JAZZ REVIEW : Spirited Ragtime at Pepperdine

The only thing lacking in the New England Ragtime Ensemble’s performance in Smothers Theater at Pepperdine University was course credit.

For two hours on Sunday evening, a nearly full house was treated not only to the spirited playing of the 16-piece ensemble but to the enlightened discourse of the erudite Gunther Schuller, director of the nearly two-decade-old ensemble.

Formed in 1973 as part of the Romantic American Music Festival at Boston’s New England Conservatory, where Schuller served as president, the ensemble found life after college in the form of annual world tours and recordings. Though the ensemble has expanded considerably its repertoire from an original eight rags by Scott Joplin, the group remains true to the musical form. It plays only original orchestrations and exact transcriptions taken from early recordings.

The ensemble’s insistence on such exacting accuracy provided a unique sense of historical value during its Sunday evening performance, as well as offering a glimpse of the great beauty and dignity of the musical form. Because so few people are familiar with ragtime, a turn-of-the-century dance music whose popularity lasted a mere 15 years, the 18 pieces of music offered were fresh and alive. There was no sense of the ensemble merely re-creating museum pieces.

Though the music of Joplin was given the most play, Schuller led this extraordinary group through pieces by the lesser-known James Scott (“The Hilarity Rag”) and Joseph Lamb (“The Bird Brain Rag,” “The Bohemia Rag”). Each piece illustrated the subtle differences in compositional approach. Also included were the more ambitious efforts of Arthur Marshall (“Swipesy”) and Artie Matthews.

Showing how jazz came to replace rag, the ensemble offered several pieces by Jelly Roll Morton. And to illustrate how rag remains a viable compositional form, three new rags including one by Schuller and another by the group’s tuba player, Rob Carriker, were played.

Though many fine solos were offered, including the work of pianist John West, the ensemble was the star of the evening.