The African American pianist and composer whose tune is being played by this Youtube artist lived between 1868 and 1917, many of those years spent in St. Louis, Missouri. His name is Scott Joplin who in 1976 Joplin was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for “special contribution to American music” among many other honours. Many people all over the world have heard this tune one way or another without knowing who the original composer was. I never even knew he was African American. He was such a talented artist who learnt to play at a neighbour’s house when his mother did housecleaning.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cFkae0j_Ns&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1]

St. Louis has long been associated with great ragtime, jazz and blues music. Early rock and roll singer/guitarist Chuck Berry is a native St. Louisan and continues to perform there several times a year. Soul music artists Ike Turner and Tina Turner and jazz innovator Miles Davis began their careers in nearby East St. Louis, Illinois. St. Louis is also home to the world-renowned Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra which was founded in 1880 and is the second oldest orchestra in the nation. The orchestra has received six Grammy Awards and fifty-six nominations.

Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He was born in Alton, Illinois, but spent the better part of his creative life in St. Louis.

There is such a rich cultural heritage of Jazz, Blues and Poetry in this area of the United States, without a doubt.

(Bio information from Wikipedia)