Dancing to a Black Man's Tune

In the early twentieth century, as Americans enjoyed ragtime, they danced to a black man's tune. In this interpretive biography, Susan Curtis recounts the life of Scott Joplin, the great African American ragtime composer whose musical genius helped break down racial barriers and led America to a new cultural frontier. Born in 1868 to former slaves, Scott Joplin lived at a time when white Americans routinely denied African Americans basic civil rights, economic opportunities, and social standing. In spite of these tremendous obstacles, Joplin and other musicians created a musical form that was eagerly embraced by white, middle-class Americans. By the early 1900s, many writers agreed that "Negro" music - especially spirituals and ragtime - was the only true American music. As one of the creators of ragtime, Joplin moved between black and white society, and his experience offers a window into the complex forces of class, race, and culture that shaped modern America. Framed by two decisive events in American history, the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1868 and America's entrance into the Great War in Europe in 1917, Scott Joplin's extraordinary life illuminates a crucial period in the evolution of American culture. During those years Joplin lived in a variety of communities, and his experience permits a glimpse into the ways black and white Americans responded to this changing culture in Reconstruction Texas, small-town Missouri, and two important urban cultural centers - St. Louis and New York. Echoing the ragtime music she celebrates, Curtis counterpoints the story of American cultural history with the fascinating events of Joplin's life. Dancing to Black Man's Tune is an engaging, beautifully written portrait of a great American musician and of American culture coming of age.