Features and Reviews
15th West Coast Ragtime Festival
By Fred Hoeptner
The fifteenth annual West Coast Ragtime Festival, and the fifth to be held in Sacramento under the aegis of the West Coast Ragtime Society, opened Friday, November 16, for three days at the Red Lion Hotel in Sacramento. Festival attendance seemed about equal to last year; at least, there was no significant decrease, and advance badge purchases actually increased. As usual, the festival featured concurrent performances for listening in three rooms and continuous dancing in the hotel ballroom.
Performers included ragtime pianists Mimi Blais, Jeff Barnhart, Frank French, Brian Holland, Scott Kirby, Reginald Robinson, Jack Rummel and Trebor Tichenor, all favorite regulars on the festival circuit. Missourian Nora Hulse, a retired professor of music and specialist in rags by woman composers, made her initial West Coast appearance. Nick Taylor of Colorado, fast becoming a featured ragtimer, performed impressively. West Coasters included Nan Bostick, grandniece and biographer of Charles N. Daniels, early Tin Pan Alley composer; Tom Brier, enthusiastic purveyor of ragtime obscurities; Eric Marchese, composer and performer at the Rose Leaf Club; Al Mariano, veteran pizza parlor and nightclub pianist; Bill Mitchell, regular Rose Leaf performer; Alan Rea and Sylvia O'Neill playing four hands on one piano and specializing in Gottschalk; Robbie Rhodes, ragtime and jazz pianist with the former South Frisco Jazz Band who has performed often at the Old Town Music Hall; Virginia Tichenor, Trebor's daughter and fine ragtime pianist; and Galen Wilkes, local composer and organizer of the former Palm Leaf Ragtime Orchestra. Specialists in related styles included pianists Paul Asaro, stride specialist from Seattle; Alex Hassan, Virginian considered a leading authority on novelty piano in the Zez Confrey tradition; and Carl "Sonny" Leyland, late of the U.K. and specialist in barrelhouse and boogie woogie. Youthful ragtime pianists Neil Blaze, Marit Johnson and Sarah Roth also displayed their considerable talents. The superb ten-piece Pacific Coast Ragtime Orchestra with thrush Helen Burns, the sextet Porcupine Ragtime Ensemble, the quartet St. Louis Ragtimers featuring Trebor Tichenor, the trio Bo Grumpus, and the Fresno High School Band provided music for dancing and listening in the ballroom.
A number of innovations were introduced this year. Each day's schedule included two to three hours of "open piano" where anyone could sign up for one or more ten-minute segments. This attracted a fair contingent of performers and listeners including the ragtimer who doubtless traveled the farthest to attend, Christoph Schmetterer of Vienna, Austria, who played some of his own compositions. Saturday's schedule included a piano "master class" where hostess Nan Bostick had invited six intermediate level student pianists, including this writer, to have their performances critiqued by instructors Scott Kirby and Jeff Barnhart. This session attracted a large audience and both instructors made many constructive comments. Since the performance styles of the instructors differ drastically, I expected some disagreements, but this happened on only one issue. Two students swung their performances of "Eubie's Classical Rag" and "Magnetic Rag," respectively, each generating controversy. Kirby settled the first issue with the observation that the policy of Eubie Blake, the composer, was to play it "in between." Kirby decried the swinging of "Magnetic Rag," but Barnhart commented that he liked it. Kirby countered with the comment that one needs to be able to play it both ways. Bostick improved the ambiance of "after hours" this year by setting up tables with centerpieces and subdued lighting.
Nan Bostick had arranged a full program of seminars for Saturday. Galen Wilkes led off with a session on James Scott. Besides composing rags and songs, Scott arranged for Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra. Thanks to Mike Montgomery, Scott's papers survive in the Detroit Public Library. Jack Rummel surveyed ragtime guitar as performed both by folk performers of "country rags" such as Frank Hutchinson, Merle Travis and Doc Watson, and by urban performers such as David Laibman, Stefan Grossman and Steve Hancoff. Dave Van Ronk was the first to arrange a piano rag for guitar, "St. Louis Tickle" in 1963. Laibman, also a pioneer in adapting piano rags and an influential figure among guitarists, developed his own three-finger style of picking. Nora Hulse has identified 350 female ragtime composers starting with Sadie Kominsky, pianist and violinist who composed "Eli Green's Cakewalk" in 1896. She reviewed the lives of some of the more prominent and played excerpts from their works.
Jack Rummel hosted a ragtime composers' forum where a panel comprising Tom Brier, Frank French, Hal Isbitz, Scott Kirby, Eric Marchese, Reginald Robinson, Trebor Tichenor, and Galen Wilkes responded to questions from Jack and the audience. The composers provided insight on such subjects as sources of inspiration, sources of titles, selection of keys, predominance of the melodic line, scoring procedure, and use of computer assistance. Nan Bostick presented her seminar on the politically incorrect Indian song craze, which lasted from 1903 until 1921, illustrated by slides of the strikingly attractive covers.
The festival presented two featured shows. Friday night's "Pete Clute Salute" memorialized the late pianist and member of the former Turk Murphy band who had been scheduled to play at the festival with banjoist Carl Lunsford. Saturday night's featured show was the fortieth anniversary concert of the St. Louis Ragtimers with all four original members still going strong. Trebor Tichenor, piano; Al Stricker, banjo and vocal; Bill Mason, cornet; and Don Franz, tuba; played favorites such as "Sailing Down the Chesapeake Bay," "Tickled To Death," "The Easy Winners," "The Cascades," and Blind Boone's "Southern Rag Medley No. 2," after which an elaborate cake was presented to the group. Several duet sets generated audience enthusiasm. Jeff Barnhart and Brian Holland accompanied by Mike Schwimmer on his specially designed miniature washboard featured rapid-fire piano, ragtime songs, repartee and bad jokes. Frank French and Scott Kirby performed a variety of rags including "Atlanta Rag," "Frog Legs" and French's "Belle of Louisville."
Memorable moments abounded. Alex Hassan charmed the audience with his elaborate arrangements of a medley of Harry Warren's Broadway show tunes and with Billy Mayerl and Robin Frost compositions played in the novelty rag style. Reginald Robinson dedicated his composition "Sweet Envy" to the Rose Leaf Club's late founder P.J. Schmidt, commenting that it was P.J.'s favorite. Tom Brier performed his sets of obscure rags from the past and newly composed contemporary rags. Examples of the first group included "Queen Raglin" by A.E. Heinrich (1902), "Dicty-Doo" by Carey Morgan (1914), "Black Canary" by H.A. Tierney (1911), and "Jolly Jingles" by W.C. Powell. Examples of the latter group included his own "Brier Patch Rag," Ron O'Dell's weird but appealing "Mad Scientist Rag," "Man Out of Time" by Reginald Robinson, Galen Wilkes' "Cakewalking Through Kansas" and my "Dalliance." Brier and Reginald Robinson duetted on Blind Boone's "Ragtime Jubilee."
Carl Leyland followed his incredible arrangement of "Little Rock Getaway" with a tribute to his audience: "I wish it could be like this every day. The level of appreciation is tremendous." In a poignant moment reflecting on September 11 Mimi Blais remarked, "To my ragtime family, I feel your love and want to say 'thank you'".
Kudos are due to the board of the West Coast Ragtime Society and all the festival volunteers for another exciting ragtime experience. See you in 2002!
More West Coast Ragtime Festival Reviews:
1999 Festival
2000 Festival
2002 Festival
2003 Festival
2004 Festival
