The New York Daily News - May 1992

of a few pianists in New York City who know it. There are several ragtime pianists around town, and thanks to "Jelly's Last Jam," a Broadway hit, interest in the music is growing, as it did in the mid-70's with "The Sting" and its Scott Joplin soundtrack.

"Musically, it's very demanding," says Birnbaum. "You've got to have a left hand like God." He first heard ragtime in the late '60's but he didn't know what it was. Then, in 1972, he met Eubie Blake, who had written "I'm Just Wild About Harry" and who at age 89 still played rag.

He knows "several hundred" rags, but his favorite is "Maple Leaf Rag," a Joplin classic. "I want it played at my funeral," Birnbaum says.