Artie Matthews: Complete Pastime Rags (1-5) • Ragtime Music

Artie Matthews was a native of central Illinois, raised by his mother who was widowed when Artie was very young. He learned how to play ragtime from a combination of semi-formal training and from two Springfield, Illinois, ragtime pianists, Banty Morgan and Art Dunningham. Moving to Saint Louis around 1907, he was engaged as a pianist, and used some of his proceeds to pursue formal training at the Keeton School of Music through 1912. This training helped him to become adept as an music arranger, and even before his involvement with publisher John Stark, Artie's services were called upon in that regard. Eventually earning a contract to arrange work for Stark through the mid-1910s, Artie would take on composing at the firm, writing his most popular series of works titled as "Pastime Rag," which would number from 1 to 5. Finding himself to be highly respected & well regarded by Stark, he would become one of the only Classic Ragtime composers to remain with his firm after Ragtime had already began to fade out of popularity by 1917, following the death of it's biggest star, Scott Joplin. As for Stark, the future of his business would be in good hands with his confidence in Matthews' abilities as both an arranger and composer, even if he had considered some of the Pastimes to be a bit too advanced for the average music consumer at the time of their composition. Finishing up his contracted work by 1918, Artie would then leave for Chicago, Illinois, to pursue new opportunities. When that did not pan out, Artie moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he would remained to start his Cosmopolitan School of Music, serving students of color in the Cincinnati and Covington, Kentucky, area of the Ohio River, the first school of its kind in the United States. Many fine black performers and composers graduated from Matthews' conservatory, which he ran with his wife Anna while his son, Art Matthews, Jr., continued the musical tradition into the 21st century as a composer and teacher, as well as a proponent of his father's legacy. While he is largely known for his five Pastime Rags issued by Stark during their time together, the influence of Matthews can be heard in his arrangements of other works issued by the publisher, making them in a sense an extension of his own piano rags. Among all of these pieces there is a clear indication that Artie was well-versed in a number of musical styles, given the variegated quality of his output. If his personal output had been a bit more prolific, there is a good chance he would have been considered one of the "Big Four" of classic ragtime to ever be known. Yet nonetheless, Matthews' legacy continues to be uplifted & remembered to this day through his engaging Pastime Rags of the 1910s to his successful school built to serve black composers and musicians throughout the East. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Timestamps: 00:00 - Pastime Rag No. 1 (1913) 03:01 - Pastime Rag No. 2 (1913) 07:11 - Pastime Rag No. 3 (1916) 10:49 - Pastime Rag No. 4 (1920) 14:01 - Pastime Rag No. 5 (1918) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music composed by Dr. Artie Matthews & performed by Donna Coleman. Description written with information provided & researched by Bill Edwards ( https://www.perfessorbill.com/comps/m... ) Music Credit: ℗ 1996 Australian Broadcasting Corporation This video is solely for the purposes of compiling and sharing the music of Dr. Artie Matthews and in no way or means is being used for monetary purposes.