I first came across Winifred Atwell in a documentary. She was essentially light-entertainment / variety but had such an interesting history and played ragtime.

Atwell was born in Tunapuna in the British colony of Trinidad and Tobago. Before she became a full-time musician, she actually trained to degree level as a pharmacist because her family owned a local pharmacy and expected her to take it over. She played piano from a young age and performed for American servicemen at the local Air Force base, before traveling to the US and eventually making her way to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music.

She built her career from the ground up, playing rags in London clubs to support her studies. Her husband and manager, Lew Levisohn bought an old upright piano from a junk shop in Battersea for just 50 shillings. Atwell would start her shows on a grand piano, and then move over to that battered, honky-tonk upright she proudly called "my other piano".

It turned out to be a massive hit with the public. By the mid-1950s, she was an international star, selling over 20 million records. She made history as the first black artist to have a number-one hit in the UK singles chart, and the first piano instrumental to do it. Her hands were even insured by Lloyd's of London for £40,000 on the strict condition that she never washed dishes.

For the 1000 Songs archive, I've gone with "Britannia Rag."

Britannia Rag by Winifred Atwell

It’s straightforward ragtime, but it's top drawer ragtime.

That's ragtime.