One of the other pieces of ragtime I was most familiar with prior to listening to this disc was "Elite Syncopations" by Joplin. Just after The Sting was in the theatres, The National Ballet of Canada deviated from their predominately classical repertoire of the time to perform a work based on the music of Joplin and his contemporaries that took its title from the song. With "Elite Syncopations" providing the basis, the orchestra played a medley of orchestrated arrangements of Ragtime variations that would return on a regular basis to the signature tune.

What I remembered being impressed by most (aside from the crush I had on the prima ballerina at the time, Karen Kain, and the fact that once she finished dancing she sat two rows behind me and I don't remember any of the dances that came after) was the way the music had been elaborated on sufficiently to allow the choreography to be more than just music hall dance steps you would find in a Hollywood movie.

Only having a piano at his disposal, Mr. Rose wasn't quite able to come up with anything so elaborate. He was still recording albums of Ragtime — not adaptations — and was only interested in playing the pieces to their fullest potential. The version of "Elite Syncopations" he recorded in 1968 sounded like it could have been the piece the arranger for the ballet had used as his, or hers, starting point.

Rose took this song, and the rest of the material on the disc, as far as he could go without actually re-writing the music. It was like he was able to take each phrase in the song and bring it to its full potential musically - finding and playing all the nuances possible while still maintaining the integrity of the original composition.

Ragtime music was composed to be played over the noise of a crowd in the honky-tonks, whorehouses, and taverns of the early 20th century in the days before there was amplification. It was full of loud notes and easy refrains that could muscle their way through almost any competing sound. What was appropriate for that atmosphere is not exactly music designed for listening to while sitting around at home.

Wally Rose's Classical music training and performance experience allowed him to take the songs of people like Scott Joplin and elaborate their sparse frameworks to give them a life outside of being merely background noise. Whippin' The Keys is a great example of just how accomplished a musician Rose was, and how successful he was in adapting Ragtime music for a contemporary audience.