click titles for song info | iTunes | |
| Sunburst Rag |
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| Ragtime Nightingale |
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| Maple Leaf Rag |
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| Al's Slow Rag |
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| Barber Pole Rag |
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| The Entertainer |
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| Frog Legs Rag |
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| Topliner Rag |
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| Delta Rag |
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| Grace and Beauty |
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| Dill Pickles |
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| American Beauty Rag |
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| Heliotrope Bouquet |
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| Joplin Rag |
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| download the full CD |
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Rags for Guitar
Over the last twenty years, Allan has been developing a new, unique form of solo guitar music, which he calls the guitar rag. Rooted in the bluesy fingerstyle of classic artists such as Mississippi John Hurt and Blind Blake, these pieces combine the natural feel and simple directness of the blues with the harmonic development and melodic variety of the piano rag.
In 2005, Hal Leonard Publications released Ragtime Guitar, 14 of Jaffe's fingerstyle arrangements of ragtime favorites and originals, in standard notation and tablature, with accompanying CD, including three of Allan’s own rags. To date, Allan has composed close to thirty guitar rags.
CONTACT
- email allan »
- "Guitarist/Composer Allan Jaffe has performed in a multitude of different situations, from being a sideman to such jazz greats at Maceo Parker, Julius Hemphill,
co-leading the avant-funk band, Slickaphonics, to performing with the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown. As a composer he has written an opera and two musicals, as well as many
songs for guitar and voice. However, it is with his Rags for Guitar that he unites his penchant for beautiful melodies and harmonies with an understated guitar virtuosity.
Jaffe’s sound on the acoustic guitar is big and bell-like, and the clarity of his execution of his own original rags and his arrangements of piano ragtime classics belies the complexity
of these pieces. Combining the right-hand technique of a classical player with a blues feel and jazz harmonies, Jaffe has created with his rags a unique musical statement on the guitar.
At the beginning of the 20th century, ragtime became the first American musical fad. With this CD, Jaffe takes these classic pieces, adds a few of his own, and ushers us into the 21st
century with a new and exciting sound."
- AllAboutJazz
- all music © 2007
Heliotrope Records - companion book also available:
RAGTIME GUITAR: 14 Songs Arranged for Solo Guitar
[order it here►]