Alexander’s Ragtime Band by Irving Berlin (optional dance-along) - Charles Manning, Piano Improv

Описание: “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” was written by Irving Berlin in 1911. The song was an instant sensation, selling a million copies of sheet music in 1911, then another million in 1912, and selling for years afterward. From late 1911 into 1912, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” was the No. 1 hit song. “A Meritorious Addition” quote from “The New York Sun” in May, 1911 stated, “In a few days, ‘Alexander’s Ragtime Band’ will be whistled on the streets and played in the cafés. It is the most meritorious addition to the list of popular songs introduced this season. The vivacious comedienne [Emma Carus] had her audience singing the choruses with her, and those who did not sing, whistled.” Emma Carus was a vaudeville star who sang the song at the American Music Hall in Chicago in April, 1911, and then showcased the song to the American public on her Midwest tour. For her help in popularizing the song, Berlin credited Carus on the cover of the sheet music.

“Alexander’s Ragtime Band” created a cultural and international response with a musical and dance revival known as “the Ragtime Craze.” The famous dancing couple, Vernon and Irene Castle, often danced to the song. The era evoked a “modernist” fad with modern songs and modern dances. In 1913, “The Daily Express” wrote: “In every London restaurant, park and theater, you hear (Berlin’s) strains; Paris dances to it; Vienna has forsaken the waltz; Madrid has flung away her castanets; and Venice has forgotten her barcarolles. Ragtime has swept like a whirlwind over the earth.”

The Tin Pan Alley song, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” which is not a traditional ragtime song, was first recorded in 1911 by Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harlan, becoming a No. 1 hit. This was followed by 50 years of hit recordings by Bessie Smith, the Boswell Sisters, Al Jolson, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, and others. The 1938 film “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” starring Tyrone Power and Alice Faye and featuring Berlin’s music, was also a smash hit. With a nostalgic feel for a fashionable era with “the musical sensation of the decade” (Variety magazine), pianist Charles Manning improvises “Alexander’s Ragtime Band.”