Features and Reviews
Bob Milne at Old Town Music Hall
By Bill Mitchell
Versatile pianist Bob Milne made his second concert appearance at OTMH the evening of November 21, 1999. Milne, a resident of La Peer, Michigan, is a roving ambassador of ragtime who frequently appears at festivals, performing arts centers, universities, schools, libraries--just about anywhere there is a piano and an audience--from coast to coast. His ever-growing popularity is well deserved, as he puts on a good show, combining a variety of piano styles with interesting and amusing commentary on the material he is presenting.
He opened with "Dixie Queen," an early rag by Robert Hoffman. This number incorporates some "floating folk strains," little melodies commonly played but impossible to trace back to an original composer.
After giving us some background on Tom Turpin, one of the pioneer ragtimers from St. Louis, Milne played this composer's "St. Louis Rag." As is his wont, he did not adhere strictly to the printed score, but embellished the lines of the rag with some ideas of his own. (This seems to be the way of many early ragtime performers. They would render a Joplin rag, say, by ear, thus personalizing it.)
Milne told us about Blind Boone, the brilliant pianist who could hear a piece once and then sit down and play it note for note. In 1901 Boone made a piano roll of "When You and I Were Young, Maggie," playing it in several styles. Milne recreated that performance for us. He followed up with the way Boone might have interpreted a hymn, "In Gloryland," first straight and then in country rag style.
Another specialty of Bob Milne is boogie woogie. He gave a little history of the style, which can be traced back to the Southern logging camps of the 19th century and the crude bars (barrel houses) that provided entertainment for the loggers. He illustrated the style with a slow blues and a fast one, both with the characteristic repetitive bass figures of boogie.
James P. Johnson's syncopated waltz, "Eccentricity," offered a bit of contrast. While in the waltz mode, Milne performed the famous "Missouri Waltz" in a piano roll version.
Winding up his first set Milne played Euday Bowman's "12th Street Rag" and a 1917 popular song, "Do You Ever Think of Me?"
The second half of the evening began with a tender interpretation of Charles Hunter's "Queen of Love."
Milne commented on the mania for sentimental tear-jerkers during the 1890s and gave us a sample by playing and singing "Break the News to Mother" from 1897. Truly heart rending!
Back to boogie, Milne played something in the style of the great Jimmy Yancey, who always jumped suddenly into the key of E flat to conclude a piece.
During his long career Milne has been faced with a variety of pianos which he cautiously describes as PSOs ("piano-shaped objects"). He found a way to test PSOs by playing an original number called "Sunday Blues," which involved every key on the board. In this way he could discover which keys (if any) were disfunctional. (Naturally he discovered none such in the OTMH.)
One of the most original and popular boogies of all time is Meade "Lux" Lewis's "Honky Tonk Train Blues." Milne gave a powerful and creative interpretation of it.
To illustrate the impact of gospel music and hymns, he played "Just a Closer Walk with Thee," and "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder."
An interesting feature of the program was Milne's invitation to the audience to ask questions about his playing or his career. The questions elicited some amusing anecdotes about his gigs and colorful customers.
He concluded his regular program with "Le Overture du la Grande Rodent," which turned out to be a spectacular workout on the Mickey Mouse Club song, a la Beethoven and on through ragtime.
Encores consisted of duets with Bill Coffman (manning the Mighty Wurlitzer) on "The Easy Winners" and "Maple leaf Rag."
As a postscript to this review, I would like to recommend to you Milan's book, The Journeyman Piano Player (Adventures in Gracious Dining). It is a collection of true stories, many quite hilarious, recalled from his years as a professional pianist.
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