Stride! traces the stride piano style from its roots in minstrel shows and ragtime, through the contributions of itinerant entertainers, to its joyful birth in Harlem, where it became known as Harlem Piano. With its speakeasies, nightclubs, and rent parties, Harlem provided a setting in which hot-blooded stride could blossom. The development of stride spans a period from World War I to the depression years, and younger players maintain its traditions today.

It is a musical style marked by friendly rivalry and shared pleasures. Stride! provides a carefully documented, accurate, yet colorful account of that world and the players at the origin of stride piano.