Detroit has always been at the forefront of American popular music development, and the ragtime years and jazz age are no exception. The city's long history of diversity has served the region well, providing a fertile environment for creating and nurturing some of America's most distinctly indigenous music. With a focus on the people and places that made Detroit a major contributor to America's rich musical heritage, Detroit: Ragtime and the Jazz Age provides a unique photo journal of a period stretching from the Civil War to the diminishing years of the big bands in the early 1940s.
Drawing on his experience as a pianist, historian, and lecturer concentrated on ragtime and early jazz, Detroit-based journalist Jon Milan provides a rare look at this important period in the city's musical heritage. For the first time, this book brings together photographs, postcards, and artifacts from the author's collection, many private collections, and materials from the E. Azalia Hackley and Burton Historical Collections of the Detroit Public Library, opening a long-lost window on an important period in the history of Detroit and its role in the development of American music.