FWIW, I think Max Morath's treatment of Mssrs Joplin, Scott and Lamb is a fresher sound of Ragtime (although I like Joshua Rifkin also) and his Cripple Creek Suite is a pure delight. If you haven't done so before now, treat yourself to some of the best.

Although she normally didn't play in my dad's orchestra, my mother was the best Ragtime pianist I ever heard. I guess she figured her job was to stay home and put us kids to bed. What a shame. She could do things to Maple Leaf that sent shivers up your back and raised goose bumps wherever they belong. But Solace is the best. It is the most haunting of all Ragtime compositions. That's the piece of music I want to hear when I'm dying.

Spud