Scott Joplin's Life and Career"; MC for concert.
Music in Gotham Conference, Graduate Center, City University of New York, November 17-19,
2004: “Not in Kansas Anymore: The Wizard of Oz on Broadway, 1903"
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, Sedalia, MO, June 7, 2002: Symposium presentation “Brahms,
Grainger, Ives, and the Ragtime Connection”
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, Sedalia, MO, June 2001: Symposium presentation “Finding the
Clues: Newspapers and the Chronicling of Ragtime”
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, Sedalia, MO, June 2000: Symposium presentation “A Scott Joplin
Update” MC for two concerts.
W. C. Handy and American Music Conference, City University of New York, March 31, 2000.
Chaired morning symposium session.
Society for American Music, Charleston, SC, March 2, 2000. “Understanding Language in Its
Historical Context” (Historiography Interest Group)
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, Sedalia, MO, June 1999:
“The Maple Leaf, from the Roots Up”
“The Ragtime Dance: The Other Centennial”
Introductory remarks to a performance of The Ragtime Dance, with orchestra, dancers, and singer
Introductions for The Legacy of Scott Joplin concert.
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, June 1998:
“Barbershop Quartets and Ragtimers”
“The Maple Leaf Club's Centennial.”
Great American Brass Band Festival, Danville, KY, June 11-13, 1998:
“The Ragtime Years” (Elderhostel session)
“The Queen City Cornet Band: A Town Band in Scott Joplin's Sedalia”
“Ragtime: America's Music.” Stage show with brass band, orchestra, pianist, singer, dancers,
and narrator.
West Coast Ragtime Festival, Sacramento, CA., Nov. 1997.
“Ragtime's Centennial.”
“Eleanor Stark: Unsung Muse of Classic Ragtime.”
Great American Brass Band Festival, Danville, KY, June 13, 1997: “Ragtime and Band Music.”
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, June 6, 1997:
“Ragtime's Centennial”
“Eleanor Stark: Unsung Muse of Classic Ragtime.”
Harvard Club of New York City, Jan. 23, 1997. Pre-recital comments on Scott Joplin and his music.
New York Sheet Music Society, Jan. 4, 1997. “Sheet Music Clues in the Scott Joplin Biography.”
West Coast Ragtime Festival, Nov. 1996, Fresno, CA:
“Writing about Ragtime”
“Barbershop Quartets in the Ragtime Years”
“The Crush Collision and Other Happenings of 1896”
“The Effect of Ragtime on Other Music of the Period” (panel discussion).
Sonneck Society Annual Conference, Biography Interest Group, Washington, D.C., March 24,
1996: “Music as a Biographical Tool.”
West Coast Ragtime Festival, Nov. 1995, Fresno, CA:
“Scott Joplin's Ragtime Dance” (lecture and performance);
“The Centennial of Scott Joplin's First Publications.”
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, June 1995, Sedalia, MO:
“A Scholarly Confab on Scott Joplin” (with Susan Curtis)
“The McCabe Minstrels and Sedalia” (with Celeste Beatty).
Queens College, April 12, 1995. “The Centennial of Scott Joplin's First Publications.”
Unicum-Bohem Ragtime & Jazz Festival, March 25, 1995, Kecskemet, Hungary; and the
Budapest Cultural Center, March 29, 1995, Budapest. “The History and Reception of Ragtime.”
(Supported by the U.S. Embassy in Hungary.)
Kodaly School, March 27, 1995, Kecskemet, Hungary; and the Franz Liszt Academy of Music,
March 28, 1995, Budapest. “Ragtime as a Language for the 1990s.”
Bruno Walter Auditorium, Lincoln Center, New York, Feb. 27, 1995. “The Operas of Scott Joplin”
(with performances by members of the After Dinner Opera Co.).
West Coast Ragtime Festival, Nov. 1994, Fresno, CA:
“The Mystery of Scott Joplin: A Detective Story”
“In the Footsteps of the Researcher.”
Festival Ragtime de Montréal, Aug. 1994.:
“What Is Ragtime?”
Introductory remarks before concert performance of Treemonisha.
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, June 1994, Sedalia, MO.
“The Mystery of Scott Joplin: A Detective Story.”
Sonneck Society for American Music, April 1994, Worcester, MA. Chaired session: “Racial
Interactions in the Nineteenth Century.”
West Coast Ragtime Festival, Nov. 19-21, 1993, Fresno, CA:
“The Maple Leaf Rag: Myths and Legends”
“The Scott Joplin Manuscripts.”
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, June 2-6, 1993, Sedalia, MO: Chaired symposium sessions;
presented “The Other Sedalia Musicians.”
American Musicological Society, New York City Chapter, April 3, 1993. “The Scott Joplin
Manuscripts.”
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, June 3-7, 1992, Sedalia, MO: Chaired all seminar sessions;
presented “The Maple Leaf and Black 400 Clubs.”
West Coast Ragtime Festival, Fresno, Nov. 22-24, 1991: “Scott Joplin's Un-Birthday.”
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, Sedalia, MO, June 6-9, 1991: Chaired all sessions and presented
“The Scott Joplin Manuscripts.”
The Sonneck Society for American Music, Annual Conference, April 3-7, 1991, Hampton, Virginia:
“Scott Joplin's Treemonisha Years.”
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, Sedalia, MO, June 7-10, 1990: Chaired seminars; presented paper
“Scott Joplin's Treemonisha Years.”
Sonneck Society for American Music, Annual Conference, April 18-22, 1990, Toronto: Chaired
session “Ragtime and Popular Piano.”
College Music Society & Center for Black Music Research (joint conference), Oct. 12-15, 1989,
St. Louis: “Scott Joplin in Sedalia.”
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, June 1-4, 1989: Chaired symposium sessions and panel
discussions; presented paper “Scott Joplin in Sedalia.”
Sonneck Society, Annual Conference, Nashville, April 6-9, 1989:
“On the Trail of A Guest of Honor: In Search of Scott Joplin's Lost Opera.”
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, June 2-5, 1988: Chaired seminars;
“Scott Joplin: Problems, Contradictions, and Unanswered Questions.”
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, June 4-7, 1987.
“On the Trail of A Guest of Honor: In Search of Scott Joplin's Lost Opera.”
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music, Dartmouth College, May 14, 1983:
Chaired session “Popular Piano Music.”
ISAM Lecture, Brooklyn College, March 9, 1983:
“Dance Folios during the Ragtime Era (A Computer-Aided Study).”
ISAM Lecture, CUNY Graduate Center, March 3, 1983: “Ragtime's Unanswered Questions:
Problems and Prospects in Ragtime Research.”

RADIO AND TV INTERVIEWS
The Ragtime Machine, KUSF-FM, San Francisco, February 2009.
Ragtime, BBC Radio-4. October 4, 2005.
Scott Joplin, Voice of America. November 2003.
Ragtime history, German Radio. October 1997.
The Ian Whitcomb Show, KPCC-FM, Los Angeles, Nov. 15, 1995. Discussion of ragtime and jazz
festivals in Europe and Canada.
Composers of the Week: Sousa and Joplin, BBC Radio-3, July 3-7, 1995.
Book World and Focus, Voice of America, spring 1995.
TV 11, Kozssegi Televizio, Budapest, March 29, 1995.
Rona Radio, Kecskemet, Hungary, March 25, 1995.
The Ragtime Machine, KUSF-FM, San Francisco, March 13, 1995.
Performance Today, NPR, Nov. 24, 1994.
The Ian Whitcomb Show, KPCC-FM, Los Angeles, Nov. 16, 1994.
Bluespeak, WMC, Memphis, Sept. 24, 1994.
Conversations, WMAJ, State College, PA, Aug. 4, 1994.
The Ian Whitcomb Show, KPCC-FM, Los Angeles, Nov. 18, 1993.
The Great Crossing, (Scott Joplin part). Netherlands Broadcasting Corp., Dec. 1992.
Worldnet Dialogues: Ragtime Music, Worldnet TV (U.S. Information Agency), Sept. 3, 1992.
International discussions.
Ragtime America, KGMU-FM, Boulder, Sept. 3, 1992.
Studio One, Voice of America, Nov. 24, 1991.
The Ian Whitcomb Show, KPCC-FM, Los Angeles, Nov. 20, 1991.
The Cradle of Ragtime, KMOS, Missouri Public TV, fall 1990.
The Ragtime Machine, KUSF-FM, San Francisco, June 1987.
The Ragtime Machine, KUSF-FM, San Francisco, June 1986.
Artsline, KFAC-FM, Los Angeles, May 29, 1981.
Blue Notes, WNYC-FM, New York, Sept. 2, 1979 (on Duke Ellington).

WORKS ABOUT THE AUTHOR . . .
. . . as subject of biographical profiles
Anne H. Nichols. “New York Ragtime, 1896-1917: An Historic Tour with Maps and Pictures.”
    RF-CUNY TOPICS 2/3 (Fall 1990): 1.
David Reffkin. “The Ragtime Machine.” Mississippi Rag (May 1989), 15-17.

. . . as subject of acrostic puzzle in the NY TIMES MAGAZINE
King of Ragtime, August 2, 1992.
Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History, October 2, 1994.

. . . as a fictional character in a novel
Tananarive Due, Joplin's Ghost. Atria Books, 2005.