Columbia Records is the oldest continually used brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888. Columbia was originally the local company distributing and selling Edison phonographs and phonograph cylinders in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Delaware. As was the custom of some of the regional phonograph companies, Columbia produced many commercial cylinder recordings of its own. Columbia severed its ties to Edison and the North American Phonograph Company in 1893, and thereafter sold ...

Including:

• Columbia Records - Columbia artists
• Columbia Records - External link

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Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. An evening's "bill" (or schedule of performances) could run the gamut from acrobats to mathematicians, from song-and-dance duos to trick high divers. Indeed, the scope of the presentations was unique in the history of American live performance: music, comedy, feats of athleticism, ...

Including:

• Vaudeville - History
• Vaudeville - Origin
• Vaudeville - Popularity
• Vaudeville - Decline
• Vaudeville - After the fall
• Vaudeville - Related forms
• Vaudeville - Noted vaudeville performers
• Vaudeville - External link

Read more here: » Vaudeville: Encyclopedia - Vaudeville

Ragtime is an American musical genre, enjoying its peak popularity around the years 1900–1918. Ragtime is a dance form written in 2/4 or 4/4 time, and utilizing a walking bass, that is, the bass note played legato on the 1-3 beats with a staccato chord played on the 2-4 beats. Much ragtime is written in Sonata form, with four distinct themes and a modified first theme appearing in the work. Ragtime music is syncopated, with the m ...

Including:

• Ragtime - Historical context
• Ragtime - Styles of Ragtime
• Ragtime - Ragtime revivals
• Ragtime - Ragtime composers
• Ragtime - Samples
• Ragtime - Sources

Read more here: » Ragtime: Encyclopedia - Ragtime

Vaudeville - Origin. Though often confused with variety, its generically distinct predecessor (c. 1860s-1881), mature vaudeville distinguished itself from the earlier form by its mixed-gender audience, usually alcohol-free halls, and often slavish devotion to inculcating favor among members of the emerging middle class. Its popularity grew in step with the rise of industry and the growth of North American cities during this period, and declined with the introduction of sound films and radio. The origin of the ter ...

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Vaudeville, Vaudeville - History, Vaudeville - Origin, Vaudeville - Popularity, Vaudeville - Decline, Vaudeville - After the fall, Vaudeville - Related forms, Vaudeville - Noted vaudeville performers, Vaudeville - External link

Read more here: » Vaudeville: Encyclopedia II - Vaudeville - History

Ragtime originated in African-American musical communities, in the late 19th century, and descended from the jigs and marches played by all-black bands common in all Northern cities with black populations (van der Merwe 1989, p.63). By the start of the 20th century it became widely popular throughout North America and was listened and danced to, performed, and written by people of many different subcultures. A distinctly American musical style, ragtime may be considered a synthesis of African-American syncopation and European classical mus ...

See also:

Ragtime, Ragtime - Historical context, Ragtime - Styles of Ragtime, Ragtime - Ragtime revivals, Ragtime - Ragtime composers, Ragtime - Samples, Ragtime - Sources

Read more here: » Ragtime: Encyclopedia II - Ragtime - Historical context

In the early 1940s many jazz bands began to include ragtime in their repertoire and put out ragtime recordings on 78 RPM records. Old numbers written for piano were rescored for jazz instruments by jazz musicians, which gave the old style a new sound. The most famous recording of this period is Pee Wee Hunt's version of Euday L. Bowman's Twelfth Street Rag. A more significant revival occurred in the 1950s. A wider variety of ragtime styles of the past were made available on records, and new rags were composed, published, and re ...

See also:

Ragtime, Ragtime - Historical context, Ragtime - Styles of Ragtime, Ragtime - Ragtime revivals, Ragtime - Ragtime composers, Ragtime - Samples, Ragtime - Sources

Read more here: » Ragtime: Encyclopedia II - Ragtime - Ragtime revivals