Stride piano was an update of ragtime, and heard everywhere in Harlem in the 1920’s. They called James P. Johnson “The Father of Stride Piano,” but he preferred to be known as “The Dean of Jazz Pianists.” Johnson is well-established in the jazz history books for his peerless piano playing, documented on record beginning in 1923, while the general audience remembers him for penning several hit songs, including “If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight,” “Old Fashioned Love,” "A Porter’s Love Song to a Chambermaid,” and an anthem of the Jazz Age, “The Charleston.” 

For the Mark Morris suite “You’ve Got to Be Modernistic,” I transcribed favorite performances and then arranged them to be suitable for any qualified pianist. While there are a few new transitions and endings, the score is generally very close to Johnson’s original recordings, with one drastic exception: His most famous piece, “The Charleston,” has been placed in a meter unknown in social dance, 5/4, an intentionally “modernistic” touch. 

—Ethan Iverson