Features and Reviews
Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival 2004
By Fred Hoeptner
Wednesday evening, June 2, arrived pleasantly warm to greet the several hundred early arrivals for the festival filling Maple Leaf Park in Sedalia. Downtown Sedalia, extending along Ohio Ave. just south of the park area and designated a national historic district, retains much of its 19th century ambiance, thereby enhancing the emotional appeal of the music. Sue Keller, John Petley and friends entertained the crowd with a varied program of ragtime.
The Thursday morning opening parade attracted several hundred participants in elegant period attire for the first annual vintage costume competition. Spectators lined Ohio Avenue as Sedalia Mayor Bob Wasson, Mrs. Wasson, and Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation President Jo Anne Neher in a surrey led the participants in the five-block march from the Liberty Center auditorium to Maple Leaf Park. Interspersed were high-wheeled bicycles, flivvers carrying other local officials, and a Dixieland trio on a flatbed truck. Bringing up the rear, Bob Ault played cakewalks on the accordion. At the park, host Bob Long of the foundation surveyed the audience for their points of origin and found the most distant to be Germany. He then introduced a local attorney who recounted Scott Joplin's life in Sedalia and his importance in musical history. Welcoming words from the mayor followed, with special thanks to Don Rice, Director of the Missouri Arts Council, which supplied critical funding for this, the 24th, and the 21st consecutive, festival. The judges introduced the winners of the costume competition, Missourians all, and Sue Keller officially began musical festivities with this year's theme rag from 1904, "The Cascades." The four free venues scattered about the downtown area opened, featuring continuous ragtime. In addition to Maple Leaf Park, they were the Stark Pavilion, a large, open-sided tent with seating for hundreds on Fifth Street next to the courthouse; the intimate Gazebo Park in an alleyway several blocks north; and the Tea Dance Tent on a parking lot near the gazebo featuring dancing and dance instruction.
Host Jack Rummel opened the "Kickoff Concert" at 11 a.m. in Liberty Center auditorium, presenting "The Music of 1904," with Joe Jordan's "Pekin Rag," named for a theater in Chicago where his orchestra performed, and James Scott's "On the Pike," commemorating the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. The concert featured two obscure unsyncopated Joseph Lamb compositions, "My Queen of Zanzibar," with a tango trio, played by Sue Keller and Neil Blaze, and "Lorn Scots on Parade," a march that even his daughter didn't know about, played by Keller with Mike Schwimmer on his custom-made midget washboard. Both are to be included in a folio of 17 previously unpublished Lamb compositions. Other highlights were whistler Mary Francis Herndon, accompanied by guitarist John De Chiaro, doing her specialty, "Listen to the Mockingbird," and Nora Hulse performing four rags by obscure woman composers, including Ida Bierman's "Pike Hikers" (another tribute to the St. Louis World's Fair) and "Carolina Chimes" by Rose DeHaven, aunt of movie actress Gloria. Following the performances, the Joplin Foundation presented the annual Scott Joplin Achievement Award to Nora for her accomplishments in furthering ragtime by women composers.
Following a quick lunch in the basement of the United Methodist Church, where sandwiches, soup, salads, and homemade ice cream are served to festival goers, I hurried to the gazebo to catch Harrison Wade, high school junior and keyboard prodigy, who played "St. Louis Blues" (his original arrangement), "Dizzy Fingers," and "Lion Tamer Rag" with professional aplomb. Guitarist John De Chiaro, reporting that he had been this year's "artist in residence" at Sedalia schools and that the kids had enthusiastically received him and ragtime, followed with three Joplin rags. It was then time to stroll back to Liberty Center for the 2:00 p.m. "Cradle of Ragtime" concert that featured ragtime in the rollicking Missouri style.
Host John Petley introduced pianist, family farmer, and orchardist Marty Mincer, who kicked off the concert with Mark Janza's (pseudonym for publisher A.F. Marzian) "Aviation Rag," commemorating the first trans-continental airplane flight, and "A Bag of Rags," used as a silent picture theme for the Keystone Cops. Tex Wyndham performed a rare song arranged by Scott Joplin, a few copies of which had been found in an abandoned store, "Goodbye Old Gal, Goodbye," followed by several obscure Percy Wenrich songs. Petley then launched into Arthur Marshall's "Kinklets" from 1906 followed by Detroiter Tom Shea's "Rosebud Rag" from 1964. Mimi Blais joined Petley on the right end of the piano bench for "Mixed Pickles," their arrangement of Charles Johnson's "Dill Pickles" played simultaneously with other Johnson rags that use compatible harmony. Mimi took over for Turpin's "Harlem Rag," from 1897, and Bowman's "Eleventh Street Rag," from 1918. An uncle and nephew duo from Montreal, dubbed "Two Pianos Alive," stomped out Krell's 1897 "Mississippi Rag" and a medley based on "Twelfth Street Rag" in a jazz-influenced style. Jeff and Anne Barnhart, piano and flute, transfixed the audience with their sensitive renditions of Joplin's "A Real Slow Drag" and Lamb's "American Beauty." Jeff and Brian Holland in duet capped the concert with several spirited rags including Turpin's "St. Louis Rag."
Early Thursday evening I attended the Scott Joplin Foundation donors' party at the State Fair Community College. Wandering waiters served an assortment of hors d'oeuvres that one had to stab with toothpicks and place on tiny plates to consume. Although it took a bit of perseverance to garner enough to serve as an evening meal, seemingly all managed to do so. During the festivities Anne and Jeff Barnhart, flute and piano, beautifully performed my composition "Aura of Indigo," which is now available on their latest CD, Romances in Ragtime.
A short drive to the nearby fairgrounds followed for "The Ragtime Dance." The superb nine-piece Sunflower Ragtime Orchestra, based in Olathe, KS and led by conductor, violinist, and reed player Steven Smith, performed quality arrangements of rags and other period pieces. Jim Borzym and Lee Machado led the dancers through their paces while others listened and socialized.
The symposium series commenced Friday morning in the sanctuary of the United Methodist Church with Dr. Terry Parrish's "Photographic Ragtime Hall of Fame," slides of famous ragtime performers and composers that he had digitally copied from various sources. Jan Green, a docent at the St. Louis History Museum, followed with "1904 St. Louis World's Fair," which had attracted 20,000,000 visitors over the period April 30 to December 1. She placed the fair in perspective with some of the realities of the time: Victorian mores still prevailed; only 8% of people had telephones or bathtubs; 6% had graduated from high school; the speed limit in cities was 10 mph; an average wage was 22 cents per hour compared to the fair admission of 50 cents. She showed slides and described in great detail many of the features of the fair and the adjoining Pike (an area requiring a separate admission and devoted to more frivolous amusements), including the cascade from Festival Hill, the sculptures and structures made of staff (a material with a plaster of Paris base used for exterior covering of temporary structures), and the giant Ferris wheel. However, she mentioned ragtime only to note that there was none on the fairgrounds proper and that it was relegated to some restaurants on the Pike. Nora Hulse, assisted by her husband on banjo, followed with a session continuing her championing of women ragtime composers, 350 of whom she has identified so far, this time focusing on rags from foreign countries.
Friday afternoon's concert, "The Legacy of Scott Joplin," presented Joplin in a variety of performance styles. Trinidadian Donald Ryan, now of Tulsa, a classically trained professional musician and teacher with many awards to his credit, stood out with compelling renditions of "The Cascades," "Bethena," and "Original Rags" that exuded ragtime spirit and yet remained faithful to the original scores. Conversely, Two Pianos Alive presented heavily arranged jazz oriented versions of "The Entertainer" and "Maple Leaf Rag." Guitarist Giovanni De Chiaro contributed a beautiful "Heliotrope Bouquet" and accompanied prize-winning whistler Mary Francis Herndon on "Maple Leaf Rag." Dan Grinstead and Glenn Jenks on two pianos performed "March Majestic" in Sousa style, a spirited "Ragtime Dance," and several others.
That evening I drove to the fairgrounds for the Ragtime Catfish Fry, a popular social event. I then proceeded to Joplin Hall, a converted section of the main exhibit hall, for "The Easy Winners" concert. Host Sue Keller accompanied by Mike Schwimmer on his custom midget washboard kicked off the concert, with "Ragtime Special," an unpublished Lamb composition that he had dedicated to Scott Joplin (to be included in a forthcoming folio), followed by Bob Darch's "Bittersweet Rag" ("showing the other side of his persona"), and David Thomas Roberts' "Kreole." Invited by Mike to "sing one," Sue belted out a brassy "Hard-Hearted Hannah." The ambiance shifted with the duo Royal Guitars of Denmark, who began with two tunes by Danish composer J. Bodewalt Lampe: "Creole Belles" and "Dixie Girl." They finished with their newest composition, written over the last two days at a hotel in Kansas City while awaiting transportation. Pianist Brian Holland blazed with four tunes including Joplin's "Ragtime Dance" and Nat Ayres' 1911 "King Chanticleer," played in four different keys. Glenn Jenks did a set including George Cobb's "Irish Confetti" and Paul Pratt's "Colonial Glide." Alex Hassan, specialist in novelty piano, played a medley of Harry Warren pop tunes from the '20s and '30s, Zez Confrey's elaborate "Sport Model Encore" from the late 1930s, and the "Maple Leaf Hora," his minor key take-off on Joplin's classic. The Elite Syncopators, led by Dr. Terry Parrish on piano, with Steve Ley, tuba, Jim Marshall, banjo, and Mike Schwimmer on washboard, capped the concert with five sparklers: "The Cannonball" by Northup; "Love Whispers," an obscure syncopated waltz by Joseph Cohn; "Stung—A Teddy Bear Two-Step" (an exotic, pseudo-Indian piece by Theron Bennett); "Barber Shop Rag," by Brun Campbell, whom they cited as their favorite composer; and "Joe Lamb's Old Rag," also known as "Dynamite Rag," from 1907.
Saturday morning the symposia continued with Jack Rummel's "Classic Ragtime on Guitar—A History." Jack's topic was more inclusive than merely classic ragtime, generally understood as the compositions of Joplin, Scott, Lamb, and perhaps a few others. He began with the country rag genre, which started in the 1920s and '30s with recorded performances by both black and white guitarists, for example: Mississippi John Hurt; Rev. Gary Davis, who recorded a version of Maple Leaf in the 1960s that Joplin wouldn't have recognized; country slide guitarist Frank Hutchinson; electric guitarist Merle Travis; and still active today, Doc Watson. Although not rags in the formal sense, these were all syncopated pieces with two or three strains. Dave Van Ronk was the harbinger of the east coast urbanites who began to transcribe rags for guitar in the 1950s with "St. Louis Tickle." Other major figures were David Labman (currently an economics professor whom Rummel located after an extensive search), Stephan Grossman, and Craig Ventresco, the only currently active performer. Today several guitarists with classical backgrounds are performing ragtime, most notably Giovanni De Chiaro.
Pianist Alex Hassan, specialist in the novelty piano genre, presented "Syncopation around the World." He said that although novelty piano contained elements of ragtime, it shouldn't be considered as such. The pianists were classically trained and infused their compositions with "classical licks." He recounted his research in the Library of Congress, where he had reviewed thousands of scores. He played examples from European countries, Britain, and Australia. Photographic hobbyist Rich Berry concluded the symposia with "Memories of You: 15 Years of Scott Joplin Festival Photographs."
The Ragtime Revelations concert has traditionally featured contemporary ragtime compositions, but this year its focus changed to spotlight young performers, three of them teenagers, that host Sue Keller had finally succeeded in getting to the festival. Sixteen-year-old Brian Hawkins of Harrisonville, MO led off with one of his own compositions and a spirited arrangement of "Waiting For the Robert E. Lee." Then one of the stage crew came to the fore, doffed his working clothes to reveal a vest, white shirt, and tie, and announced, "I've always wanted to perform--now's my chance." Seating himself at the piano, young classically trained pianist Brett Youens played several of his own compositions. Youens, currently living in Germany, where he is teaching, conducting, and composing, will be premiering two of his compositions at this year's Lake Superior Ragtime Festival. Next, a group billed as the "Ragtime Nightmares," Alex Hassan and Dan Grinstead with Glenn Jenks vocalizing, varied the context with "Ittle Pipsie Oo" and "Happy Feet." Teenager Harrison Wade, 2001 junior champion at the World Champion Old-Time Piano Playing Contest in Peoria, played "Dusty," "Bethena," "Pine Apple," and "Lion Tamer." Jeff and Anne Barnhart, piano and flute, temporarily returned the concert to its former function as purveyor of new ragtime with the beautiful "Anistanza," a syncopated tango composed by Hal Isbitz on a commission; "Annie's Ragtime Flute" by Dave Jasen; and "Mimi Ma Biche" by Mimi Blais. Adam Yarian, 18-year-old high school student and winner of this year's Old-Time Piano Playing Contest, followed with a very fast "Elite Syncopations" and his arrangements of "Chevy Chase," "Royal Garden Blues" (a real showpiece), and "The Cascades." The entire cast then appeared for a "musical chairs" rendition of "Maple Leaf Rag."
Joplin Hall at the fairgrounds was the site of Saturday evening's 7:00 p.m. feature concert, "The Entertainer," hosted by Mimi Blais, who opened with "Buffalo Rag" by Turpin. Dan Grinstead appeared for a set of five selections including his own unique "7/4 Rag" with seven beats to the measure and Elma McClure's melodic "The Cutter." Jeff and Anne Barnhart did "Blue Goose Rag" (Charles Johnson as Raymond Birch), "Aspens By the River" (an appealing, plaintive, Barnhart original), "Ain't Misbehavin'" with accompanying comedy skit, and "Ophelia Rag" (James Scott). Carl Sonny Leyland accompanied by Marty Eggers, bass, and John Gill, drums, stomped out a swing version of Joplin's "Original Rags," Handy's "Yellow Dog Blues" with vocal by Sonny, and Handy's "Ole Miss Rag," and closed with a boogie commenting, "I hope you're not offended" (certainly no one was), leading into the intermission. The Sedalia Chorale, many voices strong, harmoniously sang five songs from the ragtime era. Mimi Blais and John Petley, individually and as a duo on a single piano, then joined forces for six tunes, including Blake's "Baltimore Todalo" (Mimi), Hampton's "Agitation Rag" (John), Morath's "One For Norma" (John), and one of their showpieces, which they called "The Well-Tempted Clavier" (actually Lodge's "Temptation Rag" interspersed with excerpts from Bach). Unfortunately Mimi and John's extended high jinks caused abbreviation of the planned program by Canada's John Arpin, one of the most respected performers on the music scene today and known as "the Chopin of ragtime." Arpin opened with Joplin's "Peacherine,' from 1901, arranged with romantic alternative chords. He followed with a vocal, "When Ragtime Rosie Ragged the Rosary," and a Eubie Blake medley, including "Memories of You" and "I'm Just Wild About Harry," to a standing ovation. He dedicated his encore, Lamb's "Bohemia Rag," arranged to begin slowly and romantically, to Lamb's daughter, Pat Conn, who was in audience. Following the concert was the annual rush across Sedalia to Liberty Center for the 10:00 p.m. festival capper, the "Ragtime Music Hall."
Host Jeff Barnhart stepped onstage in a flashy multi-colored vest, sat down at the piano, and proceeded to sing Andrew Sterling and Harry von Tilzer's 1920 tale of domestic strife, "He Went In Like a Lion and Came Out Like a Lamb." Tex Wyndham played and sang "Row, Row, Row" from 1912 and "He's In the Jailhouse Now" from 1916. Brian Holland, accompanied by Mike Schwimmer on washboard, followed with a Fats Waller medley. Jeff returned to duet with Brian on "Sweet Georgia Brown," arranged with a series of chromatic key changes. Rich Berry and Sue Keller enacted a parody on minimalism in classical music: they entered, sat at pianos, compared watches, looked at each other for a while, and traded benches; finally Sue played a chord, they bowed, and left the stage, remarking "minimalist ragtime." Sue and Mike did "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans," Mimi Blais her composition, "Snow on Kamouraska" (a picturesque village in Quebec), and John Petley Tom Shea's "Little Wabash Special." An outstanding six-piece band, The TurpinTyme Ragsters, finished the concert with elegant arrangements of "Maple Leaf," Lamb's "Rapid Transit Slow Drag," "St. Louis Tickle," and "Pineapple Rag," the latter accompanied by furious activity as a table, a pineapple, a knife, and plates were brought out. Mimi sliced the pineapple, and Jeff served the first row of the audience. There was definite audience sentiment that the program was too short and should have been lengthened with additional pieces by the TurpinTyme group.
This year attendance at the paid events increased significantly, and state grant funding was not reduced to the extent that had been feared, thus presaging continuance of the festival. Make your reservations early to participate next year in the greatest ragtime show on earth.
More Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival Reviews:
2006 Festival
2003 Festival
2002 Festival
2001 Festival
2000 Festival
