On the Ragtime

The tinny sound of ragtime-era recordings is not entirely listenable; technology was too new and primitive to capture the real spirit of the raucous, danceable music. Most people think of "The Entertainer" as the embodiment of the genre, but there was a wider variety of ragtime that has been mostly lost. In 1985, musician Rick Benjamin stumbled upon the mother lode of original ragtime scores and formed the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra to give the old music life again.

Tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the University of Denver's Gates Concert Hall, 2344 East Iliff Avenue, the Orchestra will present a selection of holiday tunes, plus a silent-era comedy with original ragtime accompaniment. Step back in time and hear what the music sounded like live instead of on those scratchy old 78 rpm records.

Tickets, $25 to $55, are available at 303-871-7720 or www.ticketmaster.com.
Second Sunday of every month, 2-5 p.m. Starts: Sept. 11. Continues through May 13