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Next Meeting: Sunday January 12, 20251:00 - 4:00 PM
at The Barkley Restaurant, 1400 Huntington Drive, South Pasadena
All are welcome. Non-performers are asked to make a $5.00 donation to the club. Food and beverages, including a full bar, are available - CASH ONLY. There is an ATM on the premises. Pianists - please consider attending!
December 2024 Meeting Report
The Rose Leaf Ragtime Club met for the last syncopated gathering of the year on December 8, 2024 at The Barkley Restaurant and Bar in South Pasadena. Pianists Ron Ross, Vincent Johnson, and Jared Szabo were present and they performed just shy of three dozen rags for the audience assembled.
Ron Ross got the festivities kicked of with a trio of his own compositions. He opened with the dreamy and contemplative “Nostalgia.” His second number “Rose Leaf Combination Tango”, was composed in honor of our club. His closing “Saturday Serenade”, his latest composition, is a syncopated waltz, and perhaps a titular companion to “Sunday Serendipity.”
Vincent Johnson opened his set with Scott Joplin’s “Rose Leaf Rag” – a traditional opener for the club meetings and one of Joplin’s most intricate compositions. For the month of December, Vincent had prepared Malvin Franklin & Arthur Lange’s “Hot Chocolate Rag.” Next up was Euday L. Bowman’s “11th Street Rag”, which bears a marked resemblance to Bowman’s more successful “12th Street Rag.” Vincent closed his set with Joplin’s “Palm Leaf Rag.”
Taking a hint from Vincent’s performance of “11th Street Rag”, Jared Szabo opened his set with Euday Bowman’s “12th Street Rag.” He continued with May Aufderheide’s “Buzzer Rag”, whose opening theme steals a chord progression from the famed Liebestraum by Franz Liszt. Jared then gave a lovely and subdued performance of Ford Dabney’s “Haytian Rag”, before closing his set with Charles L. Johnson’s “Crazy Bone Rag.”
Vincent returned to the piano with a pair of classic rags suitable for the Christmas season – “Reindeer Rag” by Joseph F. Lamb and “Evergreen Rag” by James Scott. He closed his set by inviting Aynn Freeman to accompany him on washboard on Scott Joplin’s “The Ragtime Dance.”
Aynn Freeman remained with her washboard as Ron Ross traded places with Vincent at the piano. He played another trio of originals, starting with “That Itchin’ Rag”, which is another more recent Ross’ opus. “Digital Rag”, which dates back to the late 1990s, followed. He closed with the amusingly titled “Obadiah’s Jumpsuit.”
Jared made his way to the ivories and treated us to “Verenita One-Step”, an original composition named for a retirement community where Jared plays piano. In addition to this original composition, Jared gave us his own raggy arrangements of W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues” and “Little Drummer Boy” Katherine Davis. In between these two arrangements, he played H.A. Fischler’s “Weeping Willow Rag” – not to be confused with the Scott Joplin composition of the same title.
Vincent’s next set at the keys opened with Scott Joplin’s “The Chrysanthemum – An Afro Intermezzo.” Joseph Lamb’s beautiful “Alaskan Rag” – perhaps one of the composer’s last compositions – followed. He capped his set with two 1910s rags written by some of the early stride pianists: James P. Johnson’s “Daintiness Rag” and C. Luckyth Roberts’ “Junk Man Rag.”
Jared began his final set with his original “Hardy Rag”, which channels some of the early rag compositions from the turn of the last century. He then played “38th Street Rag”, written by the great folk ragtime eccentric, Les Copeland and closed with the King of Rags – Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag.”
Vincent Johnson returned to the ivories and Jared and Aynn both accompanied on washboard. Vincent began this set with “Sun Flower Slow Drag”, a collaboration between Scott Joplin and Scott Hayden. He continued with Thomas “Fats” Waller’s “Alligator Crawl” and ended with James Scott’s “Grace and Beauty Rag.”
Ron Ross gave us one final pairing at the piano – his original “Retro Rag” and his own unique arrangement of Hal Isbitz’ “Chandelier Rag.” Vincent Johnson brought the meeting to a close with the pairing of Rube Bloom’s “Aunt Jemima’s Birthday” and Eubie Blake’s “The Chevy Chase.”
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
1400 Huntington Dr., South Pasadena, CA, United States, California 91030
