The 51st Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, MO took place, as usual, from Wednesday through Saturday, May 28-31. There were a couple events on Wednesday evening that I missed because my train was not due to arrive until 6:43 PM, and then was an hour late.
The format was as it has been for all the times I’ve been there (about six): free 30- and 60-minute sets at three venues running from 9 AM to 5 PM, symposia two mornings for which a nominal fee is charged, and paid 90-to-120-minute concerts each afternoon and evening; all occurring in the Liberty Center. Except for music at the Katy Depot, about half a mile away, everything is within a few minute walk. The main daytime music venue is a tent set up on 5th Street alongside the courthouse, with a pavilion three short blocks north at 2nd and Ohio. The Liberty Center is about 100 yards west of the tent.
A number of performers played at the festival for the first time this year: 23-year-old pianist Rowan Belt, bassist Sean Cronin, Paul Orsi, and drummer and washboardist Gareth Price. Sean appeared with the Lovestruck Balladeers and Gareth was with both of Dan Levinson’s bands—the Canary Cottage Orchestra and the Roof Garden Jass (yes, that’s the correct spelling) Band as well as the Ragabonds. Paul is a three-time winner of the Old Time Piano Playing Contest and is now retired from competition.
A few other non-pianists also performed: drummer Danny Coots (a regular fixture here, and always a pleasure to watch); banjoist Katie Cavera (with the Ragabonds); Dennis Lichtman, leader of the Balladeers, on clarinet, mandolin, and violin; Jake Sanders, the Balladeers’ guitarist; Paul Hagglund, tubist with the Ragabonds; Mike Davis on trombone with both of Dan Levinson’s bands and on cornet with the Balladeers; and accordionist Matt Tolentino, who also played piano (and is proficient on several other instruments). In recent years several Ragtime-themed festivals, including this one, have added non-pianists, ostensibly to appeal to a wider audience. I see this as a positive change, providing more variety.
Since this festival is partially held outdoors, weather can be a factor. Thursday was chilly with frequent showers, but Friday and Saturday were sunny with comfortable temperatures and low humidity.
As I normally do, I signed up for the symposia on Thursday and Friday mornings. However, I did not attend all of them. One, “Ragtime’s Legacy in France,” did not pique my interest, so I went to music sets instead. Another one I skipped was Adam Swanson’s “Ragtime Composers on Film,” but only because I had seen it a few weeks earlier at Adam’s Durango festival that I reviewed in the May issue (you DID read it, didn’t you?). It was an excellent presentation. One that I did attend but found of little interest was a “History of Dances in the Ragtime Era” given by Jeannette Watts, about whom I knew nothing, although she apparently has a wide following.
The best symposia were: Virginia Tichenor and her brother Andy, a professional trumpeter, talking about their eminent father Trebor (Robert spelled backwards, by design), a vital figure in the ’60s and ’70s revivals and beyond until his death in 2014; David Thomas Roberts’ autobiographical look at his creative life, even though I found it hard to follow at times; and Frederick Hodges’ look at how popular music affected the nation during World War I.
(courtesy Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation)
I bought tickets to all six themed concerts, and all were extremely well done. The most eminent wasn’t really a concert as such: “An Evening With Joshua Rifkin.” He is not nearly as well known or revered as he should be for his contributions through his seminal recordings of Joplin’s works in the early 1970s (pre-Sting). In fact, these recordings on the prestigious Nonesuch label played a key role in the genesis of “The Sting.” Joshua, who despite his extensive research had never been to Sedalia before, talked about his life in music and played some of Joplin’s compositions he had recorded over 50 years ago on three Nonesuch LPs. (Rather than recount here all of his contributions to the re-emergence of Ragtime, I refer you to his bio on Wikipedia; Joshua said it is “mostly accurate.”)
Then there was a panel discussion with Bryan Wright and Bill McNally, followed by audience Q&A. This program alone was worth the entire festival fee. Joshua was given the Outstanding Achievement Award for 2025. This award has has been given every year since 1989 and previous winners include everyone who is anyone in the ragtime world.
Each of the other five concerts also had a theme, ranging from highly syncopated novelty and barrelhouse tunes to the great American songbook to modern rags (some played by their composers), original-era rags, and the grand finale that brought together all of the previous themes. In these concerts each performer or band played one to three songs.
This piece would consume lots of ink and trees if I were to relate everything I witnessed, so I’ll just give you the highlights:
♫ The late Ian Whitcomb and his wife Regina were the first ever Founders Award winners this year, with Regina on hand to receive it. In years to come the recipient(s) will be determined by a group of past honorees of other awards. Regina recently lost her home and all its contents in the Altadena fire, and a GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help her recover. I contributed, and I hope you will, too.
♫ Bryan Wright’s wife Yuko and their soon-to-be-six daughter Kiki, who are both taking tap dance lessons, showed their stuff while Daddy played “Charleston.” Too cute for words.
♫ Speaking of Kiki, David Thomas Roberts was commissioned by Bryan to write a piece that would envision what he hoped Kiki’s world might look like in 30 to 50 years. It’s titled Kiyomi, Kiki’s given name. David said none of his forty or more commissions have ever had a greater impact on him. We witnessed its world premiere in Saturday’s grand finale.
♫ An event instituted last year was repeated, to great audience appeal: Guess the Pianist. Three judges, blindfolded, had to identify the who was playing (the title of the piece was also not given, although in many cases that didn’t matter). But there was a catch not revealed in advance: not all the performers were pianists, and sometimes there was more than one. The judges were Brian Holland, Danny Coots, and Dave Majchrzak (pronounced MAY-zak, if you haven’t seen him before), with Frederick Hodges serving as moderator. The panel managed only two correct guesses in fourteen tries, but they had fun being wrong.
♫ Saturday afternoon’s sets typically include the duo of Bryan Wright and fellow Pittsburgher (they first met in Sedalia, not in Pittsburgh) Martin Spitznagel, usually clowning around on two pianos. This year, in deference to Joshua Rifkin’s presence, they decided to tone it down, but then Joshua intervened and made it a trio.
An acknowledgment of Ragtime Kids, a program begun in 2020, is in order. This is a mentoring program led by Bill McNally that annually names a winner. This year it was 16-year-old Jared Szabo from California. He had placed second in the new rag contest the previous weekend at the Old Time Piano Playing Competition, and he played it to lead off the finale concert. Several previous winners were at the festival and had their own sets, including Tadao Tomokiyo.
In every way this was a great festival, perhaps equaling the 50th anniversary last year, and I have already made plans to come next year.
Bill Hoffman is a travel writer, an avid jazz fan and a supporter of musicians keeping traditional jazz alive in performance. He is the concert booker for the Tri-State Jazz Society in greater Philadelphia. Bill lives in Lancaster, PA. He is the author of Going Dutch: A Visitors Guide to the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Unique and Unusual Places in the Mid-Atlantic Region, and The New York Bicycle Touring Guide. Bill lives in Lancaster, PA.
