bright in light!
Photo: Sheet music for The Tanguay Tangle. Lyrics by Merrill, Blanche. Music by Leo Edwards. Singer: Eva Tanguay. Publisher: Charles K. Harris, 1912. New York
Famous Female Composers: The greatest ragtime composers of the era were: Scott Joplin, Joseph F. Lamb and James Scott. However, one woman in particular, May Irwin did rival the quality of those three giants. Despite the fact that ragtime music rotated around a "male world" fueled by solo male pianists, and men gambling in smoke-filled saloons, women were avid consumers of ragtime sheet music. And some became famous composers of the genre, to name a few
Abbie Ford, Adaline Shepherd, Alma M. Sanders, Anita Comfort, Anita Owen, Bess E. Rudisill, Blanche M. Tice, Carlotta Williamson, Charlotte Blake, Fleta Jan Brown, Florence McPherran, Grace LeBoy, Hattie Starr, Henrietta B. Blanke (Belcher), Irene Cozad, Irene Giblin, Julia L. Niebergall, Libbie Erickson, Louise Gustin, Luella Lockwood Moore, Mabel McKinley, Mamie E. Williams, Marie Louka, Maude Nugent, May Aufderheide, Muriel Pollock, Nellie M. Stokes, Nellie Weldon Cocroft, Pauline B. Story, Sadie Koninsky, Verdi Karns.
LEADING CONTEMPORARY RAGTIME FEMALE MUSICIANS AND FIGURES
Photos
from L to R: 1-Mimi Blais. 2-Nan Bostick. 3-Sue Keller.5-Virginia Tichenor.
5-Nora Hulse.
The tradition continues today. Leading contemporary ragtime female musicians are: The magnificent Mimi Blais from Montreal, Quebec who recorded the rags of Jean-Baptiste LaFrenière (1874-1912); Nan Bostick who recorded a ragtime CD with her partner, Tom Brier; Nora Hulse, a world-class musician who recorded several ragtime CDs; the fabulous Sue Keller from Oak Forest, Illinois, who recorded works by Joseph F. Lamb. Keller’s. Her appearances have ranged from the grand opening of Fanueil Hall Marketplace in Boston Harbor, the Mikado nightclub in Tokyo, the Neubiberg Jazz Fest in Munich, across the continent of Australia, and even to the Great Wall of China; Virginia Tichenor who recorded “Virginia’Favorites”.
Reproduced from the book "Best Musicians, Singers, Albums and Entertainment Personalities of the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries", Volume V of World Who's Who in Jazz, Cabaret, Music and Entertainment. Pages: 2445-46-47 Published by the Federation of American Musicians, Singers and Performing Artists (FAMSPA). Pages 2349-2353.