AMICA Convention - St. Louis - Day 2
By Terry Smythe
[ Editor's Note:
[
[ Terry, thanks for these reports. I've been on the road myself, so
[ I'm sorry but I wasn't able to get the first one out in time for
[ the second of the reports to be seperated enough for there to
[ be some suspense!
[
[ Jody
Today - Day 2 - The Convention featured workshops and the Ragtime Banquet (St. Louis being the heartland of ragtime).
I attended workshops presented by Rob Deland (Collectible Music Rolls), Trebor Tichenor (Evolution of Ragtime via piano rolls), and Rick Alabaster (Leathers and Rubberized Fabrics).
Rob Deland's presentation included some neat anecdotal stories about the greats of ragtime and included some marvelous selections such as Blooie-Blooie p/b Edythe Baker and Carolina Shout p/b James P. Johnson. Rob is a fountain of knowledge about music rolls, with particular emphasis on ragtime. He finished with an appeal for all to never again use Magic Mending Tape to repair rolls. Rather, use Filmoplast P, a patching tape manufactured for librarians, available from Light Impressions (1-800-828-6216), University Products (1-800-628-1912), or Gaylord Brothers (1-800-448-6160)
Trebor Tichenor, using piano rolls as his medium, demonstrated the evolution of ragtime from very early attempts to shoehorn contemporary folk music into the emerging ragtime idiom, into current contemporary ragtime compositions. Fine presentation.
Rick Alabaster is Managing Director of
Australia Felix Trading Co. Pty. Ltd.
15 Olinda Street
Glen Waverly
Melbourne 3150, Australia
6-13-9-560-8016
6-13-9-560-5926 (fax)
and gave an excellent presentation on leathers and rubberized fabrics well suited to automatic musical instruments. He included some interesting facts about Australia's climate and how it affects the reproductive cycle of kangaroos, often leading to worldwide shortages. He also explained why kangaroo leather is so much superior than all other leathers. Switching to rubberized fabrics, he discussed the construction and characteristics of single and double ply fabrics.
He had with him full skin samples of about a dozen different types of leather, and swatch samples of about a dozen kinds of rubberized fabric. Most interesting discussion, including comments on how to detect fake kangaroo skins, and a strong recommendation to seal pouch letter with only a natural rubber solution thinned with naptha.
For the first (?) time, there was not a 'free' convention piano roll. However, something better was offered. Several new piano rolls received their world introduction, and will be available for sale at the Mart tomorrow night. They included:
1. An outstanding new ragtime composition, "The Leaclede's Landing
Rag, composed and played by Eric Bernhoft, and pumped by the
composer. I highly recommend it.
2. An exciting "4th of July Medley", featuring the following tunes
MIDI recorded and played by Scott Kirby as based upon a Eubie
Blake tape recording of some 20 years ago. Presented by and
available from Rob Deland.
Grand Old Flag
76 Trombones
Washington Post
Stars and Stripes Forever
I highly recommend it.
3. "The Tricolor March" (composed and played by Lee Roberts), from
a rare Apolla Red X piano roll. Presented by and available from
Robin Pratt. I highly recommend it.
4. "The will be no new tunes on this old piano!", composed by John
Bogatko. Presented by Shawn Fox for QRS from whom it is
available. I highly recommend it.
5. A new "4 Tune Medley" for 20 note monkey organs such as Raffins,
Hofbauers, & Jager und Brommer organs. Presented by Angelo
Rulli and available from Jager und Brommer. Tunes include Meet
Me in St. Louis, Louie, Take me out to the ball game, By the
light of the silvery moon, and Let me call you sweetheart.
First tune only played by Angelo, arrangement very smooth and
melodic.
Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Mr. J. Douglas Hamilton, Director of Scott Joplin House. He came on as "The Professor", and started things with a stunning slow rag that brought tears to many eyes. He played the part of an again 'professor' who personally knew Scott Joplin, and played the part convincingly.
The Children's Performing Arts Academy, directed by Richard Martin, brought on a group of 8 children who demonstrated traditional tap dance routines, conducted a "Challenge" contest among his students, who then went into the audience for partner selection and a 'Charleston" tutorial. Delightful group.
Then on came the "St, Louis Ragtimers" composed of Trebor Tichenor, Al Stricker, Don Franz, Bill Mason and Eric Sager. They gave us an outstanding concert of authentic ragtime band performances. Great show!
The evening concluded with J. Douglas Hamilton playing Scott Joplin's "New Rag".
Absolutely memorable evening! The whole performance was taped, and $20 (US) copies may be obtained from:
Lynch Television Productions
3424 Humphrey
St. Louis, MO 63118
(314) 664-5008 (voice/fax)
InterNet email: lynchm@medicine.wustl.edu
Regards,
Terry
(Coming to you from beautiful downtown St. Louis)
Terry Smythe (204) 832-3982 (voice/fax)
55 Rowand Avenue smythe@mts.net
Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3J 2n6 smythe@freenet.mb.ca
Home page: http://www.mts.net/~smythe |
(Message sent Fri 28 Jun 1996, 07:00:35 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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