2023-10 History of the Jazz Piano
We thoroughly enjoyed our second visit by Mr Roger Browne who entertained us royally with his seemingly endless knowledge of the History of the Jazz Piano. As well as playing his keyboard for us, Roger explained about types of jazz, such as 12-bar blues, ragtime, boogie-woogie, and stride. One of Roger’s musical heroes was the famous African-American Scott Joplin, who for some time played his music on the ground floor of a brothel to entice men in! Sadly, nobody wanted to publish Joplin’s work, which caused him not only to be severely depressed between 1900-1904, but also to produce some of his most melancholic, wonderful music.
Roger ended with a beautiful rendition of the Hymn to Freedom, named in honour of Martin Luther King, by another of his heroes, and one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Oscar Peterson. This hymn became an unofficial anthem of the Civil Rights movement.