Max Morath obit

Colorado Springs native Max Morath, 'Mr. Ragtime,' dies

 

 He was not on the list.

Max Morath, the Colorado Springs native whose illustrious career as a ragtime pianist earned him the moniker "Mr. Ragtime," died Monday in Duluth, Minnesota. He was 96.

Morath is survived by his wife, Diane Fay Skomars; three children, Kathryn Morath, Christy Mainthow and Frederic Morath; and a stepdaughter, Monette Fay Magrath.

Morath was born Oct. 1, 1926, to Frederic Palmer Morath, founder of the AdAmAn Club, a group of mountaineers who hike Pikes Peak every year to set off fireworks on New Year's Eve, and Gladys Ramsell Morath, a former society editor at The Gazette. It was Gladys, a pianist, who instilled a love of music in her son.

When asked for his favorite memory from his life in music, Max told The New York Times in 2019: “It was when I was 7 and I heard my mother play something (Scott) Joplin wrote, called ‘The Original Rag.’ It was published in Kansas City, and somehow my mother got ahold of it. We had a piano bench full of good stuff, mostly show tunes. But ‘Original Rag’ was my favorite.”

Max graduated from Colorado Springs High School in 1944 and went on to attend Colorado College, where he earned a bachelor's in education in 1948 and paid for his schooling with jobs as a radio announcer and pianist for KVOR. Post-graduation, he prospered as a ragtime pianist and musical director with melodrama companies around Colorado, including the Iron Springs Chateau in Manitou Springs and the Imperial Hotel melodrama in Cripple Creek.

According to the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, which inducted Max in 2016, the pianist made numerous appearances at the Gold Bar Room in Cripple Creek in the '50s; wrote, announced, acted and sang at KKTV; and created the "Ragtime Era" series, 26 half-hour TV programs about early American popular music, comedy and social history for National Educational Television.

By the early '60s Max was performing at colleges and nightclubs around the country with his Original Rag Quartet. He moved from Colorado to New York City, where his hit off-Broadway, one-man show, "Max Morath at the Turn of the Century," was followed up by other productions, including "The Ragtime Years" and "The Ragtime Man."

The ragtime expert went on to record 30 albums, lecture and consult around the country, published numerous articles, a screenplay and two books, including the 1999 memoir, "The Road to Ragtime."