<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>First off, I *think* Max Morath is still at it.  Last time I heard him play, in person, was around 1998 at the Tom Turpin Ragtime Festival, in Savannah, GA.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The speed at which ragtime is played is of continual debate.  The best example of the expression and variety in interpretation that I've heard is a 4 CD set of "complete" Joplin (including Treemonisha) by Dick Zimmerman.  BTW when Dick plays you'd swear he has four hands.  And folks, it's not just the recording, I've heard and seen him perform in person.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I think the idea of high speed ragtime came with "outdoing" the previous player.  And....at least "The Sting" opened the ragtime door for this generation.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Debbie</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> </BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>