Fifty Years Later, Here We Are!

We got old.

Fifty years added to our twenties, thirties, and forties in 1974 equals old for those who have managed to survive. And. for us who have survived, it was a marvelous reunion amid the throng of joyfully talented young and well-seasoned performers who entertained audiences of all ages. It was the 50th anniversary of the first Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, Missouri.

I’ve been writing about the festivals for months now, and with this last reflection, I’ll move on, for like Andy Senior, I have new eyes for new adventures in ragtime and traditional jazz.

Before I share my delightful impressions of the event, however, I must remark on the absolutely amazing gathering of talent Bryan Wright assembled for this historic anniversary festival. I was stunned by the talented headliners and amateur performers in 1974, but I was completely awed by this year’s musicians. Their technical skill (classically, traditionally, and individually trained) their new interpretations of the classics, and the range of styles were a privilege to experience. A version of Bob Darch’s famous words echoed through my head all weekend, “Ragtime dead? Hell, it not only isn’t even sick, it has never been more alive and relevant.”

As Artistic Director, Bryan Wright’s carefully crafted concerts not only highlighted the wealth of talent he had signed (on a very lean budget I might add), but he traced the influence of ragtime as America’s music and its impact on the musical genre’s that emerged from the ragtime era.

Much of my time, when not attending concerts and symposia was spent greeting old friends and acquaintances. It was appropriate that this often-repeated activity began by greeting David Reffkin who has been to every Sedalia festival, and who was with two other treasured friends, Peter Lundberg from Sweden, and Steve Spracklen from Joplin. We brought Peter and Steve with Bob Darch to a pre-festival 1974 concert to raise funds and they sold out the old Smith-Cotton auditorium. Another first festival friend who found me was the incredibly talented and ever unpredictable Terry Waldo who was a rising “young Turk” in ’74, blazing a performance trail that has extended through seven decades.

It wouldn’t have been a Joplin Festival without the composer’s distinguished biographer Edward Berlin, who delivered a paper on his promised Joplin family research (to also be published in TST.) Ed was followed by his daughter Stephanie Caputo who delivered a most thorough guide to researching minority genealogy. Stephanie’s husband and two daughters attended the festival with Andrée, Ed’s wife. It was a treat for me to see three generations of Berlin-Caputo’s in Sedalia.

For my four-day excursion it was impossible to roll more than a few feet without being greeted by visitors who were at the first festival. After recalling the significance of meeting so many of the Ragtime Revival Era personalities in 1974, nearly everyone mentioned the stifling heat that year. Fifty years later and nearly two months earlier on the calendar, we were blessed by relatively mild temperatures.

It was a tremendous surprise to greet Richard Zimmerman who came for the festival finale on Saturday. He was the first Artistic Director and explained how his parallel career in magic had prepared him for not only directing entertaining concerts, but also for creating a beautifully decorated stage in a very pedestrian facility. As I have written, Richard was a talented and seasoned performer who skillfully directed Sedalia festivals over the first two decades, and many others across the country.

It was a delight to finally meet Bill Hoffman who has been our eyes and ears at music festivals and concerts for many years. I have appreciated being able to vicariously enjoy events through his TST reviews. His experience as a travel writer and as a concert booker for the Tri-State Jazz Society in greater Philadelphia enhances his descriptive accounts of the music events he attends across the country.

It was my honor and privilege to posthumously present the SJIRF Lifetime Achievement Award in Ragtime to Glen Jenks. The plaque will go to the Glen Jenks Review Board in Camden, Maine, led by Glen’s close friend Aaron Robinson.

The afternoon photo session provided a priceless souvenir, and the final concert was an extravaganza of talented creativity and a playlist of musical genres that emanated from Classic Ragtime.

When I’m asked why a ragtime festival in Sedalia Missouri is important and often receives international attention, I usually point out three significant reasons. First, the festival celebrates a great moment in our nation’s popular culture. It was August 10, 1899. when an inspired young White lawyer representing a brilliant early middle-aged Black composer signed a royalty contract with an older White Sedalia businessman to publish Maple Leaf Rag. Though a small moment in time, it boldly challenged the awful racial divisiveness that had long divided our country.

Second, Joplin’s composition has been called America’s first unique popular and classical music. It inaugurated the Ragtime Era two decades prior to World War 1 and Maple Leaf Rag became the unofficial anthem of that period. Robert Higdon, Scott Joplin, and John Stark made history.

Third, modern music history was made in the same place seventy-five years after Sedalia produced the first festival that has been reprised 41 times in its 50-year existence as the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival.

I hadn’t expected to last all four days and thought I would have to come home early, exhausted. Instead, I stayed the duration on little sleep and was in fact invigorated. A sincere and hearty thank you to the thousands who have produced and energized this event.