SACRAMENTO RAGTIMESOCIETY NEWSLETTER

In This Issue

See Continued on page 7

See continued on page 4

By Fred Hoeptner

A ccording to “Perfessor” Bill Edwards, ragtime pianist, and educator via his

elaborate internet web site (www.perfessor-bill.com), Bob Milne, popular professional pianist on the ragtime circuit specializing in stride and boogie, has departed for Africa to study the rhythms of the indigen-ous folk music in an intriguing quest. Mil-ne has long expressed doubts that ragtime’s rhythmic roots lie in Africa. “Where are those African polyrhythms that I’ve been told were the basis of rag-time?” he asked in a symposium session at the 2006 Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia. Demonstrating a polyrhythmic conception on the piano with the treble in three and the bass simultaneously in four, he explained that this is not the same as syncopation. His thesis seemed to be that African rhythms were too complex to have

by Chris Bradshaw

On Saturday, April 4, the South Valley Music Makers group, founded by

Candace Fazzio and the Bradshaws, celeb-rated its fifth anniversary at the beautiful hilltop home of Joe Digiovanni. Gilroy is home base for the group that draws musi-cians from Menlo Park to Monterey, and this time even as far away as Los Angeles when Disneyland performer Alan Thompson came to take part in the after-noon session.

From that fledgling group that first met at Candace’s Monterey Street Academy when it was still located on Monterey Street, to the present time, the multi-age group has been welcoming every-one to come and share some music, or even just to listen. Although ragtime and vintage music form the foundation of the

group, you are likely to hear anything. Of-ten times, show tunes, opera, German and Czech folk tunes and classical music all find their way onto the afternoon pro-grams.

The group meets every other month, on a Saturday when Jack, Chris, and Can-dace are in town, and usually at the Brad-shaws’, but sometimes in other homes as well. It’s best to call ahead to find out when and where the next meeting will be held. Besides the piano, a variety of other instruments such as banjo, guitar, banjo uke, bass sax, bass viol, cornet, button box (a hand harmonica,) organ, electronic key-board, flute, and percussion have been played at meetings. Plus, vocalists singing torch songs, opera arias, ragtime and show tunes strut their stuff.

SACRAMENTO RAGTIME SOCIETY

March Winds Doth Blow!

March went out like a lion. However, SRS benefitted as those blustery winds did blow in a festive array of diverse players, includ-ing two who have not graced the stage in quite a while. How nice it was to see and hear Marty Eggers, playing solo and in duos with wife, Virginia Tichenor, and John Partridge, delighting us with one of his newest compositions. New performers this month were Ken Hall, an accomplished pianist, and James Shawcross, a pint-sized little wonder. We hope both players will return soon and of-ten. And of course, you can see from all the pieces performed that we had a great afternoon. We don't want to forget to mention our wonderful, supportive audience members who applaud enthusiast-ically, laugh at our jokes and make us feel like super stars every time. Thanks so much. You are as valuable as any of the players.

Bernie LoFaso, piano

Medley: Kesh Jig Traditional The Cook in the Kitchen Traditional The Humours of Ennistymon TraditionalFalling for Ragtime Bernie LoFaso, 2008

Cleve Baker, piano;

Silver Fox Henry Lodge, 1915Ragtime Dance Scott Joplin, 1906Solace Scott Joplin, 1909

Virginia Tichenor, piano; Marty Eggers, upright piano

Swipesy Cakewalk Scott Joplin & Arthur Marshall, 1900American Beauty Joseph Lamb, 1913Deep in the Ozarks Trebor Tichenor, 1993

RAGNOLIA RAGTETTE

Chris and Jack Bradshaw, four-hand piano; Robyn Drivon, tuba; Steve Drivon, drums and *euphonium

*El Chiquito R. Alberto Lopez BuchardoGloria Fred Hager & Justin Ring, 1923Funny Folks W. C. Powell, 1904Wild Cherries Ted Snyder, 1908

Elliott Adams, piano

The Georgia Cracker N. Weldon Cocroft, 1909Slipova Roy Bargy, 1921Boneyard Shuffle “Hoagy” Carmichael, 1926Sapphire Rube Bloom, 1927

David Lind, piano

Milenburg Joys (Trio) “Jelly Roll” Morton, 1923Sporting House Rag (Perfect Rag) “Jelly Roll” Morton, 1923

SULLIVANS AND DRIVONS

Petra Sullivan, piano; Bub Sullivan, mandolin and *vocal; Robyn Drivon, tuba; Steve Drivon, drums;

Peach Blossoms Maude Gilmore, 1910Club Verde Rodolfo Campodonico*I’ll See You in C-U-B-A Irving Berlin, 1920

Doug Parker, banjo and *vocal

Little Enough (Chauncey’s Tune) Turk Murphy, 19??Jelly Roll’s Spanish Tinge Doug Parker, 1984*Medley: When the Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves for Alabam’

Irving Berlin, 1912 I Want to go Back to Michigan Irving Berlin, 1914 Snooky Ookums? Irving Berlin, 1913 At the Devil’s Ball Irving Berlin, 1913 Alexander’s Ragtime Band Irving Berlin, 1911

Doug Parker, banjo; Marty Eggers, piano

Mississippi Rag W. H. Krell, 1897New Orleans Joys “Jelly Roll” Morton, 1923

Ken Hall, piano; “Sugar” Willie Erickson, tuba and *upright pi-ano

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? Jay Gorney & Yip Harburg, 1932*Smiles Lee S. Roberts & J. Will Callahan, 1918

“Sugar” Willie Erickson, piano

Mack the Knife Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht, 1928

John Partridge, piano and vocal

Who You Gonna Choose? John Partridge, 2006

James Shawcross, piano

Maple Leaf Rag Scott Joplin, arr. Faber & Faber, 1899Ballade Friedrich Burgmuller

by Chris & Jack Bradshaw

SACRAMENTO RAGTIME SOCIETYby Chris Bradshaw

Saving the best for last, the biggest sur-prise of all at the March SRS meeting

was eight-year old James Shawcross who trotted up to the stage, announced his own numbers and played like a champ. We have Steve Johnson to thank for our newest and youngest SRS member. Steve came across James in a music store and told him about SRS. What a wonderful discovery!

Now for a little background on James. He lives in Penn Valley with his parents, is home schooled, plays the piano for about three or four hours a day, and has been tak-ing piano lessons since he was five. Presently, he studies with Yuriy Oliynyk. James plays classical, songs from the late

fifties and now, ragtime piano music. He also is learning to play the violin. When asked what he liked best about SRS he said, “I liked all the clapping, yelling, hoot-ing, and hollering because it sounded like

a pack of cheetahs or wolves.”

Besides playing the piano and violin, his other hobbies include making paper air-planes, bird watching, and hunting for bugs. And passing along a tip for anyone in-terested in bug hunting, James commented that the best places to find bugs are under rocks.

For the past two years, James has had a steady, once-a-month gig at a local restaur-ant in Penn Valley. He started out with a half-hour set and now has worked himself up to one-hour sets. Oh, and by the way, we will get to hear James play on the youth programs at The Ragtime Corners and the Sutter Creek Festival. James told me he can't wait to come back to the next Sacra-mento Ragtime Society meeting. Well, James, we can't wait, either!

SACRAMENTO RAGTIME SOCIETY

normally meets the last Sunday of the month. If you would like to

receive the monthly newsletter, the subscription rate is $16 per year.

The subscription year runs from August 1st to the following July

31st. Subscriptions beginning after August 1st may be pro-rated.

Payments should be made payable to Sacramento Ragtime Society.

Merv Graham, PO Box 2286, Grass Valley CA 95945

(530) 273-0487

mgraham@funkyfiddler.org

Continued from page 1served as progenitors of ragtime.

My research concurs that African rhythms were often complex. In her book "The Music of Black Americans," Eileen Southern reviews the known descriptions of music in Africa in the 18th and 19th cen-turies, of which there are a number. Al-though drums were prominent, primitive string and wind instruments such as the precursors of banjos and small flutes were also used. She paraphrases Henry E. Kre-hbiel, American music critic and scholar, who heard the music of the Dahomans and watched their dancing at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 in Chica-go. "The harp player produced a rhythmic-ally complex melody on the two highest strings with his left hand, while with the right hand he played over and over again a descending melodic motive with an equally complex rhythmic pattern. The complexity was even more pronounced in the dance performances. The song accompaniments for the dances used duple meters and the instrumental accompaniment employed triple meters. Moreover, the drummers and bell players played very intricate rhythms, including syncopations, while the chief drummer maintained a rigid adherence to the basic one-two-three beat."

It appears from Southern's findings

that African music in public performance in its native milieu and with groups of in-strumentalists participating, was rhythmic-ally very complex. However, those conditions typically did not prevail under slavery in the United States.

In the United States masters encour-aged their slaves, who originated from nu-merous tribes, to acquire musical skills, primarily on the fiddle and banjo, to play for balls, assemblies, and entertainments, and sometimes provided instruments and instruction. Further, a musically competent slave was all the more valuable on the mar-ket. However, the masters didn't want Afric-an folk music. They wanted the dance music, such as jigs and reels, with which they were familiar.

There is ample evidence that, by the time ragtime leaped into the public con-sciousness in 1896, syncopation had long been endemic in black culture in the United States. For example, in 1876 poet, flutist, and academic Sidney Lanier, in his guidebook to Florida, remarked on the dis-tinctive nature of black folksong. While on a boat being poled through a cypress swamp he became enamored of a tune be-ing whistled by the pole man eliciting the following observations: "Syncopations…are characteristic of negro [sic] music. I have heard negroes [sic] change a well-known

melody by adroitly syncopating it…so as to give it a bizarre effect scarcely imaginable; and nothing illustrates the negro's [sic] nat-ural gifts in the way of keeping a difficult tempo more clearly than his perfect execu-tion of airs thus transformed from simple to complex accentuations."

So, then, how did syncopation enter black culture in the United States? I infer from his Sedalia presentation that Bob be-lieves that the sources were the jigs and reels. Although he cited several that con-tained a degree of syncopation, such as “Chicken Reel” by Daly from 1910 and the chorus of “Turkey in the Straw” composed in the 1820s, his argument is not convin-cing. In my opinion an embrace of syncopa-tion surely continued into the culture of the slaves and their descendents as a legacy from Africa. After all, it was one of the ele-ments of the Dahoman polyrhythmic mélange cited by Krehbeil in the example noted above.

While I wish Bob good luck in his quest, I believe that enough is known to say with reasonable certainty that the gener-al musical milieu in Africa provided a fer-tile basis for proto-ragtime's persistence and development within the culture of black Americans, first on the banjo and fiddle, then on the piano.

Editors None: Visit bobmilne.com for more information on this remarkable pianist's career.

During a recent performance at Pier 23, Frederick Hodges was handed a

note with the message seen in the photo (Any Marvin Hamlisch from the Sting?). Well, Frederick duti-fully played Joplin's The Enter-tainer for the gen-tleman.

However, it just goes to show that we have a long row to hoe to get the general public to understand where ragtime music comes from and what it really is.

SACRAMENTO RAGTIME SOCIETY

By Fred Hoeptner

Scintillating syncopation prevailed at the Old Town Music Hall in El Se-

gundo on Sunday, March 8, as Virginia Tichenor and Jack and Chris Bradshaw ragged the evening away with old and new selections from the genre. Although the turnout was not as large as one might have hoped, the enthusiasm was palpable in praise of the performers’ folk and classic ragtime, much of it played duet style.

Virginia Tichenor, currently of Oak-land and wife of jazz and ragtime musician Marty Eggers, was born and raised im-mersed in ragtime as the daughter of famed ragtime authority and pianist Tre-bor Tichenor. A pianist from childhood, she has recently taken up the drums. She demonstrates her organizational skills yearly as director for the annual West Coast Ragtime Festival in Sacramento.

The Bradshaws from Gilroy, both clas-sically trained with master’s degrees in mu-sic, have developed a unique sound somewhat reminiscent of vintage music ma-chines. Seated on a single piano bench, they feature Jack’s four-handed arrange-ments. According to their interview in The American Rag (December/January 2008/2009), Jack, who has eclectic tastes in music, had initially been attracted to rag-time by its intoxicating rhythms. Chris met Jack and followed his lead into ragtime when she found that it was upbeat, joyful, and accessible to almost everyone. Their shared jubilation clearly shone throughout the program.

Beginning the evening with a solo set, Virginia led off with a respected folk rag from 1906, Mashed Potatoes by medical doc-tor Calvin Lee Woolsey, which well dis-played her authoritative bass technique. She followed with May Aufderheide’s The Thriller, including her own variations in the final strain. Others were Blind Boone’s Rag Medley #2, Strains from Flat Branch; Luckey Roberts’ Pork and Beans, an early example of stride style; an improvised original blues; and her father’s eccentric 1993 composi-tion Deep in the Ozarks, with its throbbing bass.

Jack Bradshaw, in a solo set, infused the ambiance with classic ragtime—first Scott Joplin’s Country Club, then James Scott’s Great Scott Rag, the second basically as written but with some ingenious origin-al syncopations on the repeat of the second strain. He followed with Charles “Doc” Cooke’s obscure Such Is Life. Jack regularly imparted bits of insight such as that Cooke, a black, possessed a doctorate from the Chicago College of Music. Disappoin-ted at the spare original score of F. Gibson Cook’s 1903 Charcoal, Jack played his re-arrangement of it as an exciting and dis-tinctive piece of music.

A set of drums had been placed on-stage which Virginia now assumed with Chris joining Jack at the piano for a set. Their varied program included Harry P. Guy’s Cleanin’ Up in Georgia from 1901 in its original “patrol” format using a “soft-loud-soft” dynamic contour simulating a passing marching band; Will Marion Cook’s stately On Emancipation Day from the 1903 black Broadway musical In Dahomey; George L. Cobb’s 1916 Latin in-flected Midnight Trot, sometimes called a Brazilian tango, with its triumphant trio; Charles L. Hunter’s classic folk rag Queen of Love from 1901; an original arrangement of a seldom heard piece written for band Cottonfield Capers from 1901 by William Christopher O’Hare; and Gil Lieby’s happy contemporary Sutter Creek Strut, lead-ing into the intermission.

Virginia opened the second half at the piano with a trad jazz classic learned from a piano roll, Richard M. Jones’ minor tinged King of the Zulus Blues, enhanced with throbbing drum effects in the bass. She followed with Zez Confrey’s novelty pi-ano classic Kitten on the Keys, 1921, played basically as written. Jack then continued solo with two pieces by contemporary com-posers—Galen Wilkes’ Boone County Rag from 1983 and a blues by Steven Stiller that he had heard at the Rocky Mountain Ragtime Festival, One Shoe Blues.

Jack and Chris, piano, and Virginia, drums, then joined forces for the happy Too Much Raspberry; Henry Lodge’s exciting Temptation Rag arranged from a piano roll; Charlotte Blake’s delightful, melodic 1908 Gravel Rag ending with a fade-out; and George Botsford’s ever popular Black and White Rag introduced with Jack’s com-ment, “He stole the third section!”

Virginia abandoned the drums for an-other piano as she and Jack essayed Swipesy Cakewalk, played in traditional style, and the obligatory ragtime anthem Maple Leaf Rag, in perfect coordination. Chris then joined Jack and Virginia for a six-handed ar-rangement of Joplin’s The Entertainer. The trio capped the concert with Jack’s “call-and-response” arrangement of Krell’s spir-ited patrol from 1897 Mississippi Rag to standing applause, sending everyone home with joy in their hearts and tuneful memor-ies.

In its sole performance in the Sacra-mento Valley, the Uptown Lowdown

Jazz Band will give a concert at the Wood-land Opera House, Second & Main Sts., Woodland, on Wednesday, July 15th 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

This traditional jazz band has per-formed at every major jazz festival in Amer-ica as well as in Japan and Europe since 1971. The repertoire features the music of

the Ragtime and Jazz eras as well as that of the San Francisco revival era of the 1930’s and ‘40’s.

For this very special Sacramento area concert, mark your calendars NOW. For Tickets, check the website, wohtheatre.org and/or call the box office at 530-666-9617. The unique acoustics of the Opera House make this a perfect venue for this renowned traditional jazz band.

SACRAMENTO RAGTIME SOCIETY

See Continued on page 8

press release by Chris Bradshaw

Got music? We do! The 11th Annual Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival, sched-

uled for August 14-16, on Sutter Creek’s historic Main Street promises to deliver. Sponsored by the Mother Lode Ragtime So-ciety, this festival, with its multiple venues filled with some of ragtime’s finest players, will take you back at least 100 years to the highly spirited, toe-tapping sounds of vin-tage America. This is a weekend not to miss.

Thrill to scintillating solo or mixed sets where several of the festival artists combine to raise the roof. Take in Silent Movie Night, where heroines are saved and comic antics are flashed up on the Silver Screen to artful piano accompaniment. Not to miss are the highly entertaining Fest-ival Concerts, ragtime bands, a strolling barbershop group, two Youth Concerts, and if you are still on your feet, the “After Hours” sessions where players join up to-gether in various combinations to make music together. There is always a surprise player or two.

Invited performers include Patrick

Aranda, Andrew Barrett, the Bradshaws, Tom Brier, Crown Syncopators, Marty Eggers, the HeeBee JeeBees, Frederick Hodges, Vince Johnson, Carl Sonny Ley-land, Will Perkins, Stevens Price, Ragno-lia Ragtette, Raspberry Jam Band, Tim Rotolo, Hal Smith, Keith Taylor, Virginia Tichenor, the Town Square Harmonizers and more.

Early Bird Special All Events Badges are on sale for $60 before July 15th and $70 after. Daily badges and concert tickets are also available. There will be a $20 ser-vice charge for refunds requested prior to 7/15/09; no refunds after 7/15/09.

Reserve your badge now through the Mother Lode Ragtime Society, 11310 Pro-spect Drive #10, pmb 12, Jackson, CA 95642. Cash or checks only. For more in-formation, call 209-223-0867, e-mail jass-er09@yahoo.com or visit www. suttercreekragtime.com. So save the dates, August 14-16th and we’ll see you in Sutter Creek. There will also be the Angels Camp pre-festival event on Thursday, Au-gust 13th for early arrivers. Bring a friend. There’ll be plenty of fun and good music to go around!

by Petra Sullivan

They are “just around the corner”, the Ragtime Corners, that is, May 22nd

thru May 24th. Ragtime Corner I will again be at the Hotel Hyatt in the Golden State Room, on the mezzanine. The hours will be from 4:00 P.M. To 10:00 P.M. on Fri-day, and from 1:00 P.M. To 10:00 P.M. on Saturday and Sunday. This year, as the wonderful Earl Grey Tea Manor has unfor-tunately closed, the Ragtime Corner II will be in the Convention Center Lobby, at 13th and K Sts., kitty corner from the Hy-att Hotel. (What a great suggestion, Merv!) The hours will be 1:00 P.M. To 5:00 P.M., Friday thru Sunday. A badge is not re-quired for these 2 venues, only your sup-port and enthusiasm.

Thanks to our webmaster, Merv Gra-ham, the schedules are posted on the newly revamped SRS website: www.sacra-mentoragtime.com

The May SRS Newsletter will also in-clude both schedules, as a handy reference to plan your visit to enjoy the music and “keep on raggin” at the Jazz Jubilee.

By Kitty Wilson

Our Ragtime community lost another long-time member and enthusiastic

supporter with the passing of Jo Wallach on April 2nd. Besides attending jazz and ragtime events regularly around Northern California for years, Jo opened her Citrus Heights home as a venue for hers and Bill Schoening’s wonderful Piano Parties, and she was Bill’s invaluable right-hand-lady for his popular Wednesday night music series at Straw Hat Pizza in Rancho Cor-dova. She was always the busiest person behind-the-scenes at these events, and her encouragement was wonderful for all of us.

Jo retired from a long, very satisfying and successful professional career in pub-lic service, working for the California De-

partment of Corrections. She was a tire-less and articulate advocate for important reforms and improvements in correctional operations. In retirement, she turned her energy to other interests and hobbies: her own artistry in painting, the nurturing of her beloved pet cats and of the myriad song-birds attracted to her yard throughout the year by her array of bird feeders, the main-tenance of her lovely gardens, and lots of interaction with her twin daughters Joyce and Judy, her son Ed, and her grandchil-dren.

As Bill’s and Jo’s friendship grew, they became a dedicated music-promotion team! Jo rarely missed Sacramento Rag-time Society meetings, West Coast and Sut-

SACRAMENTO RAGTIME SOCIETY Continued from page 1

As friendships have developed, the “break” has become a wonderful social time with lots of nibbles brought by the players. For this celebration, a lasagna feast was prepared by two of the members.

Highlights of the afternoon included Alan Thompson playing a fast paced med-ley of 18 of his favorite tunes, Bob Blade performing Vanity Rag (1909) by Paul Pratt, Jan Paterson singing Under the Bamboo Tree (1902) by Cole and Johnson, Janet Farrell and Martin Podhrazsky performing Fifty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong (1927) by Raskin, Rose and Fisher, Jack Bradshaw playing Chopin’s Polanaise in A Major, Op. 40, #1, the Bradshaws clowning their way through Henry Lodge’s Temptation Rag (1901), Candace Fazzio playing Louiguy’s La Vie en Rose (1946), and Nan Bostick per-forming Tom Pitts’ beautiful Meadowlark Rag (1915). Finishing the afternoon’s pro-gram was professional banjo-playing Bill Lowrey performing Ernesto Lecuona’s Malaguena (1927). There were many other wonderful selections, well-played but too numerous to mention. To find out when the next meeting is going to be held, call Chris Bradshaw at 408-842-4990

by Helen Burns

A fter a week in Stanford Hospital and 10 days in a Skilled Nursing Center in Palo Alto, I can’t believe

that it is over three weeks since my 12-hour surgery took place on March 16. This ordeal actually involved two differ-ent surgical procedures performed the same day. The back-side surgery was to correct the curvature of my spine caused by scoliosis. Now I have reinforcement rods inside me like re-bar in a concrete pillar. The frontal surgery was to remove a cyst in the ovarian section that was described by my doctor as “like a water-filled balloon the size of an eggplant”. The good news is…no cancer. I’ve probably told you more than you ever needed to know, but I was asked to write something to all my friends in the ragtime community.

I want to thank each and everyone of you for all your concerns, thoughts, prayers, calls, emails, and especially for the card that so many of you signed during the last SRS gath-ering. It sure brought a smile to my face. I continue to feel better each day thanks to Hal’s TLC. I look forward to re-turning and performing with Pacific Coast Ragtime Orches-tra during the Ragtime Corner at Sacramento’s Jazz Jubilee next month.

Well yes and no, we have had several comments recently about how the

newsletter's printing seems to be clearer and sharper, particularly in the photos. The answer lies in the fact that Piedmont Copy, the printing house that Marty Eggers uses to print and fold the newslet-ter, is now running our job on a new high-speed, color, laser printer. Since it's run on a color printer, we asked about the

price of actually running the newsletter in color and found that the cost would be pro-hibitive.

However, the back issues of the news-letter, available on the SRS web site, are in color. Go to the web site at www.sacra-mentoragtime.com and select the menu: Newsletter–>Back Issues, then select the is-sue you would like to see. The newsletters are in the PDF format.

by Merv Graham

SACRAMENTO RAGTIME SOCIETY

Apr 22 Tom Brier and FriendsApr 29 Norm Gary TrioMay 6 The Crown Syncopators

Frederick Hodges with Marty and VirginiaMay 13 Norm Gary QuintetMay 20 Dr. Bach Jazz Quartet with Tom Brier on PianoMay 27 TBAJun 17 Ray Skjelbred

For more information call 916-987-7434 or e-mail Bs25ss28@aol.com

Apr 28 Frederick HodgesMay 4 Virginia Tichenor (Special Monday performance)May 12 Marty EggersMay 19 Crown SyncopatorsMay 26 Frederick HodgesJun 2 Sqeek SteeleJun 9 Marty EggersJun 16 Ray SkjelbredJun 23 Crown SyncopatorsJun 30 Carl Sonny LeylandJul 7 Crown SyncopatorsJul 14 Ray SkjelbredJul 21 Virginia Tichenor

For more information call 415-362-5125

We happily welcome new SRS members

Dr. & Mrs. Jay Stovall

Grass Valley CA

ter Creek Ragtime Festivals, the Sacra-mento Jazz Jubilee, the annual Banjo-Rama in Sacramento and Banjo Jubilee in San Jose, monthly meetings of the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society and other numer-ous other concert events. She was one of so many musicians’ biggest fans, and always a gracious hostess to those visiting from out of town or abroad. She remembered friends’ birthdays, supported those going through difficult times, and served as “Communication Central” when import-ant news needed distribution.

I spent many an overnight as Jo’s guest, and we had some really wonderful, interesting conversations together. I’m thrilled that she gave Allan and me her own original sheet music to

, a favorite of ours, which she played on piano as a young music student. I’m also grateful that I had the opportunity

to spend several hours with Jo the day before she died, and the chance to say goodbye in person. It’s wonderful to think of her being at peace: she has earned it.

Continued from page 6

On March the 14th the Reutlinger mansion once again rang with the sounds of rag-

time.

Nan Bostick co-ordinated the appearance of Ivory and Gold, that wonderful combination of the sizzing Jeff Barnhart, his lovely wife, Anne, and the always effervescent Danny Coots.

SACRAMENTO RAGTIME SOCIETY

Sunday Brad Kay, The Unurban, 3301 West Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, 2:00 4:00 P.M.1st Sunday Friends of Scott Joplin—Ragtime Rendezvous, The Pub Above at Dressel's, 419 N Euclid St. St Louis, MO, 5:30 8:30 P.M.1st Sunday Portland Ragtime Society, It's a Beautiful Pizza, 3342 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR, 2:00 6:00 P.M.1st Sunday Classic Ragtime Society of Indiana, Even-numbered months (e.g. February, April, etc.) only. For more info contact

Josi Beeler 317-359-6452, josibee@sbcglobal.net or Irene Weinberg 317-578-7883, turtleindy@aol.com.1st & 3rd Sunday—Sacramento Banjo Band, Straw Hat Pizza, 2929 Mather Field Rd, Rancho Cordova, 2:00 4:00 P.M.2nd Sunday Mont Alto Ragtime & Tango Orchestra–Tea Dance, Temple Events Center Uptown, 16th & Pearl, Denver, CO,

Lessons 1:30–2:00 P.M. Dancing 2:00 5:00 P.M. Call 303-655-9413 or 303-449-5962 for more information.Last Sunday Rose Leaf Ragtime Club, Aztec Hotel, 311 W. Foohill Blvd., Monrovia, 2:00 5:00 P.M.

Participating musicians free, $2 donation for others, 626-358-3231 or 818-766-2384Tuesday Ragtime and Vintage Piano Music, Pier 23, San Francisco (See separate listing)Tuesday East Bay Banjo Band, Round Table Pizza, 1938 Oak Park Blvd. Pleasant Hill, CA 7:30 8:30 P.M. 925-372-0553Tuesday Victorian Dances, Lake Merritt Dance Center Lounge – Oakland Veterans Bldg. 200 Grand Ave, Oakland, 7:00 P.M.

Beginning & Intermediate classes and dance. $8, For more info: 530-759-9278 or www.vintagewaltz.comTuesday Peninsula Banjo Band, Straw Hat Pizza, 1535 Meridian Ave, San Jose, 8:00 9:00 P.M.Tuesday Piano Ragtime Cutting Contest, Frederick's Music Lounge, 4454 Chippewa, St. Louis, MO, 7:00 9:00 P.M.

Contestants appear on the Ragtime St. Louis TV show. For more information 314-968-2635 or ragtimefest@aol.comWednesday Ragtime & Vintage Music, Straw Hat Pizza, Rancho Cordova, (See separate listing)Wednesday Craig Ventresco & Meredith Axelrod, Cafe Divine, 1600 Stockton St. (across from Washington Square) San Francisco,

7:30 9:30 P.M. 415-986-34142nd Wednesday—Marty Eggers & Virginia Tichenor, Hot Ragtime & Classic Jazz Piano, The Belrose Theater, 1415 5th Ave. San Rafael

5:30 8:00 P.M. 415-454-6422 or 510-655-6728, Wine bar, beer & light food available. No cover charge.Thursday Oakland Banjo Band, Porky's Pizza Palace, 1221 Manor Blvd. (corner of Farnsworth) San Leandro, 7:30 9:30 P.M. 510-357-4323

Sacramento Ragtime Society events are starred (*) and up to date information can always be obtained from the society's web site at

www.SacramentoRagtime.com.

Please let us know as soon as possible about upcoming ragtime or ragtime related events so we may list them.

26* Sacramento Ragtime Society, Red Lion Sacramento Inn, 1401 Arden Way, Sacramento, 1:00–4:00 P.M. 916-457-332426 Ragtime Skedaddlers, Croatian American Cultural Center, 60 Onondaga Ave., San Francisco, 1:00 P.M. $18, Children free

The Ragtime Skedaddlers are (Dennis Pash, Nick Robinson, Dave Krinkel) and the will beperforming as part of The Festival of Mandolins, more info at www.slavonicweb.org/event_details.php?id=101

1-3 Virginia Tichnor & Marty Eggers, concerts for The Ragtyme-Jazztyme Society of Arizona. Times and venues TBDcall 480-348-3702 for information.

16 & 17 Eleventh Steet Jazz Fest 2009, Gallo Center for the Arts, 1000 I Street, Modesto. Features Devil Mountain Jazz Band with Virginia Tichenor (Sunday only). 10 A.M.–2:30 P.M., $10, Info: 209-988-2334 or modestodixieland.com

17 Jack & Chris Bradshaw, piano ragtime concert, Foothill Presbyterian Church, 5301 McKee Road, San Jose, 3:00 P.M. $10 donation requested, Info: 408-258-8133

22-24* SRS presents the Ragtime Corners, Golden State Room, mezzanine level, of the Sacramento Hyatt Hotel (GSR) andthe lobby of the Sacramento Convention Center (CCL). GSR 4-10 P.M. Friday, 1-10 P.M. Saturday and Sunday.CCL 1-5 P.M. each day. Admission is free, no Jubilee badges are needed. See the SRS website for the schedule ofevents: www.sacramentoragtime.com

4-6 Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, Sedalia Missouri, info: (toll free) 866-218-6258 or scottjoplin.org28* Sacramento Ragtime Society, Red Lion Sacramento Inn, 1401 Arden Way, Sacramento, 1:00–4:00 P.M. 916-457-3324

18 Cline Wine & Jazz Festival, Cline Cellars, 24737 Hwy. 121, Sonoma, CA info: 707-940-402519 Ragtime Skedaddlers, Bird & Beckett Books, 653 Chenery St. San Francisco; 4:30 P.M.

Donation requested, Info: www.bird-beckett.com26* Sacramento Ragtime Society, Red Lion Sacramento Inn, 1401 Arden Way, Sacramento, 1:00–4:00 P.M. 916-457-3324

SACRAMENTO RAGTIME SOCIETY

SACRAMENTO RAGTIME SOCIETYApril 2009 Page 1 0

c/o Merv GrahamPO Box 2286Grass Valley CA 95945

Mondays The Ragtime Machine, KUSF, 90.3 FM, San Francisco. 9:00 10:00 P.M. Host: David Reffkin, www.kusf.orgSundays Syncopation Station, KDHX 88.1 FM, St. Louis, Missouri, 4:00 5:30 P.M. Host: Vann Ford, www.kdhx.orgThursdays Ragtime America, KGNU, 88.5 FM, Boulder, Colorado, 8:00 9:00 P.M. Host: Jack Rummel. www.kgnu.orgContinuous Rocky Mountain Ragtime, Ragtime 24 hours a day, www.live365.com/stations/rmragtime

Friday Jerry Rothschild, Curley's Restaurant, corner Willow & Cherry, Signal Hill (So. Cal), 7:00 10:00 P.M. 562-424-0018Friday Keith Taylor, Mad Matilda's, Baker City, Oregon. For more information call (541) 519-40721st & 3rd Friday—Friday Night Waltz, 1st United Methodist Church, 635 Hamilton St. (& Cowper), Palo Alto, Lessons: 7:00 9:00 P.M.,

Dancing 9:00 P.M. to Midnight. 650-326-6265, scottFNW@pway.com or www.fridaynightwaltz.com2nd Friday Chico's Ragtime/Tin Pan Alley Sessions, The Terraces, 2750 Sierra Sunrise Terrace, Chico, 6:30 8:30 P.M.

Contact: Bernie or Bob LoFaso 530-894-6854, b_lofaso@hotmail.com4th Friday Vintage Dance & Waltz Lessons, Finnish Hall, 1970 Chestnut, Berkeley, $6 for dance; $8 lesson & dance

8:00 P.M. Lesson; 9:00 P.M. to midnight, Dance. For more info: 530-759-9278 or www.vintagewaltz.com1st Saturday Bitterroot Valley Ragtime Society, Hamilton Public House, Victor, Montana, 4:00–6:00 P.M.

For more info call 406-961-3245 or visit www.bitterroot-ragtime.com1st Saturday San Francisco Starlight Orchestra, [Feb, May, Aug & Nov only] Strawberry Recreation Center, 118 East Strawberry Drive,

Mill Valley, $20. 7:00 8:00 P.M. Complimentary Dance Lessons with Cynthia Glinka, 8:00 11:00 P.M.General dancing; Soft drinks and desserts available or BYO spread.Contacts: 707-973-6107, 415-485-5500 (Cynthia Glinka) or 415-285-8409 (Lucia & Duke Edwards).

1st Saturday San Francisco Banjo Band, Molloy's, 1655 Mission Road, Colma, 7:30 P.M. Info: 650-692-7878,2nd & 4th Saturday Friday Night Waltz, Oakland Veterans Bldg., 200 Grand Ave. at Harrison, Oakland, 7:00 to Midnight 650-326-6265,

scottFNW@pway.com or www.fridaynightwaltz.com3rd Saturday Mother Lode Ragtime Society, Sutter Creek Ice Cream Emporium, 51 Main St. (Hwy 49), Sutter Creek CA,

7:30 9:30 P.M. [Odd numbered months only] For more information call 209-267-0543 or sodajerk@volcano.net3rd Saturday Cascade Ragtime Society Ragtime Jam, Noah's Ark, Winston, Oregon [Even numbered months only] 541-784-1261