Nobody is Somebody: The River Raisin Ragtime Revue with Daniel Washington

The River Raisin Ragtime Revue is a theater orchestra based in Michigan that produces exciting performances of America's original popular music. They have curated concerts and CDs around themes such as the works of new ragtime composer Reginald R. Robinson. They also host an annual Ragtime Extravaganza! with musicians, dancers, actors and visual artists in a vaudeville style revue. The orchestra is led by co-founder William Pemberton, the tubist, who also narrates many performances and since the retirement of William R. Hays has served as music director. Hayes was behind the orchestration of much of their new album Nobody is Somebody. The title is a reference to Bert Williams who became a widely known star, a somebody, after the success of his song "Nobody." Williams was the starting point in choosing music for this program mixing spirituals and popular songs from turn-off-the-century black composers. In addition to Williams they perform works from H.T. Burleigh, J. Rosamond Johnson, Robert Hood Bowers, George Walker, and others.  Some of the songs were originally part of African-American led stage productions, such as Abyssinia, that were trying to push theater beyond the tropes of minstrelsy. Some were recorded at the time by their composers, and others not recorded by anyone until years later. The titles are not performed as they would have been in their original con