Max Edward Morath (October 1, 1926 – June 19, 2023) was an American ragtime pianist, composer, actor, and author. He was best known for his piano playing and is referred to as “Mr. Ragtime”. He was a touring performer as well as being variously a composer, recording artist, actor, playwright, and radio and television presenter. Rudi Blesh billed Morath as a “one-man ragtime army”.
Max Edward Morath was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He studied piano and harmony as a child and was exposed to the rudiments of ragtime piano by his mother, a schooled pianist who had spent several years playing for silent films. He received a bachelor’s degree in English from Colorado College in 1948, before embarking on a career that included jobs in radio and television, jazz, and theater. In the midst of this, Morath earned a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1996 in American studies.
Early years
His appearances as pianist and musical director with melodrama companies in Cripple Creek and Durango, Colorado, triggered his interest in early American popular music and theater, including a study of its social and economic history, largely inspired by George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and his ragtime heroes Eubie Blake and Scott Joplin.
1960s television and theater work
Morath’s work in television and theater during the 1960s preceded the 1970s ragtime revival and had an influence on how it was constituted. Commenting on the significance of ragtime, Morath stated, “Scorned by the establishment as ephemeral at best, trashy at worst, ragtime was the fountainhead of every rhythmic and stylistic upheaval that has followed in a century of ever-evolving American popular music”, and on Morath, Eric Salzman wrote in Stereo Review: “[t]he person who kept rag alive almost single-handedly during all the dark years was really Max Morath.”
From 1959 to 1961 Morath wrote, performed, and co-produced 26 half-hour television programs for PBS, then NET (National Educational Television). The programs were produced by Rocky Mountain PBS in Denver (then known as KRMA Channel 6) and were fed nationally to the public broadcasting network. The Ragtime Era series showcased the development of the music of that period and brought him national recognition. It was followed by the Turn of the Century series, which dealt with popular music’s interaction with the nation’s social history (and which he afterwards turned into a one-man touring show). The productions were in syndication throughout the 1960s. In addition to his television series, Morath made other contributions to NPR and PBS. He appeared on The Bell Telephone Hour, Kraft Music Hall, Today, and The Tonight Show. From 1965 to 1972, he was a regular guest of Arthur Godfrey on CBS Radio, and he appeared with Godfrey in television guest appearances.
Touring shows
Moving from Colorado to New York around 1963, Morath was by then performing nationally in college concerts and nightclubs, including New York’s Blue Angel and the Village Vanguard with his Original Rag Quartet. His one-man show, Max Morath at the Turn of the Century, was a critical success and played Off-Broadway at the Jan Hus Playhouse in 1969, followed by a four-year national tour. Other similar productions followed: The Ragtime Years, Living the Ragtime Life, The Ragtime Man, Ragtime Revisited, plus Ragtime and Again. These productions also toured nationally following Off-Broadway openings. Morath continued touring until 2007.
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With his wife Diane Fay Skomars, Morath co-created an illustrated book on his experiences on the road, titled Max Morath: The Road to Ragtime.
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Morath died in Duluth, Minnesota on June 19, 2023, at the age of 96.
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Read more of Mr. Morath’s bio here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Morath
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OTHER NOTABLE MUSICIANS’ DEATHS
If you want to know more about any of the musicians we lost, please check them out at http://www.wikipedia.com
June 2023
20: Choi Sung-bong, 33, South Korean singer, suicide; Rohana Jalil, 68, Malaysian singer; Vyacheslav Nagovitsin, 83, Russian composer; Doris Stockhausen, 99, German music pedagogue; John Waddington, 63, English guitarist (The Pop Group, Maximum Joy, Perfume); Paolo Zavallone, 90, Italian singer and composer.
19: Max Morath*, 96, American ragtime pianist, television presenter and author; Gabriele Schnaut, 72, German opera singer (Bayreuth Festival, Hamburg State Opera, Bavarian State Opera).
18: Big Pokey, 48, American rapper (“Sittin’ Sidewayz”); Adriano Mazzoletti, 87, Italian musicologist; Nasrollah Nasehpour, 82, Iranian musician; Krzysztof Olesinski, 70, Polish bassist (Maanam); Cornel Taranu, 88, Romanian composer; Teresa Taylor, 60, American drummer (Butthole Surfers) and actress (Slacker), lung disease; Vansalrang, 74, Taiwanese singer.
17: Dave Maclean, 78, Brazilian singer-songwriter.
16: Peter Dickinson, 88, English composer and musicologist.
15: Sergey Kolchin, 45, Russian guitarist (Zemlyane); Dan Lardner, American singer and guitarist (QTY); Luiz Schiavon, 64, Brazilian keyboardist (RPM); Yevgenia Shmelyova, 90, Russian singer and actress (Carnival Night).
14: Sharda, 85, Indian playback singer (Suraj, Gumnaam, Around the World).
13: Christy Dignam, 63, Irish singer (Aslan), cancer; Blackie Onassis, 57, American rock drummer (Urge Overkill).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2023
Colorado Born Ragtime Pianist Max Morath Dies at 96 // Other Notable Musicians’ Death
