Aug/103
Artist in Residence
Smells like victory.
Wow, I have some amazing news.
Every year, the Scott Joplin Foundation invites one musician to be their Artist in Residence for the year. This person is in Sedalia, MO for a week doing a Scott Joplin/Sedalia history outreach to local schools. The list of people who have done this reads like a who’s who in ragtime, including my mentor, friend, and all-around musical genius Tony Caramia.
And guess who is the Artist in Residence for 2011? THIS GUY. [points to self]
It basically breaks down to this: 11 schools, 5 days, 2 mini-concert/sessions each morning and afternoon for a total of 20 during the week, and then the week is capped off with a benefit concert of some sort on Friday night. I’m the youngest person they’ve ever asked to do it, which is awesome. The hope is that I’ll be able to connect with the kids, which shouldn’t be hard considering I’m already plotting how to turn Lady Gaga into ragtime.
I first went to Sedalia in 1998. I was 15, and I had to sneak onto a piano when my dad was in the bathroom in order to get a chance to play. Now I’m the Artist in Residence. Artist! With a capital “A”! That’s pretty awesome 
Dec/090
Rosie’s Corner
Being interviewed made me feel like a star...
Early in 2009, I had the privilege of being interviewed by Dr. Rosemary Hallum for her “Rosie’s Corner” article in “The American Rag,” a periodical devoted to traditional jazz and ragtime. Rosemary has interviewed many, many people, including many of my favorite ragtimers, and it was a surprise and an honor when she contacted me and asked if she could profile me for her July column.
What started as a simple interview blossomed into a wonderful dialog about everything from religion and politics to the muses and everything in between. I think we found in each other a fellow traveler and fellow seeker, and our extended conversation, held over the course of a few months via e-mail and phone (and including a few Google searches of me, I think, as some bits of my resume snuck in here!) was one of the most enjoyable parts of 2009.
Here’s the article in its entirety. Warning: This is one of my most self-indulgent posts ever, which is really saying something. You might want to grab a cup of coffee, a pillow, and an in-flight magazine because damn, can I talk, but enjoy! I think she captured my voice very well. Thanks again, Rosemary, for making me feel like a star.
IT’S EASIER TO ENJOY HIS MUSIC THAN TO SPELL HIS LAST NAME: MARTIN SPITZNAGEL
by Dr. Rosemary Hallum
Human beings are remarkable, each one unique and different from the next, from their fingerprints and body structure to their thought processes, talents, and interests. This makes my writing work very intriguing, because I get to interview many diverse people from sports stars to cooks, from composers to performers.
Aug/094
The Red Elephant Rag
The extent of my drawing skills...
I’ve been composing music since I was 12.
In all that time, the only person who ever performed my music was me. This is logical for two reasons: 1) I never wrote anything down, and 2) Nothing I wrote was any good.
I had this secret fantasy that one day another musician would hear a piece of mine and go, “You know what, I absolutely have to learn that. You have to write that down for me.” And then I would get to hear them perform my music. My music! And I wouldn’t even be playing it! I imagined them strutting up to the stage and introducing the latest work by Martin Spitznagel, who was of course a very serious and well-known composer because why in the world would they be telling the audience my name if they didn’t expect them to all nod their heads and go, “Ooh, that is a very real person”?
After all, I spent a large part of my day learning the music of other people. It seemed like every other composer had that thrill except for me. What, I wondered, would it be like to hear someone else interpret the very notes that my muse dreamed up? What would it feel like? What would go through my head?
Well, I have to wonder no longer, because I have awesome friends:
And the only thing I have going through my head right now?
“OMG OMG OMG”
Thanks, Bryan. This was totally worth the wait
Aug/093
How to Make Martin’s Day
Max Morath in 1960
Ragtime is a small, small world. If contemporary music were a factory, ragtime is the dusty desk chair in the closet of the abandoned wing where they used to make lyres and citharas. It is a subculture of a subculture. A musical dodo. But it has its kings, its elder statesmen, its living legends.
And one of those living legends likes my my new CD:
Martin,
“Tricky Fingers” is simply a stunning piece of work. Thanks a million for sending me another copy (inscribed.) I have a number of thoughts about it, but assure you I find that the entire album is superb and I wish you the best with its potential sales.
I ‘m especially pleased that on many of your tracks — and I know this sounds like a contradiction — you’re treating Ragtime as MUSIC. I’ve pushed the position for years that the best of Ragtime is simply a body of fine music for the piano, and needs no special little niche, as in “Oh! Can you play Ragtime??” — as if it were not thoroughly related to the best of other brief piano forms. A perfect example is your Heliotrope Bouquet — best rendition I’ve ever heard — including mine. Your careful and logical rubatos, your variations, e.g. the staccato treatment of the B-theme, and subsequent embellishments. And you allow portions of the piece to swing a bit — that is, give it a “dotted” feel.
The same approach makes Blake’s Rhapsody work beautifully — not a slavish note-for-note exploration, but believe me — a delivery that would have made the old man very happy. I’m especially pleased by your Theresa composition — very sensitive, with all that delicate lace in the R.H.
Welcome
Welcome to the homepage of musician, writer, and filmmaker Martin Spitznagel!
Any questions, please e-mail me at martin@spitzfire.com.