Saxjuss: I like it, but I suppose you should define "ragtime." Your reference to Scott Joplin leads me to believe you mean piano-rags.
Ragtime (the pre-jazz form as it is known today) is great music but has limited appeal, other than for background music. Still, it can be played by almost any instrument.
Keep in mind that as jazz was introduced to the world at the beginning of the 20th Century, it too was known as "ragtime" (before it was called "jass") and eventually took on the description "dixieland". Most purists prefer to call early jazz "traditional jazz" or TRAD.
So, if you are asking about Ragtime music (mostly piano, in the A-A-B-B-A-A-C format), it can be played by almost any assortment of instruments. Written charts may be desireable if your players are NOT familiar with the style. If you can find any recordings by SOPRANO SUMMIT, they do a fine job on instrumental versions of famous rags (mostly by Scott Joplin's).
In my view, the most popular Ragtime players use an acoustic piano, maybe with rhythm accompaniment (like a banjo, bass, drums). OR, full orchestration is also successful with this style of music (string sections, a variety of reeds, brass and percussion).
If you mean early jazz when you ask about "ragtime", it too can be played by almost any instrumentation. That kind of jazz is mostly played by ear. To me, written charts stifle the spontaneous nature of good dixieland music.
Yes, the bass String bass, bass sax, or tuba/sousaphone) plays mostly rhythm, accentuating chords and taking an occasional solo. The horns play in harmony and syncopation. As a saxophone player, you could certainly take the melody line and use a second or third reed in a harmony role. It would probably work better if you had some chording instrument in the ensemble as well as a solid bass and MAYBE drums, depending upon the drummer's understanding of early jazz styles.
I've played trad in many instrumental configurations - from just myself to trios (sop sax, banjo, tuba) to eight or nine-piece trad bands.
Can you make money with this music? Maybe, if you are really hot, but frankly, this is the kind of music I play and I'm glad I didn't give up my day-job. Most folks who hear my kind of music like it, but it doesn't draw all that well. DAVE