James Sylvester Scott (February 12, 1885 – August 30, 1938) was an American

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and pianist. He is regarded as one of the "Big Three" composers of

classical ragtime Classic rag (short for classical ragtime) is the style of ragtime composition pioneered by Scott Joplin and the Missouri school of ragtime composers. These compositions were first considered "classic" by Joplin's publisher, John Stark, as a way t ...

along with

Scott Joplin Scott Joplin ( 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Because of the fame achieved for his ragtime compositions, he was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his career, he wrote over 40 original ragtime pieces, one ra ...

and Joseph Lamb.Jasen David A. and Trebor Jay Tichenor (1978) ''Rags and Ragtime'', Dover.

Life and career

He was born in

Neosho, Missouri Neosho (; originally or ) is the most populous city in Newton County, Missouri, Newton County, Missouri, United States, which it serves as the county seat. With a population of 12,590 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city i ...

to James Scott, Sr. and Molly Thomas Scott, both former slaves. In 1901 his family moved to

Carthage, Missouri Carthage is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 15,522 as of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Jasper County and is nicknamed "America's Maple Leaf City." History Jasper County was formed in 1841. ...

, where he attended Lincoln High School. In 1902 he began working at the music store of Charles L. Dumars, first washing windows, then demonstrating music at the piano as a

song plugger A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

, including his own pieces. Demand for his music convinced Dumars to print the first of Scott's published compositions, "A Summer Breeze - March and Two Step", in 1903. By 1904, two more compositions by Scott, "Fascinator March" and "On the Pike March" were published and sold well, but not enough to keep Dumars in business and soon the company ceased publishing. Ragtime Historians Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis recount that Scott went to

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

in search of his idol Scott Joplin in 1905. He located Joplin and asked if he would listen to one of his ragtime compositions. Upon hearing the rag, Joplin introduced him to his own publisher,

John Stillwell Stark John Stillwell Stark (April 11, 1841October 21, 1927) was an American publisher of ragtime music, best known for publishing and promoting the music of Scott Joplin. Early life and education Stark was the eleventh of 12 children born to Adin S ...

, and recommended he publish the work. Stark published the rag a year later as "

Frog Legs Rag "Frog Legs Rag" is a classic rag composed by James Scott and published by John Stillwell Stark in December 1906. It was James Scott's first commercial success. Prior to this composition Scott had published marches. With "Frog Legs Rag", Scott e ...

". It quickly became a hit and was second in sales in the Stark catalogue only to that of Joplin's own "

Maple Leaf Rag The "Maple Leaf Rag" (copyright registered on September 18, 1899) is an early ragtime musical composition for piano composed by Scott Joplin. It was one of Joplin's early works, and became the model for ragtime compositions by subsequent compos ...

". Scott became a regular contributor to the Stark catalogue until 1922. In 1914 Scott moved to

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, where he married Nora Johnson, taught music, and accompanied silent movies as an organist and arranger at the Panama Theater. Those that knew him recall that theater work was a large part of his activity. His cousin Patsy Thomas remembers, "Everybody called him 'Little Professor' He always walked rapidly, looking at the ground - would pass you on the street and never see you - seemed always deep in thought." In the last years of his life, Scott busied himself with teaching, composing and leading an eight-piece band that played for various beer parks and movie theaters in the area. With the arrival of sound movies, however, his fortunes declined. He lost his theater work, his wife died without child, and his health deteriorated. He moved in with his cousin Ruth Callahan in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

, and even though was suffering from chronic

dropsy Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels tight, the area ma ...

, he continued to compose and play piano. Scott died at Douglas Hospital on August 30, 1938 at age 52 and was laid beside his wife in Westlawn Cemetery. Blesh (1950) pp. 119. Scott's best-known compositions include ''Climax Rag'', ''

'', ''

Grace and Beauty "Grace and Beauty" is a classic rag composed by James Scott and published by John Stillwell Stark in 1909. The A section starts out with a rising melody that slowly descends through repeated patterns. Like many of Scott's rags, the C and D sect ...

'', ''Ophelia Rag'' and ''The Ragtime Oriole''. Scott was a cousin of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

singer Ada Brown.

Aftermath

In the Third Season of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series

Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and broadcast on the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and ...

, Scott is portrayed by an uncredited actor in the episode "Spaghetti and Coffee".

Published works

''See

list of compositions by James Scott This is a complete list of musical compositions by James Scott (February 12, 1885 – August 30, 1938). James Scott was one of the three leading composers of ragtime. {, class=wikitable ! width="45%" , Title ! width="10%" , Year ! widt ...

References

*DeVeaux, Scott and William Howland Kenney (1992) ''The Music of James Scott'', Smithsonian Institution Press.

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165917/http://www.umkc.edu/orgs/kcjazz/jazzfolk/scotj_00.htm James Scott on th
Kansas City Jazz site"Perfessor" Bill Edwards plays Scott compositions and provides background on many of his works
*
James Scott: Innovative American Composer

Sheet music