Tom Turpin

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thomas (Tom) Turpin (* 18th June 1873 in Savannah , Georgia ; † 13. August 1922 in St. Louis ( Missouri )) was American Ragtime - Pianist and composer .

Tom Turpin about 1900

Turpin was born in 1873, the second son of John and Lulu Turpin. He taught himself to play the piano. Thomas Turpin is a ragtime pioneer who lived and worked in the hometown of ragtime, St. Louis. Tom and his older brother Charles (Charlie) bought a gold mine in the US state of Nevada in 1885 , but were forced to return to St. Louis after poor yields. In 1897 Turpin published Harlem Rag, composed in his own style .

Turpin opened The Rosebud Cafe in 1900 near the St. Louis tram depot. Many well-known ragtime pianists met there. Scott Joplin wrote some of his works here. Tom Turpin and his brother Charlie also directed the Booker T. Washington Theater, where Joe Jordan and Artie Matthews performed alongside Turpin, and in the later blues era also Bessie Smith , Ethel Waters and Josephine Baker , whose careers began there. The Turpin Brothers became the first colored politicians to run gambling halls, dance halls, and brothels. For the musician Turpin, the piano had to be placed on wooden blocks, because he could only play the entire keyboard while standing because of his waist size. Although Turpin only released a few "rags" in his life, his influence on this genre is considered enormous.

Sheet music cover of “St. Louis Rag "(1903)

Works

  • 1897 - Harlem Rag
  • 1899 - The Bowery Buck
  • 1900 - A Ragtime Nightmare
  • 1903 - St. Louis Rag
  • 1904 - The Buffalo Rag
  • 1909 - Siwash (Indian intermezzo) (not published)
  • 1914 - Pan-Am Rag
  • 1917 - When Sambo Goes to France

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dennis Owsley: City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973
personal data
SURNAME Turpin, Tom
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Turpin, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American ragtime pianist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 18, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Savannah , Georgia
DATE OF DEATH August 13, 1922
Place of death St. Louis , Missouri