FOLIO REVIEW BY Jack Rummel

Rags and other pieces for piano by John Vouliouris

Baby in the Pram – a classic rag / Poor Children Rag / Pink Daisy Rag / Golden Butterfly Waltz – syncopated waltz / Ballet Theater Rag / Twilight Rag / Corfu Rag / Old House Rag / A Day in the Country / Fantasia over A Day in the Country / The Daybreak Song / Old Time Tango / Tropical Dream / Sunny Walk.

     John Vouliouris was born in Athens, Greece in 1945.  He studied physics in Greece and in the U.K., and recently retired after a 30-year career in the telecommunications industry.  More pertinent to this review, he has had a long-standing love for ragtime.  He has had piano and harmony lessons in the Hellenic Conservatory in Athens, has given various lecture-concerts about ragtime and has produced a series of radio programs on ragtime for the Greek radio.  This folio is his first publication.
     His compositions are in the intermediate range of difficulty in the keys of A to B-flat. All except the waltzes are written in 4/4 time and have suggested metronome readings between 118 and-174.  All are quite melodic and afford pleasant listening.  Of the rags, I was most attracted to Pink Daisy Rag and Ballet Theater Rag.  Three of the compositions are in 3/4 time, of which the Golden Butterfly Waltz is a real standout, but The Daybreak Song and Sunny Walk are very nice.
     This is a very professionally produced product.  The music typesetting is crisp and accurate and the composer’s notes have a friendly feeling: as he describes what led to the composition of each piece, the reader is left with the sense that Vouliouris has known you for some time.  (If you can read Greek, there’s a special page of composer’s notes just for you!) A marvelous addition is a CD of the composer playing his works.  A bonus track contains a live recording of a traditional “Corfu Dance,” with its characteristic sequence of melodies which inspired the writing of Corfu Rag.
     Ragtime’s popularity over time has spread to include almost every European country.  Now Greece is officially represented and John Vouliouris is doing a fine job.  If you are seeking some new works to explore, this folio would make a good choice.
     The folio, with the accompanied CD, is available for $15 or €15 from John Vouliouris, 11,Reas St., Filothei, Athens 152 37 Greece or by sending an email to <jvoul@otenet.gr>.  Payment can be made by PayPal.