Composer of:
Cream Soda Rag
Blissful Syncopations
Texas Country Rag
Jaime Cardenas hails from South Texas. Born in 1986, Mr. Cardenas has been exposed to all types of music throughout his life. His interest in music was noticed by his kindergarden teacher, when Jaime was seen tapping his foot to some children book music. Jaime began with his music studies in the 2nd grade, taking a required music course. It wasn't until he was 15 years old, when he got a slight interest in piano, when his grandfather purchased an electronic keyboard for Christmas. Jaime doodled around with it, learning the music in the book that came with the keyboard. He showed himself how to play piano, and learned a simplified version of "The Entertainer." A year later, Jaime had learned the full version of The Entertainer, and wrote his first rag, "Ragtime Buddy."
Mr. Cardenas' interest in piano died down a bit when he started composing and researching. He set out to learn about ragtime and its history. He has composed well over 10 rags and is always looking to write more, even better rags.
Although not active in the ragtime community, he has his eyes and ears open to it. He admires all who is active in ragtime, and enjoys hearing them perform. Jaime has been quoted to say, "Some day, the people I look up to, the ragtime masters of today, will be playing my music on the stage."
Max Keenlyside (Co-Owner, Arranger, Typesetter)
Composer of:
Newfoundlander's Rag
Charlottetown Rambler
Authentic Rag
Max Keenlyside was born in St. John's Newfoundland. Since then he has lived in New Brunswick, British Columbia, Britain, and Ontario, and Prince Edward Island. He first began to show interest in piano at about age 8, and under the tutelage of his older sister, he took piano lessons. He became disinterested soon, but when he heard the soundtrack for the movie, The Sting, he was enraptured; within two weeks, again with the aid of his sister, he had taught himself The Entertainer, Elite Syncopations, and Pineapple Rag. Within 3 years he had learned many of the Joplin rags. Since then he has greatly increased his repertoire to over 150 pieces.
Vincent Johnson(Composer, Cover page designer)
Composer of:
Raggedy Rag
Perplexity
U-No
Vincent Johnson, a 15-year-old ragtime composer, pianist, and enthusiast, was first attracted to ragtime music at age 12, after hearing his friends play Scott Joplin rags. He began learning "The Entertainer" and "Maple Leaf Rag" by watching and listening to the pieces being played by others. He began attending Rose Leaf Ragtime Club gatherings in order to learn more about this musical genre. Piano lessons soon followed, and soon he was learning pieces of varying ragtime styles, from classic ragtime to novelty piano.
During this past year, Vincent has begun to compose ragtime music as a hobby and has turned out a handful of compositions to date. His pieces are composed in various ragtime era styles, including foxtrots (Dancing Daffodils), classic rags (Painted Lady), novelty piano (Octopus on the Keys) and cakewalks (Betty Crocker’s Cakewalk), reflecting the influences of his favorite composers: Roy Bargy, Joseph Lamb, Les Copeland, Charley Straight and Arthur Schutt.
E-Mail: vjohnson@authenticragtime.com