Landmark 10th anniversary
celebrated with cake – and with musical style – at Steamers
Orange County Ragtime Society’s 10th
anniversary – technically, November 10, 2011 – was celebrated
on our customary third Saturday afternoon of the month at Steamers
Jazz Club on November 19, 2011. Eight performers entertained a small
but enthusiastic crowd with nearly three-dozen selections. The highlight,
though, was the serving of a large sheet cake adorned with the club’s
“piano player” logo and the message “Happy 10th
Anniversary, Orange County Ragtime Society.” The occasion marked
the club’s 61st performance, the majority of which have been
held at the venerated Steamers. In the afternoon’s total of
35 selections, Joseph Lamb seemed to be the favorite composer of the
day, with five selections in all, and many more pieces from 1911 were
also in evidence (with 10 in all).
Having been delving into the trove of 1911 compositions all year,
MC and club founder Eric Marchese offered yet two more by composer
Harry Austin Tierney: “The Fanatic” and “Crimson
Rambler.” Eric noted that between February and August of 1911,
an astonishing 10 Tierney rags were published – eight by Ted
Snyder, two more by Jos. Stern. With these two, Eric had played a
total of six at this year’s OCRSs, while promising to deliver
“American Beauty Dance” (which he just recently received
from Tom Brier) at next weekend’s Rose Leaf musicale. (For the
record, Eric said he had not played “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”
because it’s pretty widely heard, “Dingle Pop Hop”
because he hadn’t finished memorizing it, and “Checkerboard
Rag” because it was not up to Tierney’s usual quality.)
“Fanatic,” the first of the 1911 Tierneys to be issued,
has a fantastic cover – a caricature of a disheveled, bespectacled
lunatic waving a fist with one hand and an umbrella with the other
– and the music offers cascades of diminished chords (A theme),
a typical straightforward Tierney B theme, and a pretty, marchlike
trio with a typical Tierney interlude between both iterations of the
C theme. “Rambler” also typifies Tierney, with a wonderful
key change at the trio from the tonic key to that of the flatted sixth
– in this case, from C major to A-flat major, an ear-catching
change heard years earlier in James Scott’s “The Fascinator”
and Joplin’s “A Breeze From Alabama” (between theme
B, which is the rag’s main section, and theme C, which takes
the listener through several telescoped flatted sixths). For the last
half of the rag, Eric played C-interlude-C-interlude-C, moving up
an octave with each repeat of C.
Pianist-composer Ron Ross opened his set with “Orange County
Rag,” a gentle, minor-tinged rag he wrote a few years back to
commemorate the OCRS. Next was his beautiful ragtime waltz “Cloudy,”
with its delicate use of the minor tonality and classical waltz-style
trio in which much of the melody is played on the lower half of the
piano. Ron then asked Phil Cannon to join him for a piano-guitar arrangement
of Ron’s “Joplinesque – A Gringo Tango” –
again, with distinctive use of minor harmonies, the signature tango
rhythm being either stated or implied throughout.
Phil then stayed to offer a wonderful rendition of Theron Bennett’s
“St. Louis Tickle” that he said was inspired by ’60s
folk guitarist Dave Van Ronk’s performance of the 1904 rag (credited
to “Barney & Seymore”). Phil’s performance really
kicks, even on the intricate trio – nor is he thrown by the
piece’s unusual structure (INTRO AA BB CC DD INTRO-2 B D). Phil
closed his set with the late (1922) James Scott rag, and one that
even most ragtime pianists don’t play: “Broadway Rag.”
Whether on piano or other instruments, it’s a great and underplayed
classic rag.
Ryan Wishner opened his set with George Gershwin’s only piano
rag, “Rialto Ripples,” co-written with Will Donaldson
and issued by Remick in June, 1917 when Gershwin was just 18 years
old. This fine piece has a widely copied, minor key-focused A theme
and a trio that looks ahead to both novelty piano and jazz, and Ryan
offered a crisp rendering. For the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday,
Ryan performed the 1899 version of the lively popular tune “Turkey
in the Straw” exactly as notated by Otto Bonell, who had reworked
the 1860s version, itself reworked from the 1830s original (a terribly
racist pre-minstrel song known as “Zip Coon”). As OCRS
has no performance in December, Ryan also offered a Christmas-oriented
selection: “One Horse Open Sleigh,” composed by James
L. Pierpont at a tavern in Medford, Mass., in 1850 and copyrighted
in September, 1857. Ryan noted that Pierpont, uncle of J. Pierpont
Morgan, almost exclusively wrote pro-Confederate, anti-Yankee music,
this piece being about the only exception. Ryan also made it a point
to note that it wasn’t until 1902 that the piece was reworked,
when it was re-titled as “Jingle Bells,” and that with
both this piece and “Turkey,” he is often accused by listeners
of “playing it wrong” when in fact he is playing both
pieces exactly as written – while it’s everyone else who
plays them incorrectly.
Shirley Case offered a beautiful set of three Joseph F. Lamb rags,
beginning with “Cottontail Rag,” one of Lamb’s many
immortal “heavy/hard to play” piano rags. Not only is
“Cottontail” the original title of the 1916 classic “Top
Liner”; the piece that later came to be called “Cottontail”
is quite similar to the earlier “Top Liner” (both rousing
closing sections are nearly alike). As with a stack of Lamb’s
fine ragtime pieces, this one remained unpublished for decades until
it was finally completed, then issued in the folio titled “Ragtime
Treasures” in 1964. Next up: Lamb’s immortal “American
Beauty Rag” from 1913, one of the original dozen Lamb rags issued
by Stark between 1908 and 1919. The rag’s trio and D theme are
monumental, as is Shirley’s playing of them. Her renditions
of both “Cottontail” and “American Beauty”
make both of these challenging rags even more so with her addition
of ascending and descending strings of 32nd notes, usually on the
repeats of themes. She closed her set with one of Lamb’s birdcall
rags, “Ragtime Bobolink,” an advanced piece that like
“Cottontail” remained unpublished until its appearance
in “Ragtime Treasures.” Its A and B themes are especially
intricate, while the delicate C theme features contrary motion in
the bass and the melody of D bears a strong resemblance to “The
Old Piano Roll Blues.”
Andrew Barrett delivered three “pretty obscure” pieces
from 1911: two rags and one reverie. He opened with J. Fred O’Connor’s
“That Pleasing Rag,” issued by Harold Rossiter of Chicago
on November 29, 1911. Andrew noted that especially in the early teens,
rag titles of “That [adjective] Rag” proliferated –
probably because they provided the composer (or publisher) “an
easy out for titling.” As an aside, Andrew said that lack of
documentation (manuscripts, interviews etc.) meant that we can never
know whether the particular notes of any piece of vintage ragtime
music is deliberate or an error introduced along the way in the process
of getting a piece to publication. “That Pleasing Rag”
lives up to its title and is indeed a gentle, pretty and satisfying
piano piece. Andrew then performed the first reverie ever played at
an OCRS: William Polla’s “The Angel of Love,” written
under Polla’s pen-name W.C. Powell. In waltz tempo, this delicate
salon piece can be classified as light classical music and is a type
and style of music that was certainly in vogue during the ragtime
era. Last up was “Red Onion Rag” – but not the “Red
Onion” by Abe Olman. This one was co-written by Lloyd Kidwell
and Roy Steventon and issued by the Cincinnati publisher Associated
Music on November 11, 1911 (like one of our recent Friday dates, 11/11/11!).
Andrew said he sympathized with the composers, who first brought out
this wonderful rag as “Powder Rag” in 1906, only to have
it overshadowed by Charles L. Johnson’s far more popular “Powder
Rag” of 1908. After a few years had gone by, the duo renamed
the piece “Red Onion” and sold it to Associated –
only to see it eclipsed by Olman’s more popular “Red Onion,”
issued in New York in early 1912. This “Red Onion,” though,
is every bit as good, with a spirited A theme, wonderfully crafted
second subject and a trio with echoes of waltz tempo phrasing in its
bass.
Gary Rametta offered the fourth Lamb rag of the afternoon in the rarely
heard 1915 gem “Contentment Rag.” Gary related the piece’s
background and how Lamb originally wrote the piece in 1909 for the
Starks’ wedding anniversary because he saw how “contented”
they were with one another. He and John Stark envisioned the rag’s
cover as a depiction of a contented old couple at home by the fireplace.
The piece was pre-empted from publication, though, by illness which
caused Mrs. Stark’s death in 1910. When “Contentment”
was finally issued, its cover now depicted an old man sitting alone
by the fireplace – sadly and ironically, now anything but “contented.”
Gary noted how “lovely” is the rag’s A theme; how
its second theme “hauntingly revisits” that of “Maple
Leaf Rag”; how its third theme is only played once as it’s
really more of an interlude; and how its closing theme is “more
traditional ragtime.” Indeed, as Gary played it, A is delicate,
B’s measures 5-8 strongly resemble B/1-4 of “Maple Leaf,”
C has exquisite harmonies and is grand and dignified, and D offers
a typically socko Lamb finale: a riff pattern built on a circle of
fifths. As a connection to Lamb and our era, Gary offered “One
for Amelia,” written by ragtime master Max Morath in 1964 as
a gift to Lamb’s widow Amelia. A lovely classic rag, it’s
a gentle, haunting piece with truly stirring harmonies, with its stormy
C theme leading back to two more choruses of the wistful B theme.
Gary closed his fine set with a second outstanding rag from the mid-1960s:
Trebor Jay Tichenor’s “The Show-Me Rag – A Missouri
Defiance,” a hard-charging folk stomper of several lively themes
that not only echo the sounds of mid- and late-20th-century bluegrass
and country-western music, but also harks back to the great folk ragtime
of Charles Hunter, the seminal Tennessee ragtime composer whose eight
published rags (written between 1899 and 1905) are a cornerstone of
the genre.
Bill Mitchell related that whenever he hears anything of Joe Lamb’s,
he’s reminded of hearing his first Lamb rag – a recording
of “Ragtime Nightingale” by Johnny Wittwer who, for a
time, played intermission piano for Kid Ory’s gigs. Bill said
that recording “captivated” him, setting him on his way
as an interpreter of Lamb. Bill also related the hilarious anecdote
of seeing a Lamb rag referred to on a recording as “Canned Meat.”
Knowing that Lamb’s titles do not include any “food”
names, and that the composer wouldn’t label anything with so
crass a title, he gave the piece a listen – realizing that the
cut was actually “Contentment” and that the audio engineer
(or the recording’s producer) had misheard and misunderstood
Lamb when asked for the title. Bill then offered the wonderful 1908
Jean Schwartz rag “Whitewash Man.” Previously unplayed
at OCRS, its opening themes are toe-tappers and its C theme a great
popular-rag style trio. Next up was one of Jelly Roll Morton’s
best, “The Pearls.” It’s also one of Bill’s
all-time best solos, with his typically crisp, swingy feel and distinctive
use of tremolo in the treble. Bill closed his set with the day’s
fifth Lamb: “Bohemia,” the last (from 1919) of the original
12 Stark-Lamb rags. Once again, Bill’s embellishments and improvisatory
feel greatly enhance his performance.
As all eight musicians had delivered their first sets, a break was
held to raffle off several ragtime items – including LP recordings
by Bill Mitchell and Joshua Rifkin, a Bill Mitchell audiotape of his
“Ragtime Recycled” album, and a RagFest tee-shirt –
as well as several holiday items (including coffee mugs, plates, ornaments,
and original-design Christmas cards). More importantly, it was time
to cut and serve the OCRS Anniversary cake, which everyone lined up
for. While mingling and enjoying our cake, we were serenaded by Andrew
on piano and Phil on guitar, first playing The Birthday Song as a
singalong, then launching into a creative, impromptu performance of
the piece featuring much enjoyable ragging and syncopation.
Eric opened the second half with yet three more rags from 1911, noting
that, having played George Botsford’s “Hyacinth Rag”
and “Royal Flush” from 1911 at the last OCRS, he was going
to play the composer’s “Honeysuckle” from the same
year. First, though, he wanted to offer pieces by two Indianapolis
ragtimers, written and published when both were quite young. First
was J. Russel Robinson’s “Whirl Wind,” published
by Stark in late 1911 when the composer was just 19. Eric said that
despite its title, the piece is really more like a classic rag –
hence, Stark’s buying and publishing of it. Indeed, its opening
themes have a classic-rag sound and feel to them – but its last
half more strongly resembles the C and D themes of Robinson’s
“Dynamite Rag” of the previous year. Eric followed with
Indianapolis composer May Aufderheide’s “Novelty Rag,”
noting that it was the last of her seven published rags and a fine
yet curiously unperformed rag that meshes elements of the folk and
classic ragtime genres into a solid, popular-rag-format piece. Curiously,
Eric said, “Novelty Rag” is not novelty piano at all –
nor is “Whirl Wind,” which was subtitled “A Novelty
Rag,” indicating that the term “novelty rag” was
in vogue in midwestern pop music around 1911 (what with these two
references by two different Indianapolis composers), that it meant
to impart that there was something unique or unusual about the piece
in question, and that it had no connection with the Novelty Rags pioneered
by Zez Confrey, Roy Bargy and Charley Straight several years later
– neither in method and technique nor in style. Eric closed
his all-1911 set with “Honeysuckle Rag,” stating that
Botsford rarely wrote a ragtime theme that didn’t use the “three-over-four”
device and that this was no exception – except that in the A
theme, Botsford combined it with the minor tonality, creating an exciting
and ear-catching effect. Indeed, the rag is a real rouser, with a
wonderful trio and an especially catchy B theme that’s used
to close the rag.
Ryan encored with E.T. Paull’s arrangement of the Edwin Ellis
march “Napoleon’s Last Charge,” demonstrating terrific
technique on this exciting piece from 1910. Its ringing, triumphant
finale is followed by repeats of the first two themes, and Ryan’s
piano roll-style embellishments greatly enhance his performance.
Shirley offered Irene Giblin’s wonderfully bubbly “Chicken
Chowder,” renaming it “Turkey Chowder” in honor
of Thanksgiving. Her arrangement of the 1905 rag is among her best,
featuring treble arpeggios and all types of creative embellishments.
Ron gave us two encores: “Small-Town Private Eye” from
one of his independent films from the late 1980s, and the much more
recent (2004) “Gettin’ Over You,” in which he comically
sings that a romantic breakup causes a lot more suffering than having
the flu.
Phil and Bill teamed up on Percy Wenrich’s rousing rag “The
Smiler,” often considered the composer’s best instrumental
rag. Bill then stayed at the piano for a swingy version of Scott Joplin
and Scott Hayden’s early masterpiece “Something Doing,”
a truly sweet-tempered classic rag.
Expressing his gratitude at having been a part of the ragtime community
for more than 25 years and how supportive and giving its members are,
Eric played and sang what he said is the only vocal number he performs:
Jefferson and Roberts’ “I’m Certainly Living a Ragtime
Life,” noting that the piece’s lyrics are just as fresh
today as 111 years ago, and that they perfectly describe his own life
and involvement with ragtime music stretching back more than 35 years.
Gary encored with “The Legend of Lonesome Lake,” part
of composer Eastwood Lane’s “Adirondack Sketches”
suite (1922). A mixture of modern jazz and classical music, its reflective,
wistful spirit is wonderfully expressed by Gary’s performance.
Andrew closed this enjoyable and celebratory afternoon with yet another
“That... Rag”: Buel Risinger’s “That Tuneful
Rag,” issued in 1911 by Sunlight Music Company, Chicago. (Harry
L. Newman was manager of Chicago’s Grand Opera House, operating
it and Sunlight, his own music publishing company, concurrently from
his office with the opera company. In 1909, he wrote “The Saratoga
Glide” especially for the city’s Saratoga Hotel and published
it under the Sunlight imprint.) The highlights of “That Tuneful
Rag” are its bubbly A theme and its quiet, march-like trio –
and indeed, Andrew exclaimed (right after playing it) “I just
love those old vaudeville numbers!” He then announced that he
would play a waltz – and offered no other hints, wanting to
see if the audience could ascertain the piece’s title, year
of composition or composer after hearing it played. The piece’s
opening theme is delightful but also plaintive, its second section
more dramatic, and its trio gentle and lyrical. After polling several
of his fellow musicians and getting some interesting guesses, your
reporter noted that the piece sounded and felt more like several of
Andrew’s own outstanding original compositions than anything
vintage. Indeed, the piece is Andrew’s newest composition, written
earlier this year and titled “Yara.”
The day’s many fine tunes, and this handful of wonderful encores,
was a fitting way to wrap up the club’s first decade –
and we look forward to at least 10 more years of memorable selections
and performances.