Modartt user forum - Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (budo) — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 22:24:21 +0000

very fun and jaunty piece. maybe he just liked alligators they are rather impressive.

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (ctdeupree) — Sat, 28 Jan 2023 21:15:49 +0000

Getting near the end of original Zurke compositions, here is Ode To An Alligator by Zurke and Ruth Lowe, a Canadian pianist and songwriter, illustrated again with my father's covered bridge pictures from the early 1960s. I have no idea what the piece has to do with an alligator.

Ode To An Alligator by Bob Zurke & Ruth Lowe

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (budo) — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 23:58:21 +0000

two more gems. it was great to see all the bridges too, i had no idea there were so many in OH.

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (ctdeupree) — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 22:13:12 +0000

In addition to the original compositions presented here (and there aren't too many more), Zurke also published several "modern" piano transcriptions of songs by other jazz composers. Zurke's modern transcriptions are full-fledged compositions in their own right, and completely different from the simple arrangements of then-current pop songs that jazz pianists cranked out to satisfy their publishers (Duke Ellington and Teddy Wilson are only two among the pianists who published this kind of folio). Here is One O'Clock Jump by Count Basie, arranged for piano by Bob Zurke.

The images in this video are covered bridges in central Ohio from a set of pictures that my father took in the spring of 1960.

One O'Clock Jump

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (ctdeupree) — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 20:01:43 +0000

In the tradition of cat ragtime (from Confrey's Kitten on the Keys to Bolcom's Tabby Cat Walk), here is another Bob Zurke signature piece, Old Tom Cat on the Keys.

Old Tom Cat on the Keys

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (budo) — Sun, 19 Jun 2022 01:34:01 +0000

ctdeupree wrote:

Here is a slow drag blues, Southern Exposure, illustrated with AI-generated images of the desert Southwest inspired by The Secret Knowledge of Water by Craig Childs.
https://youtu.be/QhGb5CGWfqw

another really nice composition/performance. it was fun to hear his ideas in the context of the blues instead of ragtime. the images were very cool too!

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (ctdeupree) — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 15:32:32 +0000

Here is a slow drag blues, Southern Exposure, illustrated with AI-generated images of the desert Southwest inspired by The Secret Knowledge of Water by Craig Childs.

https://youtu.be/QhGb5CGWfqw

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (budo) — Thu, 05 May 2022 16:06:16 +0000

these latest pieces also sound great! keep em coming.

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (jeff_harrington) — Tue, 03 May 2022 13:54:37 +0000

This one's clever harmonic mis-directions and textural surprises were a real *Eye Opener* to listen to!

ctdeupree wrote:

Thanks again! I've made a playlist of the various Zurke pieces, there are still a few more to come.
budo wrote:
another great piece by Zurke, and beautifully played. i'm really enjoying these.

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (ctdeupree) — Tue, 03 May 2022 13:15:23 +0000

Continuing on, here is Nickel Nabber Blues, illustrated with some of the spring flowers from the desert Southwest.

Nickel Nabber Blues

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (ctdeupree) — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 16:31:03 +0000

Still more to come of Bob Zurke's piano compositions, here is Sugared Candy, somewhat more on his reflective side. As with my other Zurke pieces, this one uses the NY Steinway D Jazz preset.

Sugared Candy

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (budo) — Sun, 23 Jan 2022 15:02:06 +0000

really excellent! i see what you mean with the comparison to Carolina Shout (totally impossible to play, at least for me, btw). it is a show-stopper.

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (ctdeupree) — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 15:28:41 +0000

Continuing my exploration of the compositions of Bob Zurke, here is Hobson Street Blues. This was probably Zurke's showpiece, the way Carolina Shout was for James P. Johnson. He recorded it with his orchestra in 1939, a recording reissued by Folkways and available on various streaming services. This recording uses the NY Steinway D Jazz preset.

Hobson Street Blues

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (budo) — Sun, 19 Dec 2021 23:09:44 +0000

another charming piece excellently performed. it's really interesting to listen to his take on Ragtime, compared to the classic pieces of Scott Joplin (which were written 30-40 years before this).

Re: Overlooked ragtime composer -- Bob Zurke

null@example.com (ctdeupree) — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 17:03:31 +0000

Fourth in my series exploring the work of Bob Zurke, here is Lace Embroidery, published in 1939. This was actually the first piece by Zurke that I discovered, in a ragtime folio edited by Dave Jasen that contained a lot of music outside the classic era of ragtime (Joplin, etc.). The piece uses the HB Steinway Jazz preset. Photographs from White Sands National Park, New Mexico.

Lace Embroidery