A new musical rhythm was given to the people : rhythm and representation in black Manhattan -- Do all we could to get what we felt belonged to us by the laws of nature : selling real Negro melodies and marketing authentic black rhythms -- Appreciate the noble and the beautiful within us : ragging uplift with rhythmic transgressions -- The piano man was it! The man in charge : black nightclubs and ragtime identities in New York's Tenderloin -- To promote greater efficiency among its members : ragtime in Times Square and the Clef Club Inc -- Rhythm is something that is born in the Negro : black musical value and the consolidation of "Negro music" -- A new type of Negro musician : social dance and black musical value in prewar America.