American Rags, Brazilian Tangos, Afro-cuban Dances

Fred S. Sturm, piano

From the Liner Notes:

From the first time I sat down at the piano with a Nazareth tango, I was struck by how much it sounded like an American rag. Nazareth’s first “tango brazileiro,” Brejeiro, was written in 1893, six years before Scott Joplin’s first big ragtime hit, the Maple Leaf. What an amazing coincidience that two young pianist/composers, writing at the same time in places as far apart geographically as Rio de Janeiro and Saint Louis, would write music so much alike. Or was it coincidence?

In fact, although thousands of miles apart, Saint Louis and Rio were linked by a well-traveled water route. Goods, people, and, inevitably, musicians traveled up and down the Mississippi, through New Orleans to the Caribbean islands— Cuba in particular—and along the coast of South America to Rio and Buenos Aires.

The roots of American ragtime are in fact the same roots that inspired Nazareth’s tangos. They are a mix of African, European and Indigenous traditions, which formed a uniquely American music many years before Nazareth and Joplin were born. This vibrant music, centered especially in Cuab, also led to conga, samba, bossa nova, jazz, blues—the list goes on.

When I decided to create a program of American Rags and Brazilian Tangos, it seemed fitting to add Lecuona’s Afrocuban Dances to the mix. They give a taste of the source from which the rags and tangos arose. And together, the northern rags, southern tangos, and central Cuban dances form a wonderful set of lively, rhythmic pieces, full of color and vitality.
—Fred Sturm

Track List:

01) Sensation (1908), Joseph Lamb [2:38]
02) …y la negra bailaba! (1930), Ernesto Lecuona [2:54]
03) Brejeiro (1893), Ernesto Nazareth [2:07]
04) Está Chumbado (1898), Nazareth [3:04]
05) American Beauty (1913), Lamb [3:39]
06) Ragtime Betty (1909), James Scott [3:20]
07) The Entertainer (1902), Scott Joplin [3:39]
08) Jangadeiro (1922), Nazareth [2:05]
09) Escorregando (1920), Nazareth [2:39]
10) Danza Negra (1934), Lecuona [2:33]
11) ¿Por que te vas? (1929), Lecuona [3:02]
12) Sunburst Rag (1909), Scott [3:17]
13) Maple Leaf Rag (1899), Joplin [2:43]
14) La Conga de la Media Noche (1930), Lecuona [3:01]
15) Danza de los Ñañigos (1930, Lecuona [2:24]
16) Cutuba (1913), Nazareth [4:40]
17) Fon Fon (1930), Nazareth [2:42]
18) Ragtime Oriole (1911), Scott [4:00]
19) Ragtime Nightingale (1915), Lamb [4:06]
20) Elite Syncopations (1902), Joplin [3:44]
21) Danza Lucumi (1930), Lecuona [2:43]
22) La Comparsa (1929), Lecuona [1:43]
23) Zênite (1926), Nazareth [2:14]
24) Odeon (1921), Nazareth [3:29]

Total Program Length: 74:00

Recording Information:

Recorded July 22 and 24, 2002, in Keller Hall, University of New Mexico

Recording Engineer: Steve Peters
Mastered by: Manny Rettinger, UBIK Sound, LLC
Cover design (CD): Paul Akmajian
Photo: Terri Reck

© 2002, Fred S. Sturm, contact

Fred Sturm can also be heard on the Sturm und Drang releases, Brazilian Soul, and Piano Music of Ginastera and Villa-Lobos