Broadway had never seen or heard anything like the African American musical Shuffle Along. Debuting in 1921, the show by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle depicted its black characters as well rounded and uncaricatured; the music was a fresh infusion of syncopation into the American musical. Israeli-born, New York-based Ehud Asherie devotes his latest album to interpreting Shuffle Along for solo piano. Asherie is considered a master of the sort of stride piano favored by Blake and is also a fine improviser with an ear for finding the twists and turns hidden in the melodies.
