I’m excited to review this project for 101 Music Pty Ltd®, brilliantly composed and performed by Jan Preston (born and raised in New Zealand, residing in Sydney, Australia), not only because the project showcases her artistry & proficiency on the piano, but because it also provides such enjoyable entertainment for all.

Additionally, the album is an illustrative exploration of the beginnings of many North American musical genres – covering the historical evolution of many piano music styles from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s.

‘Blues’ started it all – as a secular African American musical genre largely developed in the Mississippi Delta after the American Civil War (1861 ~ 1865), and originally played by black agricultural workers. ‘Blues’ was the first music to emphasize improvisation.

‘Blues’ eventually led to ‘Ragtime’, which was born in the African American communities of St. Louis in the 1890s, evolved in taverns & bars along the Mississippi & Missouri rivers, and was virtually everywhere by the early 1900s (sheet music, piano rolls, phonograph records, theaters, and bordellos). This genre takes traditional march form & adds the syncopated or ‘ragged’ beat of African music.

Around that same time, early ‘Jazz’ (which means pep or energy) began with the soulful brass bands of New Orleans around the late 1800s, then became incredibly popular in the ‘Roaring Twenties’. A dominate jazz piano style known as ‘Harlem Stride Piano’ also became favored as it was a derivative form of Kansas City jazz and an extension of ragtime.

‘Boogie-woogie’ music, although originating in the late 1800s by traveling African Americans in East Texas, became distinguishable by a frenetic rhythm of the piano and in the 1920s was played in honky-tonks on the South Side of Chicago. It eventually gained national attention in the late 1930s and thrived until about 1945. In some parts it became known as ‘Barrelhouse’, a reference to the cheap venues where beer was served out of barrels. The boogie-woogie dance evolved and was similar to swing dance, the jitterbug, and jive.

In the meantime, ‘Honky-Tonk’, a country music style which developed near the oil fields of Texas and Oklahoma in the 1940s, eventually featured a louder driving (electric) sound with songs about heartbreak and drinking.

Other musical styles developed throughout the 1900s including ‘Swing’ – a blending of blues and jazz in the cities of New Orleans, Chicago and Kansas City; and ‘Shuffle’ – a blending of electric blues and swing jazz.

In the 1950s ‘Rockabilly’ came into fashion with white performers in the rural areas of the American South drawing upon both country western and rhythm & blues influences. Of course this soon led to the beginning of ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ – a combination of R&B, country and jazz, with an emphasis on electric instruments.

By the 19th century, the piano was a common fixture in the home and virtually became the ‘television of the middle class’ for at-home entertainment. (Due to manufacturing advances during the Industrial Revolution, musical instruments had become much cheaper to produce.)

The pinnacle of the player piano (also known as the pianola) was brief, with sales peaking in 1924. Between 1910 and the mid-1920s piano rolls were actually more popular than recordings, since technology was primitive and piano recordings were lacking in quality.

The 20th century brought major changes to music, including many involving the piano: rhythms were expanded and melodies had wider leaps, making music unpredictable. Also, broadcasting and recording widened the potential audience for concert artists. Perhaps the single most remarkable aspect of music in the twentieth century, however, is that finally listeners could hear music when and where they wanted to hear it!

Bev Klingsick (July 2023)