Features and Reviews
DTR at Old Town Music Hall, 3/15/2000
By Ron Ross
David was in fine form this particular evening, even by his own admission. He mentioned to me at intermission that he "really felt like playing" that evening.
The concert began with "Mio Sotes" (Forget-Me-Not) from 1896. Roberts mentioned this was his favorite from the works of Ernesto Nazareth (pronounced Naz-a-ray), the Brazilian composer who flourished in the same era as did ragtime and whose tangos bear "syncopatic" similarities to it. Next was a superb soulful rendition of Joplin's "Gladiolus Rag" from 1907, which David described as "dense, ambitious, romantic" and clearly, what he considers an example of Scott Joplin at his most creative. It may, too, have been David Thomas Roberts at HIS best; certainly in his interpretation of other composers.
Following was an example of folk ragtime by Brun Campbell "Chestnut Street in the 90's"; contrasted with Roberts' own "Waterloo Girls" (1980), which has a romantic, melodic folksy flavor of its own. Then came the dark romanticism and lyricism of his popular "Memories of a Missouri Confederate," which has also been recorded by Frank French and Morton Gunnar Larsen.
Introducing us to the genre of "Terra Verde," a coined phrase representing a combination of modern ragtime with Latin rhythms and other New World influences, DTR played his 1997-98 "Babe of the Mountains," a lullaby-like romantic reminiscence of the music of the eastern Kentucky region. He wound up the first half of the program with his own "Kreole" (1978-79), a rousing folk-style rag inspired by his birthplace in Mississippi.
In part two, Roberts revisited Nazareth with a "salon walk" called: "Coração Qui Sente" (The Heart That Knows). Then a Jelly Roll Morton stomp called "Stratford Hunch," and next, Morton's "The Crave," an alternately dark and tender, Latin-flavored "tinge."
We were then treated to Edgar Settle's marvelous 1903 essential folk rag entitled "X. L. Rag." We were reminded that Settle was finally acknowledged, in recent years, as the true composer of "The Missouri Waltz," although he had not officially copyrighted it and others had recorded it as their own.
We then heard a habanera-flavored section from Roberts' "New Orleans Suite" titled "Fountainbleau Drive," and "Shoo Fly," DTR's adaptation of an Appalachian folk tune. Now came the piece de resistance, "Roberto Clemente" (1979), probably DTR's best-loved and most-requested piece, which he played with great love and caring.
The program ended with one encore, "Kentucky," a partly-improvised version of a bluegrass mountain standard.
A small but thrilled and enthusiastic audience attended the brief program, and I for one, could have listened for another hour had we been so fortunate.
Click for review of David's 2014 art and music showcase in San Francisco.
