Ragtime Festival Artists

David A. Jasen

David A. Jasen, is a leading authority on American popular music. He is also a well-known collector of books, recordings, piano rolls, periodicals, catalogues and sheet music dealing in all areas of popular music. His world famous collection has been used by television networks, recording companies, book and magazine publishers, theatrical producers, film companies, performers and scholars "There is yet one further library to acknowledge, one with materials not found in any of the above, Library of Congress, New York Public Library, City University of New York, and that is the extraordinary private collection of David Jasen.

Generously put at my disposal, Jasen's archives more than once produced treasured items thought to be irretrievably lost" - doctoral diseration, Edward Berlin. He is a consultant to Dover Books, Robbins Music Corporation, The Institute for Studies in American Music at Brooklyn College, and Ashley Music Company. His biography of pioneer musical-theatre lyricist and humorist P.G. Wode house received wide critical acclaim ("Mr. Jasen's book provides a useful summary of Wodehouses life, with particular emphasis on his theater writing." New York Times).

Richard Zimmerman

Richard Zimmerman, ragtime performer, historian, author and producer, has single-handedly been greatly responsible for the recent worldwide revival of Ragtime.

He recorded THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SCOTT JOPLIN and more recently THE COLLECTOR'S HISTORY OF RAGTIME. Both are considered to be milestones in the annals of ragtime recording.

As a producer he originated theatrical presentation of ragtime with his "Where It Was!" concert series in Los Angeles which featured ragtime stars of the present and the past - including the then forgotten Eubie Blake! He has since produced and directed many ragtime concerts.

Neville Dickie

Neville Dickie was born in County Durham, England on January 1st 1937. His early years in music were spent in the northern working mens' clubs. After his National Service in the RAF, Neville left Durham and moved to London.

He spent many years working for little money in the pubs around the London area and his lucky break came when he was auditioned by the BBC and spotted by Doreen Davies, then head of Radio 2. Hundreds of broadcasts followed, both solo and with his Trio. In 1969 he recorded “The Robins Return” which became an immediate hit. Neville remains one of the few British Jazz pianists to have had a record in the Hit Parade.

Mimi Blais

Pianist Mimi Blais from Montreal, Québec, Canada received several nicknames during her career: The female Victor Borge, The Céline Dion of the keyboard, The French Canadian Liberacette… but the one she’s proud to wear since 1990 is: The New Queen Of Ragtime.

After completing her classical training at the Quebec Conservatory of Music and McGill University in Montreal, Mimi left the beaten path to discover Music with a capital “M”. Her career has been guided by passion and whim where classical, folk, jazz, modern, blues, tango, and ragtime all blend together. Mimi’s passion for ragtime music has led her to travel across the United States and Canada, and it has even taken her to Belgium and Hungary where she received one standing ovation after another.

Jeff Barnhart

While Jeff Barnhart is now a highly regarded pianist, vocalist, arranger, bandleader, recording artist, composer, pedagogue and entertainer, he had very humble beginnings. Jeff commenced his professional career at age 14 playing and entertaining four nights a week in a restaurant in his home state of Connecticut. Here he began to learn the classic swing, jazz and ragtime repertoire of the early 20th century. Jeff put himself through college playing throughout New England including stints with one of his childhood influences, the Galvanized Jazz Band. In the 1990’s he toured the US and Canada, playing most of the major festivals on the circuit with either the Hot Cat Jazz band or the Draga-Vax Connection.

The 21st century has seen Jeff in demand as a soloist and band pianist at parties, festivals, clubs and cruises in all corners of the globe. He currently manages the Titan Hot 7, one of the most acclaimed bands in the country. In addition, he leads two bands in the UK: the Fryer-Barnhart International Jazz Band, which concentrates on hot music of the 1920’s, and Jeff Barnhart’s British Band, which performs small group swing of the 30’s.

In addition to his widely acclaimed solo and band appearances, Jeff is enjoying great success performing with smaller groups, most notably the trio We Three with clarinetist Bob Draga and drummer Danny Coots and also Ivory and Gold, a duo with his talented wife, flutist Anne Barnhart. Through her encouragement, he is now including classical works as part of his performing repertoire. Ivory and Gold is becoming a mainstay at many jazz and ragtime festivals throughout the US and the UK, while We Three is garnering praise from both audiences and critics at major festivals, concerts and parties.

Jeff enjoys playing dual piano and has done so with such jazz luminaries as Ralph Sutton, Neville Dickie, Louis Mazetier and John Sheridan. He also performs ragtime with Mimi Blais and Brian Holland. In addition to his own label, Jazz Alive Records, Jeff plays piano and sings on the international labels GHB, Summit-World Jazz Records, Music Minus One, and the two largest jazz labels in the UK, Lake Records and P.E.K. Sound. He has recently been signed on to the Arbors Records label. His forthcoming premier Arbors CD is entitled “In My Solitude.” Jeff has been featured as both pianist and vocalist on over 50 full-length recordings.

Sue Keller

Sue Keller began her ragtime obsession in 1974, after graduating from DePauw University with a degree in Music and Theater. Since then, Sue has treated audiences to her piano and vocal performances throughout the world. Her appearances have ranged from the grand opening of Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston Harbor, to the fabled Mikado nightclub in Tokyo, across the continent of Australia, and even to the Great Wall of China.

Back in the USA, Sue has been recognized as one of the world's top ragtime pianists. Appearances have included the prestigious Scott Joplin Festival in Sedalia, Missouri, the Alexandria Bay Ragtime-Jasstime Fest, Lake Superior Festival, the Indianapolis Classic Ragtime Festival, and Zehnder's in Frankenmuth. Sue is a member of the board of directors for the Old-Time Piano Championship in Peoria, Illinois, having also judged for several years. Most recently she has been chosen, with John Petley, as co-artistic director for the Scott Joplin festival for the upcoming year, 2006, having also performed that function in 2004 and 2005.

Sue has also been active in promoting the ragtime form. Sue's recording projects have employed a unique and exciting digital process. Her first project produced in this manner, KeLLeRIZED, released in 1992, includes both contemporary and traditional ragtime, old-time, novelty, and stride pieces. Her second, Ol' Muddy, continues in this regard. In her last three recordings, Nola, Ragtime Sue, and I Got What It Takes, she mixes some exciting vocals together with the more traditional repertoire. All are available on Compact Disk as well as cassette, and feature contemporary rags by Glenn Jenks, Christopher Seppe, Jon Jensen, Galen Wilkes, Frank French, George Schneider, and Ross Petot. The sixth recording. entitled "Those Irresistible Blues", containing tunes written from 1912 to 1927, has received favorable notice in BLUES REVUE magazine, EUPHONY REVIEW, the MISSISSIPPI RAG and the RAG TIMES. She has released a follow-up blues CD, "Wild Women Don't Have the Blues".

David Reffkin

David Reffkin is a graduate of The New England Conservatory of Music, Boston. He is a violinist and has played in concert and theater pit orchestras, chamber groups, and as a soloist around the country and in Canada. His many performing activities included four years as first violinist with the Grammy winning New England Ragtime Ensemble (conducted by Gunther Schuller), and as a founder and codirector of the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, where he directed the All-Star Orchestra for ten years.

He appears on numerous of recordings either as a soloist or ensemble member. Among these are LPs as the "fiddler" with Doc Severinsen. For 12 years he led a trio in a major hotel, performing the salon music of the turn of the century, just as it was during the original era. Since 1981 David has been the producer and host of "The Ragtime Machine" ("Music from the concert halls and barrooms of America"), a weekly program of ragtime music, news and interviews, on KUSF-FM, San Francisco. This long-running program is the only one of its type in the world. He also produces classical radio programs, and a series of programs wherein he interviews important researchers in astrophysics (another of his passions).

David is also a contributing editor of, and reviewer for, The Mississippi Rag, the leading journal of ragtime and traditional jazz. He is often consulted on ragtime-related projects as a contributor, draft reviewer, and proofreader for books and articles written by the country's leading authors on the subject.

Virginia Tichenor

Virginia Tichenor has been consumed by ragtime her entire life, as the daughter of Trebor Tichenor, the noted ragtime scholar, pianist, collector and founder of the St. Louis Ragtimers. She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri in the midst of one of the world's largest collections of ragtime sheet music and piano rolls and at an early age met Eubie Blake, Max Morath and Butch Thompson.

She is one of the few and best women playing ragtime in the country. Performances include the West Coast Ragtime Festival in Sacramento, California; the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, Missouri; the St. Louis Ragtime and Traditional Jazz Festival in St. Louis, Missouri, and the James Scott International Ragtime Festival in Carthage, Missouri.

Virginia also performs as a jazz band pianist, working with the Devil Mountain Jazz Band of Oakley, California. Virginia is actively involved in the ragtime community and is Vice-President of the West Coast Ragtime Society of Sacramento, California.

In 1998 Virginia released her first solo recording, a CD entitled Virginia’s Favorites. It contains 22 tracks, including four two-piano duets with her father, Trebor, and is available at all of her performances. In 2000, she recorded an album of piano solos and duets, aptly called Family Album, with Trebor and her husband, bassist and pianist Marty Eggers. Virginia, Marty and Trebor also appear together as the Tichenor Family Trio. In 2004, the Tichenor Family Five released a new recording called Ragtime Reunion, that features all the members of Virginia’s musical family.

Tracy Doyle

Always pursuing the unusual, Tracy has distinguished herself as the definitive expert in the life and times of Egbert Van Alstyne.

Working as a reporter covering the town of Marengo, Illinois in 1991, she became interested in Van Alstyne when she read a historical article, "Marengo Has Its Own Composer," which gave little detail other than a few titles, including "In The Shade Of The Old Apple Tree."

Her interest in him was piqued when she began collecting original ragtime sheet music, records and piano rolls in 1993. In the ensuing years, she has collected more than 250 of his known 420 compositions, many articles from newspapers and trade journals, piano roll performances, recordings, and public documents about Van Alstyne and his family.

Tracy first became involved in the ragtime community in 1995, when she attended the "Old Tyme Piano Playing Contest" in Decatur. She has been heaviliy involved in the ragtime scene ever since, presenting symposia at the Evergreen Ragtime Bash, the Ragtime Festival at Muscatine, Iowa, the McHenry County Historical Society. She also presented two musical programs, called "Ham and Egbert," at the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in 1996.

Tracy is now the secretary of the Maple Leaf Club and a regular contributing writer as well. Some of her published articles include "Egbert Van Alstyne, Ragtime Pioneer," "Harry Williams, Ragtime Renaissance Man," and "The Great Ragtime Murder Mystery." She also writes a column entitled "From The Secretary's Desk."

She has been producing concerts at the Woodstock Opera House in Woodstock for several years, and is hosting her second "Egbert Van Alstyne Ragtime Festival" there June 11-13, 1999.