June 2024 brings the works of some June-born composers plus a decidedly eclectic mixed bag

Our June musicale featured a half-dozen pianists who presented three-dozen selections.

The pianists were Barry Blakeley, Michael Flores, Vincent Johnson, Ron Ross, MC Eric Marchese and newcomer Patrick G. Smith. The audience at Half-Off Books heard nearly every genre, including classic, folk, popular, Stride, Novelty, Morton, and plenty of contemporary compositions, as well as instrumental versions of ragtime-related pop songs from the '20s,'30s and '40s. It turned out to be an enjoyable mixed bag that could also be defined as decidedly eclectic.

Eric Marchese started things off with "The Favorite," a Joplin he chose for its June copyright date. Before performing it, Eric explained that the piece was written around the same time as "Maple Leaf" and "The Ragtime Dance," as seen by its harmonic similarities of its A and B themes with the first two main themes of "Ragtime Dance." Yet for some reason, this 1899-1900 rag wasn't issued by the Sedalia music publisher A.W. Perry and Sons until 1904.

Eric followed with Joplin's lovely opus "Eugenia," published by Will Rossiter of Chicago in 1906.

Having just celebrated a birthday, Barry included himself as a ragtime composer born in June by performing his "Traffic Jam," explaining how he wrote the opening theme in 1977 -- and left it at that until attending OCRS in fall of 2022. Barry said that hearing the music of his peers two years ago inspired him to complete the piece 45 years after its birth.

Next up were two Joplin rags featured in "The Sting": "Pine Apple Rag" and "The Entertainer." Barry then gave us a potent performance of another original, "Rampart Street Stomp," that captures the honky-tonk sound and feel of New Orleans during the ragtime era.

An audience member asked Barry which piece was his wife's favorite, so he graced us with "Solace -- A Mexican Serenade," yet another Joplin piece heard in "The Sting."

Michael brought us the perennial Marshall-Joplin rag "Swipesy," then Harry Belding's catchy "Good Gravy Rag." "Temptation," Henry Lodge's first-published, greatest, most successful and most popular rag, doesn't get much exposure these days, but Michael gave us a socko performance of it.

Next up was an instrumental version of "Tea for Two," one of the biggest hit songs from the 1925 stage musical "No, No, Nanette." In Michael's hands, the song morphs from typically genteel to an exciting, intricate Stride arrangement.

Michael closed his outstanding set with Joplin's biggest hit, "Maple Leaf Rag," which is often referred to as "the granddaddy of all rags."

Ron gave us three of his originals, two tied in with California (one of these, specifically, connected with the OCRS). "Orange County Rag" was his first selection, its second theme in the minor tonality (as with many a Ross rag) and its trio distinctly Lambesque. Next was the pretty rag-tango "West Coast Tango," and Ron wrapped up his set with the fun, catchy "That Itchin' Rag," notable for its intricate trio.

Eric evoked the name of H. Clarence Woods, who was born in Blue Earth, Ohio, on June 19, 1888, and whose extensive travels throughout the midwest took him to countless locales, mainly in Texas and Oklahoma, and covered a dizzying array of careers connected with live theater and silent movie houses and that included work as a pianist, organist, orchestra leader, theater manager and entertainer on radio. He lived until 1956, ending his career as chief organist, composer and arranger for the Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Alas, we have just two Woods rags in print. Eric played the first of these, "Slippery Elm," published in 1912 by Bush and Gerts of Dallas. The piece is remarkable even for Woods, whose two rags expertly mesh ragtime with midwestern blues to create an ethereal, almost dreamlike aura.

Patrick G. Smith made his OCRS debut, introducing himself and his life and musical background and noting "I don't really play ragtime but I've loved it all my life" while evoking So. Cal. ragtime figures (such as Joe Tatar and Ragtime Rod Miller) and locales (such as Shakey's in Whittier) from decades past.

Patrick treated us to James P. Johnson's "If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight," then an up-tempo Stride rendition of "Ain't Misbehavin'," a vibrant "All Of Me" and a semi-Stride style version of "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter," written by Ahlert (music) and Young (lyrics) but popularized by Fats. In all of these, Patrick delivers a lively, pianistic performing style.

Vincent gave us a multi-genre set of classic, early/folk, Stride and Novelty, starting with Joplin's "Paragon Rag," then Turpin's "Harlem Rag." Issued in late 1897, "Harlem" was the first published piano rag written by a black composer, arriving less than two months after the all-time first piano rag, Northrup's "Louisiana Rag" (published October 1897). Vincent revealed that while most believe the title of "Harlem" refers to the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, it's now thought to refer to the town of Harlem, Georgia. Turpin was born in Savannah, and sure enough, Harlem is located in greater Augusta, the nearby major city to the northwest of Savannah.

Next up was James P.'s "Carolina Shout," often considered the "Maple Leaf" of Stride piano, and "Kitten on the Keys," the huge Confrey hit that can rightly be termed the "Maple Leaf" of Novelty piano. Given all the range of styles and demands of these four pieces, it's no wonder Vincent is considered a top OCRS pianist.

Barry gave us two more sensational classic rags, starting with "Sensation," the first of 12 Lamb rags issued by John Stark and one of the most electric piano rags by the great ragtime composer. Barry followed with "The Cascades," his third selection of the day to have been heard in "The Sting."

Ron encored with his beautiful 2006 ragtime waltz "Cloudy," and Eric followed up "Slippery Elm" with "Sleepy Hollow," the second Woods rag in print, which Will Livernash of Kansas City published in 1918 and that uses delicate tremolos, bluesy harmonies and other devices and elements to create an almost other-worldly effect.

Patrick brought us solid pianistic arrangements of three more pop songs -- "Million Dollar Baby," "Moonglow" and "I Only Have Eyes for You" -- with performances to match.

Vincent brought us our only Jelly Roll piece of the day, "The Pearls," a magnificent Morton piece often played at OCRS and elsewhere by Bill Mitchell and given a peerless, memorable performance by Vincent. Next, "Daintiness Rag," a soft, gentle James P. Stride work that lopes along at a moderate tempo.

Vincent offered up two great rags by Les Copeland, born in Wichita on June 4, 1887: First, the rollicking, pianistic and deeply folksy "French Pastry Rag," then "Invitation Rag," both of which embody the essence of midwestern Folk ragtime. He then closed out his set and the afternoon with his strikingly original "Milk and Honey," which creatively fuses the character of Judaic music circa 2,000 years ago with the structure and rhythms of ragtime.

Of the 36 selections, 26 were either tied to June, or were originals, classic rags or by James P. Johnson (and, on top of these, piano arrangements of various pop songs).

In all, we had a total of seven "June" tunes (six by those with June birthdates and one with a June copyright date) and seven originals plus 10 classic rags (eight by Joplin, one Joplin collaboration, one Lamb), plus two by James P. Johnson.