Dear Jim and MMD friends,  What would someone recommend for great
ragtime rolls that closely match the character, tempo and excitement
as "Maple Leaf Rag" and "Twelfth Street Rag"?  This is a very tough
question as there are thousands of great ragtime rolls out there and
I am sure Robbie and Jody would not give me enough space to list that
many.

Some of my truly favorites are "Cannon Ball Rag", "The Fig Leaf Rag"
(note: two different composers wrote a "Fig Leaf Rag"; both of them
are great), "Hilarity Rag", "Saskatoon Rag", "American Dancers Rag",
"Crazy Bone Rag" and "My Favorite Rag".  (Yes!  James White both
composed and recorded this rag on piano rolls.)  You can listen to
a sample of each of these rags on my web site under recut rolls if
you visit the links at the MMDigest web site.

Other Scott Joplin rags I like, that are similar to these, are "The
Entertainer", "The Cascades", "Gladiolus Rag", "Elite Syncopations"
and a lot more.

I like a lot of other rags, that are similar, as well, by other
composers, such as "Mississippi Mud", "Melrose Rag", "Mule Walk",
"Barbed Wire Rag", "Bees Wax Rag", "Fluffy Ruffles", "Grizzly Bear
Rag", and a host of other rags that I just cannot list.  Believe me,
this is just a drop in the bucket!  I am sure that others can give
you some other great titles.

Since there are a lot of great player piano artists on all roll brands,
I think that you are most interested in those that recorded ragtime on
88-note rolls.  So for 88-note rolls, I think some of the best and most
sought after player piano artists doing ragtime, that my favorite
artists are Charlie Straight, Zez Confrey, Pete Wendling, Clarence
Jones, Victor Arden, J. Russell Robinson, James Scott, and J. Lawrence
Cook.  Hope this helps.

Musically,
Larry Norman, from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
The snow has melted.
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~rollertunes/

 [ Ragtime pianist Benjamin Intartaglia of Paris offers a manuscript
 [ of "My Favorite Rag" by James White, and several other rags, at
 [ http://www.ragtime-france.net/Ragtime/Bon/EBonus.htm  -- Robbie