Christensen, Axel (Waldemar)

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Christensen, Axel (Waldemar)

Christensen, Axel (Waldemar), American ragtime pianist, teacher, and composer; b. Chicago, March 23, 1881; d. Los Angeles, Aug. 17, 1955. He studied piano in his youth, and then pursued a career mainly as a ragtime pianist, becoming known as the “Czar of Ragtime” and later as the “King of Jazz Pianists” From 1903 he taught ragtime piano, eventually setting up schools all over the U.S. and even in Europe. He was the publ. and ed. of the periodical Christensen’s Ragtime and Popular Music Review (1914–18), the composer of piano rags, and the author of pedagogical works on rags, jazz, and swing music.

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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Christensen, Axel (Waldemar)

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