America the Beautiful - Red, White, and Blue Rag (1954)

This arrangement of America the Beautiful was created by Jonny May and his teacher, Johnny Hodges, who used to play piano at Disneyland (like Jonny May did later.)

America the Beautiful is from the late 1800s. The words were written in 1895 by Katherine Lee Bates after a train trip across the country, where she marveled at the beauty of the vast landscape. Its music was composed earlier, in 1883, by church organist and choirmaster Samuel Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey, as a hymn, and the two never met. Ward died in 1903, while his melody was first used for America the Beautiful in 1910, so he never knew how popular his melody would become.

Many people think that America the Beautiful should be the national anthem of the United States instead of The Star-Spangled Banner, because it is easier to sing and is not about war.

The second piece, "Red, White, and Blue Rag" is a very, very rare 1954 song by Dolores Ventura. I don't think anyone has made a recording of it besides her.

Dolores Ventura (August 1921 - September 2012) was an extremely well-rounded British musician. She was a classical violinist yet also was comfortable playing boogie-woogie and Latin American numbers at the piano. She had a very busy performing and recording career in England during the 1950s.

Although I am training to become better and better at learning using sheet music, I don't think any sheet music exists for this rag, so I had to learn it by listening to the record album of her playing it. There is a trombone accompanying her so I tried to add that part in on the piano when I played it.

I recommend listening to the original recording so that you can hear it with the trombone. You can find it here:

   • Dolores Ventura - Red White and Blue Rag  ...