From the 33rd West Coast Ragtime Festival

A plenitude of pleasures delighted fans who filled Rancho Cordova’s elegant Marriott Hotel and then some as the 33rd annual West Coast Ragtime Festival opened Friday, November 22, and closed Sunday, November 24, having presented, in six venues, 150 hours of scintillating syncopated music, six hours of dance instruction, seven hours of seminars, a one hour youth master class, and uncounted hours of convivial “after hours” festivities. In addition, thirty-three hours of open piano sessions accommodated casual performers who signed up to play for fifteen minute segments. This year 57 different acts—individual performers, seminar speakers, and musical aggregations—graced the stages with a wide variety of styles and presentations. Among headline performers were Richard Dowling, David Thomas Roberts, Frederick Hodges, Adam Swanson, Brian Holland, Jeff and Anne Barnhart, Donald Ryan, and Carl Sonny Leyland. Musical aggregations accommodating dancers and listeners alike were the Pacific Coast Ragtime Orchestra, the Porcupine Ragtime Ensemble, the Raspberry Jam Trio, The Easy Winners, the Crown Syncopators, and Buffalo Crossing. Frederick Hodges accompanied a program of silent movies enhancing the schedule. ­Seminars The usual program of six seminars augmented the musical program. In “The Genius of Joplin,” Richard Dowling conveyed many of the insights that he had obtained