The turn of the last century was a brilliant period for Black entertainment. Ragtime and the worldwide popularity of the cake walk showcased this period. The cake walk had a lilt and a syncopated lift never known before heard or seen in American popular music.

This collection of various cake walks comes from Rémi Balsacq’s passion for fingerstyle guitar. This instrument already has a huge repertoire, from blues to ragtime, classical to jazz and beyond. Ragtime pieces were transcribed throughout the 20th century by various guitarists, i.e David Laibman, Ton Van Bergeyk, Leo Wijnkamp, Duck Baker, Stefan Grossman, Lasse Johansson and many other players. Each had their own approach but the cake walk repertoire remained barely explored and offers the guitarist wonderful melodies, interesting rhythms and arranging challenges. In this collection, Rémi has arranged 12 cake walks for fingerstyle guitar.

Included with this collection are direct downloads of studio audio recordings of each piece as well as home YouTube video recordings of each arrangement.

Titles include: At an Alabama Corn Shuckin’, Aunt Jemima’s Cake Walk, Bowery Buck, Bunch o’ Blackberries, Eli Green’s Cake Walk, Hello Ma Baby, Peaceful Henry, The Pride of Bucktown, Remus Takes The Cake, Southern Rag Medley No.1, The St. Louis Rag, Whistling Rufus

Level 3 • 92 pages • Direct download link to audio files.