Bob Milne Ragtime Piano

Keweenaw Storytelling Center

Milne is considered to be the best ragtime/boogie-woogie pianist in the world. He was filmed and documented for future generations in 2004 during three days of interviews at the Library of Congress, and was declared a National Treasure at the conclusion.

 

His concert tours take him all over the globe, to small, vintage opera houses and to large, prestigious concert halls. He earned a music degree in French horn performance from Eastman School of Music, where was considered one of the best. He taught himself to play the piano, totally by ear, while playing night after night in bars and clubs. He developed a 25-year career as the busiest saloon player and naturally progressed to the concert stage, sharing his love of music with audiences of all kinds.

 

Milne has produced 11 solo piano recordings to date, which cover his wide range of playing styles, from the sweet and melodic to the highly rhythmic and hard-driving — all available on CD. He has composed more than 40 piano rags, a ragtime waltz with variations, a trumpet concerto, a flute suite and a violin suite.

 

He has also composed several classical art songs to the poetry of Robert Frost and Michigan poet Stillman Ellwell, “Concerto in Rag for Piano and Orchestra,” and the music for “Orvie,” a musical written by David Good about the infamous former mayor of Dearborn, Mich., Orville Hubbard.

 

 

His enthusiasm, ease of playing, engaging manner while telling stories about the music and his warmth and humor all come together to make him, as he has been described by a member of the U.S. State Department, “a musical ambassador.”