Max Morath

Rudi Blesh billed Morath as a "one-man ragtime army".

• Name — Max Morath • Born — 1 October 1926 • Birthplace — Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. • Died — 19 June 2023 • Place of death — Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. • Genre — Ragtime • Occupation — Musician, composer, actor author • Instrument — Piano • Years Active — 1940s–2023 • Label — * Vanguard • RCA Victor • New World Records

Max Edward Morath was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He studied piano and harmony as a child and was exposed to the rudiments of ragtime piano by his mother, a schooled pianist who had spent several years playing for silent films. He received a bachelor's degree in English from Colorado College in 1948, before embarking on a career that included jobs in radio and television, jazz, and theater. In the midst of this, Morath earned a master's degree from Columbia University in 1996 in American studies.

His appearances as pianist and musical director with melodrama companies in Cripple Creek and Durango, Colorado, triggered his interest in early American popular music and theater, including a study of its social and economic history, largely inspired by George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and his ragtime heroes Eubie Blake and Scott Joplin.

Morath's work in television and theater during the 1960s preceded the 1970s ragtime revival and had an influence on how it was constituted. Commenting on the significance of ragtime, Morath stated, "Scorned by the establishment as ephemeral at best, trashy at worst, ragtime was the fountainhead of every rhythmic and stylistic upheaval that has followed in a century of ever-evolving American popular music", and on Morath, Eric Salzman wrote in Stereo Review: "[t]he person who kept rag alive almost single-handedly during all the dark years was really Max Morath." From 1959 to 1961 Morath wrote, performed, and co-produced 26 half-hour television programs for PBS, then NET (National Educational Television). The programs were produced by Rocky Mountain PBS in Denver (then known as KRMA Channel 6) and were fed nationally to the public broadcasting network. The Ragtime Era series showcased the development of the music of that period and brought him national recognition. It was followed by the Turn of the Century series, which dealt with popular music's interaction with the nation's social history (and which he afterwards turned into a one-man touring show). The productions were in syndication throughout the 1960s. In addition to his television series, Morath made other contributions to NPR and PBS. He appeared on The Bell Telephone Hour, Kraft Music Hall, Today, and The Tonight Show. From 1965 to 1972, he was a regular guest of Arthur Godfrey on CBS Radio, and he appeared with Godfrey in television guest appearances.

Moving from Colorado to New York around 1963, Morath was by then performing nationally in college concerts and nightclubs, including New York's Blue Angel and the Village Vanguard with his Original Rag Quartet. His one-man show, Max Morath at the Turn of the Century, was a critical success and played Off-Broadway at the Jan Hus Playhouse in 1969, followed by a four-year national tour. Other similar productions followed: The Ragtime Years, Living the Ragtime Life, The Ragtime Man, Ragtime Revisited, plus Ragtime and Again. These productions also toured nationally following Off-Broadway openings. Morath continued touring until 2007.

Morath died in Duluth, Minnesota, on June 19, 2023, at age 96.

• Year || Title || Record label • 1955 — Max Morath at the Gold Bar Room — Gold Camp • 1956 — Max Morath at the Gold Bar Room, Volume II — Gold Camp • 1957 — Music for Moochers, Gold Diggers, and Cattle Rustlers — Talking Machine Records • 1958 — Honky Tonk in Hi-Fi — Gold Camp • 1959 — More Morath — Gold Camp • 1963 — Presenting that Celebrated Maestro — Epic • 1964 — Oh, Play That Thing: The Ragtime Era — Epic • 1969 — Max Morath at the Turn of The Century — RCA-Victor • 1972 — Max Morath Plays the Best of Scott Joplin & Other Rag Classics — Vanguard • 1973 — The World of Scott Joplin — Vanguard • 1974 — Irving Berlin: The Ragtime Years — Vanguard • 1975 — Max Morath Plays Ragtime — Vanguard • 1975 — Good Friends Are for Keeps (with other performers) — Bell System/United Artists • 1976 — The World of Scott Joplin, Volume 2 — Vanguard • 1976 — Jonah Man: A Tribute to Bert Williams (1996 CD release added four tracks from Morath's 1981 album) — Vanguard • 1977 — Living the Ragtime Life (not to be confused with similarly titled later release) — Vanguard • 1977 — The Ragtime Women — Vanguard • 1978 — These Charming People (with Bolcom & Morris) — RCA-Red Seal • 1978 — Don't Give the Name a Bad Place (with other performers) — New World Records • 1979 — Max Morath in Jazz Country — Vanguard • 1979 — The Great American Piano Bench — Vanguard • 1981 — Max Morath & His Ragtime Stompers — Vanguard • 1983 — More Rodgers and Hart (with Bolcom & Morris) — RCA • 1987 — Living a Ragtime Life (1990 SoloArt CD version contained additional tracks and is re-sequenced) — Normacks • 1991 — The Ragtime Century — PianoMania Music Publishing • 1992 — The Ragtime Man — Omega Music • 1993 — Siren Songs (Piano Accompaniment for Ann Fennessy) — Bilnan Productions • 1994 — Fountain Favorites from the World of Coca-Cola (with Bolcom & Morris) — Coke • 1995 — Drugstore Cabaret — Premier • 1995 — Real American Folk Songs — Solo Art • 2003 — Sing Yip Harburg (with Bolcom & Morris) — Original Cast • 2004 — Sing Gus Kahn (with Bolcom & Morris) — Original Cast • 2005 — One for fhe Road (Compilation, Includes Previously Unreleased Material) — Skomax • 2015 — Max Morath: The Complete Ragtime Works for Piano (Performed by Aaron Robinson) — MAI • Source: