Ragfest 2019: Scintillating Syncopation

A surfeit of syncopation descended on Southern California’s Orange County on September 7 as RagFest 2019 attracted a goodly complement of enthusiasts to revel in the musical pleasures of the era. Originated, produced and hosted by Eric Marchese and sponsored by Friends of Jazz, a non-profit whose goal is to foster music in the schools, RagFest has been an annual event featuring live music from the ragtime era since the fall of 2000. Keeping RagFest alive over the years has been an extended labor of love for Eric and certainly no cakewalk. Originally a weekend event, past venues have included a jazz club, a music store, a museum auditorium, a library, and a park and cultural center, all of them in Fullerton. Although the event has been cut back to one day since 2016, for the last three years Eric has secured as a venue the elegant Curtis Theater and adjoining plaza in Brea’s Civic Center. This has allowed concurrent performances in the theater and at two sites outdoors on the plaza. During the day individual and group performers presented half-hour sessions climaxed in the evening by a revue show in the theater. Although attendance had fallen to a low ebb in 2015, I was surprised and elated this year as a resurgence elicited an almost full house for the evening revue show.