The TurpinTyme Ragsters take you back to an era of ceiling fans, summers on the boardwalk and Sunday concerts in the park.   Their repertoire reflects the diversity of music from the turn of the Century America from Scott Joplin to Tom Turpin and John Phillip Sousa.   They will keep your feet tappin to their syncopated rhythms.

The TurpinTyme Ragsters were formed in 1993, primarily to play ragtime music.   They are a 6-piece "Ragtime" music ensemble based in Kansas City.   The band includes clarinet, cornet, tenor sax, trombone, tuba and drums.

The band has performed in the Trans-Mississippi Festival, for Friends of Scott Joplin in St. Louis and at the prestigious Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival in Sedalia Missouri.   In 2001 they were paired with the Ophelia Ragtime Orchestra of Norway for concerts in Kansas City and they held their own with the Ophelia.

They play ragtime pieces such as Dill Pickles, The Entertainer (alias "The Sting") and the 12th Street Rag, as well as a scattering of Dixieland pieces.   In all they have more than 200 pieces in their repertoire, which includes many pieces gleaned from the Hogan Jazz Archive at Tulane University in New Orleans.   This archive includes a wealth of music from 1850 to 1950.   They will also be adding several contemporary rags to their repertoire especially for the Tulsa concert.

The public response to their music has been excellent.   Everyone seems to really enjoy the "feel" of their music which they thoroughly enjoy playing.   Mike Nichols in a review of their CD "Trouble Right Here in River City" commented that "one of the great mysteries of their performance is how so much music can come from six players.   Clever arrangements and consummate musicianship are no doubt the cause."   He went on to say that they have a "crispness to their sound, almost a 'snap,' in the way they deliver their wonderful rags.   The group's performance is a study in balance, joyful and lively, without ever being rushed; it manages to swing without wandering from the printed score, and sounds spontaneous without relying on aimless improvisation."