Ragtime is a uniquely American musical form and a precursor of jazz.
It flourished around the turn of the century, and many of its leading practitioners had connections to Missouri. James Scott, who was born in Neosho, Missouri and died in Kansas City, Kansas, was one of the biggest names in ragtime, second only to the great pianist and composer Scott Joplin. As a boy, he took piano lessons from a local teacher in Neosho and was an accomplished pianist by the time his family moved to Ottawa, Kansas, around 1899. The family moved to Carthage, Missouri, in 1901, where James got a job at the Dumars Music Company. In 1906, he traveled to St. Louis where he studied with Scott Joplin.