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The Music of James Scott
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Contains Scott's complete works (30 rags, four waltzes, and four songs) and is illustrated original music covers.
Contains Scott's complete works (30 rags, four waltzes, and four songs) and is illustrated original music covers.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
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February 11, 2025
James Scott -- An American Composer
One afternoon in the mid-1990s I walked from my job to the bookstore of the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Browsing in the bookstore, I saw this book which was new at the time: "The Music of James Scott" (1993) edited by the scholars of American music Scott DeVeaux and William Howland Kenney. I had been playing ragtime on the piano for several years at the time and was sorely tempted to buy the book. But I let it go. Over the years, I have thought of the book many times and felt I made a mistake on that day long ago. I recently returned to ragtime and to playing Scott's music. I thought of the book again and, at last, corrected the mistake I made years earlier and purchased a used copy of "The Music of James Scott".
James Scott (1885 -- 1938) was an American composer of ragtime, usually ranked with Joseph Lamb as among ragtime's "big three" together with Scott Joplin. Joplin's music has become well-known but James Scott (and Joseph Lamb) are composers in their own right who receive less attention. This book, now unfortunately out-or-print is an outstanding scholarly edition of James Scott that preserves his music and the story of his life and work Published as part of the "Smithsonian Library of American Music" the book seems to be the first in a contemplated series that, unfortunately, was not further realized.
The highlight of the book is the music. It includes the scores of Scott's thirty rags, together with four songs and four waltzes. It is a body of work that does him proud. I am most familiar with Scott's rag "Grace and Beauty" which I am preparing for a small volunteer recital. I loved using this book for the score together with other Scott rags I have played, including "Frogs Leg Rag", ""Ragtime Oriole" "Don't Jazz Me", "Ragtime Oriole", "Pegasus" and more. But I enjoyed even more having the book in my hands and listening to some of Scott's late rags, which are remarkable for their virtuosity, strong rhythmic drive, and joy of living. Fortunately recordings of the rags are not difficult to find. I also enjoyed getting to know the little waltzes, including the "Suffragette Waltz", "Hearts Longing", and "Springtime of Love". Each work in the volume is prefaced by the cover under which it was issued which was used, naturally, to help sell the music.
The editors' contributions add a great deal to the book. The late (d. 2020) William Howland Kenney was an accomplished jazz clarinetist whose many books include "Jazz on the River" and "Chicago Jazz: a Cultural History: 1904 -- 1930. His contribution to this volume is a biographical essay on Scott's life which focuses on the issues he faced in segregated southern Missouri. Kenney writes: "James Scott's ragtime and the concept of classic ragtime together document the fluidity behind the labels historians attach to musical styles. Scott's rags, rooted in African American culture, also reflect the turn-of-the century world of popular leisure-time merriment, as well as a mixture of late Victorian gentility and the ambitions of the new black middle class. This original synthesis both reinforced the existing social order and suggested alternatives to it. It expressed a surging new democratic sensibility but also included major characteristics of traditional nineteenth-century piano music."
Scott DeVeaux's books include "The Birth of Beebop: A Social and Musical History" and "Jazz in America: Who's Listening?" His essay in this volume "The Music of James Scott" is a detailed study of Scott's compositions, showing their connections with the rags of Joplin and showing how they moved in their own direction. It is valuable for those who wish to make a serious study of Scott's music. DeVeaux writes:
"It no longer seems strange to refer to a black theater pianist from Missouri as an important American composer. The evidence, in any case, is in the music, presented here for the first time as a complete repertory. The sheet music covers, the languid waltzes, and the sentimental parlor songs may evoke in many a nostalgia for turn-of-the-century America, a period distant to modern sensibilities. But within the ragtime compositions is an artistic tension -- a 'grace and beauty'- that is shared by the best pieces in the African American tradition and that is the quality found in all lasting art."
The scholarly apparatus to the book includes discussions of textual variants in the scores, a listing of piano rolls and recordings of Scott's music, ,a listing of various other editions of some of Scott's rags, and a discussion of some orchestral versions of his music.
I made the right decision in purchasing this book at last. The book is a deserved tribute to James Scott and will help preserve his memory. The book helps suggest the depth and breadth of musical creativity in the United States.
Robin Friedman
One afternoon in the mid-1990s I walked from my job to the bookstore of the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Browsing in the bookstore, I saw this book which was new at the time: "The Music of James Scott" (1993) edited by the scholars of American music Scott DeVeaux and William Howland Kenney. I had been playing ragtime on the piano for several years at the time and was sorely tempted to buy the book. But I let it go. Over the years, I have thought of the book many times and felt I made a mistake on that day long ago. I recently returned to ragtime and to playing Scott's music. I thought of the book again and, at last, corrected the mistake I made years earlier and purchased a used copy of "The Music of James Scott".
James Scott (1885 -- 1938) was an American composer of ragtime, usually ranked with Joseph Lamb as among ragtime's "big three" together with Scott Joplin. Joplin's music has become well-known but James Scott (and Joseph Lamb) are composers in their own right who receive less attention. This book, now unfortunately out-or-print is an outstanding scholarly edition of James Scott that preserves his music and the story of his life and work Published as part of the "Smithsonian Library of American Music" the book seems to be the first in a contemplated series that, unfortunately, was not further realized.
The highlight of the book is the music. It includes the scores of Scott's thirty rags, together with four songs and four waltzes. It is a body of work that does him proud. I am most familiar with Scott's rag "Grace and Beauty" which I am preparing for a small volunteer recital. I loved using this book for the score together with other Scott rags I have played, including "Frogs Leg Rag", ""Ragtime Oriole" "Don't Jazz Me", "Ragtime Oriole", "Pegasus" and more. But I enjoyed even more having the book in my hands and listening to some of Scott's late rags, which are remarkable for their virtuosity, strong rhythmic drive, and joy of living. Fortunately recordings of the rags are not difficult to find. I also enjoyed getting to know the little waltzes, including the "Suffragette Waltz", "Hearts Longing", and "Springtime of Love". Each work in the volume is prefaced by the cover under which it was issued which was used, naturally, to help sell the music.
The editors' contributions add a great deal to the book. The late (d. 2020) William Howland Kenney was an accomplished jazz clarinetist whose many books include "Jazz on the River" and "Chicago Jazz: a Cultural History: 1904 -- 1930. His contribution to this volume is a biographical essay on Scott's life which focuses on the issues he faced in segregated southern Missouri. Kenney writes: "James Scott's ragtime and the concept of classic ragtime together document the fluidity behind the labels historians attach to musical styles. Scott's rags, rooted in African American culture, also reflect the turn-of-the century world of popular leisure-time merriment, as well as a mixture of late Victorian gentility and the ambitions of the new black middle class. This original synthesis both reinforced the existing social order and suggested alternatives to it. It expressed a surging new democratic sensibility but also included major characteristics of traditional nineteenth-century piano music."
Scott DeVeaux's books include "The Birth of Beebop: A Social and Musical History" and "Jazz in America: Who's Listening?" His essay in this volume "The Music of James Scott" is a detailed study of Scott's compositions, showing their connections with the rags of Joplin and showing how they moved in their own direction. It is valuable for those who wish to make a serious study of Scott's music. DeVeaux writes:
"It no longer seems strange to refer to a black theater pianist from Missouri as an important American composer. The evidence, in any case, is in the music, presented here for the first time as a complete repertory. The sheet music covers, the languid waltzes, and the sentimental parlor songs may evoke in many a nostalgia for turn-of-the-century America, a period distant to modern sensibilities. But within the ragtime compositions is an artistic tension -- a 'grace and beauty'- that is shared by the best pieces in the African American tradition and that is the quality found in all lasting art."
The scholarly apparatus to the book includes discussions of textual variants in the scores, a listing of piano rolls and recordings of Scott's music, ,a listing of various other editions of some of Scott's rags, and a discussion of some orchestral versions of his music.
I made the right decision in purchasing this book at last. The book is a deserved tribute to James Scott and will help preserve his memory. The book helps suggest the depth and breadth of musical creativity in the United States.
Robin Friedman
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