RIPMJAZZ
photo of journal cover for RRA.png

The Ragtime Review

The Ragtime Review is a continuation of Christensen’s Ragtime Review (Chicago, 1914-1916). The new title features several differences in format, though it retains Christensen’s characteristic blend of content that is both advocacy for the genre and self-promotion.

The Ragtime Review is half the length of Christensen’s Ragtime Review, at about 15-16 printed pages per issue, and the yearly subscription fee was likewise halved at 50 cents. The format of the first two issues in this run are somewhat less consistent than its precursor: the first section is labeled “Seen through the publisher’s window,” but is not a direct address from Christensen to his readership until several paragraphs into the section. This section continues as a more discernible introduction by Christensen at the top of subsequent issues, including two pages of advertisements as front matter. “Carols from Carroll” (a major music publisher) and “Music Notes,” featuring releases and updates from publishers and instrument makers, follow. Christensen continues to include engravings of popular ragtime songs as well as a “Moving Picture Music” section featuring notated incidental music versatile across a variety of scenes. In addition, Christensen occasionally includes practical or technical commentary such as pointers on transposition. The last three to four pages include letters to the publisher and advertisements.

The Ragtime Review’s sale to publishing magnate Walter Jacobs in 1918 marked the absorption of its subscription base and content into Jacobs’s house organ Melody, which is accessible through the RIPM Preservation Series. Christensen remained a regular contributor to Melody and continued to promote the ragtime genre as its evolution into early jazz began in the 1920s.

Ragtime Traditional Jazz