It was 2014 all over again.
Eleven Regular Division contestants at this year's World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival.
Ten semifinal spots to fill in Regular Division competition.
What a decision for contest judges Paul Asaro, Patrick Holland, and Raymond Schwarzkopf to make. [And it was deja vu all over again for Paul, who teamed up a year ago with Brian Holland (no kin to Patrick) and Terry Parrish at the judges' table at Illinois' Embassy Suites East Peoria.]
Somebody would have to be left out of the Sunday competition at the 41st annual event.
This time, that somebody would be...
Nobody!
For the second straight year, all eleven OTPP RD hopefuls would compete for five spots in the Memorial Day weekend event's Final Five.
The first of the eleven to go up to bat was that lawyer from Los Angeles (no, not Robert Kardashian)...Adam Yarian. In the Reg semifinals, OTPP's first three-time Junior champ cum three-time Regular kingpin followed "Echoes of Spring" with what turned out to be the first of two versions of "King Chanticleer," the Nat Ayer romp that's become known in ragtime circles as just about the fastest number you can play.
Will Bennett (not just one of two Michiganders in the competition, but also one of two to come out of the city of Ann Arbor!) kept it 1930s by turning in two more numbers from that decade: "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails" and "Cheek to Cheek."
You thought Walter Murphy had the only unusual take on Beethoven's Fifth Symphony? Check out David Cavalari's version- it's now up there on YouTube.
For his other second-round selection, the man from the Twin Cities suburb of Burnsville, MN kept it interesting (and kept it rockin') with "Sing, Sing, Sing."
Next up was Michael J. Winstanley, from the Philadelphia, PA area...and for his return to the Regular Division semis, he came up with "Cotton Balls" and Jelly Roll Morton's "The Perfect Rag." (The latter was played three years earlier by another native Pennsylvanian, Martin Spitznagel...who's since moved over to the Washington, DC area.)
John Remmers (the second half of the Ann Arbor, MI duo) took to the stage next, then put the contest's 2010s-era Charles Walter studio piano through "The Crimson Rambler" and "Original Rags," the Scott Joplin number that got a boost when fellow composer Charles N. Daniels published it.
Then came the defending RD champion, Ethan Uslan...University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign letterman's sweater and all.
Ethan's semifinal bid consisted of "Oskee Wow-Wow" and the much more familiar "Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)."
I didn't get to watch the New Jerseyite-turned-North Carolinian work those two numbers onstage (only while he was rehearsing)...because I had to rehearse as well.
And after a break in the competition came a certain Iowan-turned-Nebraskan-turned-Iowan-turned-Nebraskan.
What's more, this Iowan-turned-Nebraskan-turned-Iowan-turned Nebraskan still had an axe to grind.
After being told the night before by one longtime C&F fan that he couldn't follow along with my version of "Hardhearted Hannah" and then told half a day later by another longtime contest fan that "Jim, you have no rhythm," I most certainly had an axe to grind.
So I did my grinding with "St. Louis Blues," the longest tune I've ever competed with; and "Barney Google," the shortest OTPP competition number I've ever turned in.
Felt really comfortable up there.
Darn right it felt great to, after all these years, be able to hold my own alongside (or against, depending on your point of view) the other contestants...especially old-time piano's big guns.
One of those big guns was next...1991 Reg titleholder Bill Edwards.
The man from Virginia (by way of California, Colorado, and the District of Columbia) still had a chance to be one of the division's Last Five Standing...a very good chance, what with "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" (Bill's own dip into the 1930s waters) and "That's a-Plenty."
And afterwards came the biggest gun in old-time piano.
Adam Swanson showed why he's the genre's biggest gun by knocking out his incomparable version of "Maple Leaf Rag" and by taking his own dip in the 1930s pool, "Forty Second Street."
As things turned out, the last three RD performers to go up in the 2015 division semis started competing in Ted Lemen's claim to fame as youngsters (a la Adam Y.), and that meant Pennsylvanian-turned-Marylander Dan Mouyard got the next set...which he used to mount two of his old standbys, "Snowy Morning Blues" and the first of two "Charleston Rag" renditions in this year's title test.
Faye Ballard (from Champaign, IL) rounded out the Regular Division semifinal competition for 2015...and old-time piano's First Lady followed "Puttin' on the Ritz" with OTPP Weekend 2015's second version of "Charleston Rag." (Did you know that Eubie Blake wrote the number in 1899, the year he turned sixteen?)
Well, Paul, Patrick, and Raymond had a real decision to make; and as Ted put it: "The competition's getting better every year." Another thing: Of the eleven RD hopefuls for 2015, eight had made the division's finals at least once apiece. (John, Michael J., and Will were the exceptions.)
And of those eight past finalists, five went on to win the whole ball of wax. And that quintet had racked up twelve of the forty RD titles coming into 2015.
Lots of audience members probably would've wanted their money back if a Michigander-turned-Texan-turned-Iowan-turned-Coloradan-turned-Marylander hadn't earned his way back into the Big Money.
The Embassy Suites East Peoria crowd did get its money's worth, for Adam S. got back to the Big Money after five years away from competition (three of those years teaming up with Ted to emcee the whole thing).
Last year, if you played your way into the Reg finals, one of your last two selections had to have the name of a color in the title. This time around, the wild-card piece needed to include the name of a food item (or the name of a beverage) in the title.
One of just two previously undefeated-and-retired RD champions to take advantage of the biggest rule change for what had been billed as the final version of OTPP, Adam G. Swanson showed he was Adam G. Swanson, what with him nuking "French Pastry Rag" and the second "King Chanticleer" heard in competition in East Peoria.
AGS' biggest rival (none other than Ethan) was the next to jump on ol' Charles Walter...and the man from Charlotte, NC didn't disappoint, either. He reeled 'em in with "Ramona" and kept 'em in by unleashing "Beer Barrel Polka."
Then it was...Dan's turn.
The same Dan Mouyard who set up the contest's current Website, www.oldtimepianocontest.org, found his way to the money line three years after his last turn as a competitor. And in this year's finals in the RD's, he turned to one of his old standbys ("Honeysuckle Rose") and followed that up with his food tune, "Blackberry Blossom."
Three finalists down...two to go.
Would one of them be Bill, who'd taken home prize money twenty times coming into OTPP 41.0?
Well, one of the remaining finalists was Adam Y.
The other previously unbeaten-and-retired RD titleholder (the youngest to accomplish that until Adam S. came along) showed 'em with "Pork and Beans," followed by "Bach Up to Me."
This left one more slot to go. Who in the world would walk away with the fifth check at the end of the competition? If not "Perfessor" Bill, would it be Michael J. or John R. or Will?
How about Faye?
Would it be...me?
No way!
David C. ran the anchor leg.
The Virginian-turned-Minnesotan made it two finals appearances in two years; and just like in 2014, he stuck in some numbers that were off the beaten path. Taking a page from his prelims playlist, David came up with "The Watermelon Trust" and "Bonehead Blues."
Meanwhile, watching the festivities all this time- and taking notes- were Floridians John and Kimberly Santamaria, heads of a group trying to bring OTPP magic to the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. If the group from the Sunshine State could pull it off, the C&F would be held in February instead of May (the better to attract tourists).
Two other groups have expressed interest in taking over the contest- a group from Oxford, MS (headed up by former contest judge Ian Hominick, who'd like to bring OTPP to his place of work, the University of Mississippi) and one from Franklin, TN.
Only the Tampa Bay group sent anyone to Greater Peoria this past Memorial Day weekend...and here's what Kimberly and John saw at the end of Regular Division competition:
Dan took home $250- and fifth place.
David jumped over the 2001 and 2003 RD champ (who also took the 1996 JD crown) and took fourth place, pocketing $400.
Third place- and $550- went to Adam Y., the 1998-2000 Junior Division titleholder who went on to top the Regular Division in 2004, 2005, and 2006.
And the result would ensure that somebody would tack on a fourth Reg championship.
First place meant $1,350 and possession of Ted's Trophy...this time, for good instead of having the statue for just a year.
Second place? Well, that would make somebody $800 richer.
It was close again (okay...maybe not as close as it was in 2008, when the margin of victory was a single point)...but Ethan (tops in 2007, 2012, and 2014) watched Adam S. hoist the Ted Lemen Traveling Trophy one more time...just like in 2008, 2009, and 2010.
And all of that on top of his triumphs in the J's in 2003, 2004, and 2006.
Plus his 2013 victory in OTPP's New Rag Contest.
To say nothing of his teaming up with the ol' "Perfessor" to snag the very first OTPP Duet Contest championship.
At any rate...if this 41st edition of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival was THE final one, the event sure went out with a bang. (Okay...a BANG!)
If not...will Adam Swanson have to give the Big Trophy back?
All we can do is stay tuned.
So far, the 41st Annual World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival had been some kind of fun (personal and otherwise)...from the Thursday tuneups at West Peoria's Sky Harbor Steakhouse to the ride on the Spirit of Peoria (an excursion I wouldn't have been allowed to take if the ticket seller at the dock hadn't recognized me from last year; I hadn't signed up in advance in 2015) to watching the New Rag Contest and the Duet Contest to playing in the party room (the very room where Duet and New Rag were staged).
Still had an axe to grind.
Last year, at the very last moment at the very last OTPP afterglow party, I was jamming with two of the 2014 Regular Division finalists (including the man who'd just gotten through winning it all)...and the one who didn't win it all in 2014 liked what he was hearing from me.
He couldn't leave it at that.
This same contestant asked me: "Why don't you play like that onstage?"
Then he instructed me to play alongside recordings.
I started doing that, first with a Sony Walkman, then- starting this past February- with an MP3 player I'd won at our company's picnic in September of last year.
When I can't take my MP3 player to a piano practice session, I'll work those rags out on an organ (in an effort to slow down). Or else I'll watch ragtime videos on YouTube and study them.
Nevertheless, I was so darned put off by his (let's face it, Bill Edwards') question that I was all set to boycott the 2015 C&F party-room sessions.
Boycott a party room?
Isn't that a contradiction in terms?
Anyway, the Friday afterglow worked out fine, and I definitely was fired up about the next day...where nineteen contestants (eleven Regular Division ones and eight in the Junior Division) would duke it out.
For 2015, the folks at the Old-Time Music Preservation Association changed some rules around to get more older contestants in there. (For a while, more JDs than RDs had gone out for OTPP 41.0.)
First of all, they decided to change the cutoff year for contest songs to 1939 (it previously was 1929).
Second, contest coordinator Faye Ballard was given the green light to put her contestant's hat back on.
Then they did the unthinkable:
Ted Lemen and Co. opened this year's competition to Regular Division pianists who'd previously retired undefeated.
Well, the philosophy was: "If we're going to go out...we're going out WITH A BANG!!"
And all nineteen of us were going to show our stuff on...a 2010s era Charles Walter studio piano. (The plan was originally to replace the famous 1883 Weber upright with a 2015, fresh-out-of-the-box Knabe studio model...but the Knabe proved too stiff for many of this year's hopefuls. So, the fresh-out-of-the-crate piano was put in the other party room and the Walter shifted over to the contest stage at the hotel's conference center.)
And Michigander Will Bennett became the first OTPP competitor to show the contest audience what the Walter can do...and he took advantage of the new song rules by playing "Jeepers Creepers" and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)."
The crowd got a second helping of the Wolverine State Sound when John Remmers stepped up to the stage. John (a retired college professor) decided not to dip his toes into the waters of the 1930s, feeling comfortable with "My Sunny Tennessee" and "Scott Joplin's New Rag."
The next two performers were new to the contest...and neither one was from Michigan.
Junior Division contestant (and Illinoisan) Amberlyn Aimone turned in a pair of rags also written by ol' Scott himself: "Swipesy" and "The Ragtime Dance."
Nina Freeman (a JD'er) made the trip that fellow Texan Melissa Roen Williams had signed up for a year ago (and didn't take). And Nina made the trip really count by polishing off "Fig Leaf Rag" (Scott wrote it) and "Russian Rag," one of George Cobb's most famous compositions.
David Cavalari (fresh off his New Rag Contest triumph) put the ball back in the RD court in his bid to get back to that division's finals...and he started his 2015 quest out with a bang, playing "Fingerbuster" and "The Finger Breaker."
Then came the first performer to jump in on the most drastic rule change of all.
Instead of cohosting the ceremonies alongside Ted, Adam Swanson jumped back into the ring to add to his already matchless list of OTPP championships...and he launched his 2015 effort by saluting Eubie Blake (the most famous composer to come out of Adam's new stomping grounds, Baltimore, MD) with "Memories of You" and "Troublesome Ivories."
Pennsylvanian Michael J. Winstanley was the fifth of the eleven Regular Division performers to go up to bat, and he played "Deed I Do" (one of my favorite 1920s tunes) and "That Eccentric Rag."
Then came the youngest of the three Duet Contest partnerships.
Nathan Beasley went up first; he knocked it out with Luckey Roberts' "Pork and Beans" and Mark Janza's "Aviation Rag."
Fellow JD'er Danny Souvigny was trying to hook a third championship in that division (to go with his 2012 and 2014 triumphs). This year, Danny took to the stage with "After You've Gone" and "Go Wash an Elephant."
Adam Yarian (a Marylander-turned-Californian; he now lives and works in Los Angeles) was the last to go to the Charles Walter studio piano prior to the Saturday session's lunch break. The first C&F contestant to win three JD titles and three RD championships, Adam Y. showed the Embassy Suites crowd just how he helped raise the bar at a time when Adam S. was starting out (and learning fast!) as a contestant.
Adam Y. gave 'em "Handful of Keys" and "The Pearls."
Well, lunch time came and went; contest fans had a dizzying array of places to eat within (at the very least) walking distance of the Embassy Suites East Peoria...like the Steak 'n' Shake next door.
The place was packed.
In fact, that restaurant was so packed that Saturday afternoon that I had to leave that S 'n' S without eating a single bite.
This year, I drew eleventh position...and so, I had to kick off the second half of this year's prelims. (Yep...I followed Adam Y.)
I turned in a "Hardhearted Hannah" that had the same beat as Del Wood's version of "Down Yonder;" after that, I did "In My Merry Oldsmobile."
For "Olds," I took inspiration from 1980s-1990s OTPP contestant Mark Lutton, who used the lower keys to "start" his car. When it came to reworking "Hannah," I started thinking about all the crap some people at the C&F had given me through the years- from Steve Foster scolding me for starting over in a practice session in 1993 to Bill Edwards' 2014 question- and I did something I'd never set out to do in competition before:
I hit the keys with my forearms during the middle of "Hardhearted Hannah."
Well, the audience really liked it...and I'd never felt more comfortable about playing in C&F competition than on OTPP Saturday 2015.
Dan Mouyard- the first to win a Reg crown after taking a Junior title- came up to bat next, and he wowed 'em with "I Found a New Baby" and "Steeplechase Rag." (Morgan Siever, the top JD contestant in 2010 and 2011, rocked those same two numbers when she was in competition.)
And then came...the contest coordinator, a woman who, when she was twelve, almost won the whole ball of wax (at a time when everybody competed for just one top prize).
Faye's first foray into OTPP competition since 2010 worked out fine (well, I like to think so!)...and she turned in a couple of her old standbys, "Royal Garden Blues" and "Honky Tonk." (Sorry, Bill Doggett fans...not that "Honky Tonk.")
Speaking of JD...three more younger pianists weighed in at that moment.
First up was the fifth of six Illinoisans to go at it in 2015, Megan Jobe (she came back after sitting out 2014).
I'm glad Megan came back, for it gave the Embassy Suites crowd a chance to hear her unique style, which she brought to "Cleaning Up in Georgia" and "The Entertainer."
Fourteen down...five to go.
It would've been seven to go if Isaac Smith (who delayed Danny's march to three Junior Division championships by winning the division in 2013) hadn't gone to Des Moines to compete in the Iowa High School Track and Field Championships...and if Madeline Yara (from Mint Hill, NC; one of the Charlotte suburbs) had found two pre-1940 tunes to work on.
So...it was left to Isaac's and Madeline's younger siblings to carry on the family names in the OTPP battles.
And carry on they did.
Mia Yara celebrated her thirteenth birthday by entering the New Rag Contest; the next day, she took to the Charles Walter to bat out "At the Jazz Band Ball" and "Mood Indigo."
Then the guitarist-keyboardist-vocalist in the Charlotte-area rock band Controll Freex (visit www.controllfreex.com) gave way to Eli Smith...who brought home "Grizzly Bear" and "Dizzy Fingers."
Two of last year's RD finalists were next...the two I jammed with at the final 2014 afterglow party at the Embassy Suites East Peoria.
Ethan Uslan (he's also Maddy's and Mia's old-time piano mentor) hadn't lost a beat in his effort to hang on to that Ted Lemen Traveling Trophy...and he started his defense of that title by firing up "Syboney" (I hope I spelled it right) and "Georgia on My Mind."
Bill himself (the only Bill in competition this time, since circumstances kept Bill McNally in the New York City area for Memorial Day weekend) was in fine, fine form himself as he brought back a couple of tunes he'd entered before: "Mississippi Rag" and "Toot, Toot Tootsie (Goodbye)."
Leo Volker rounded out the 2015 prelims, using "Maple Leaf Rag" and "Magnetic Rag" to close out the Saturday leg of a one-Smith, one-Yara weekend in East Peoria.
Well, that was it...nothing to do but (1) finish the food I'd finally gotten from Steak 'n' Shake and (2) join everybody else in finding out how the JD competition went. (To say nothing of wondering who was going to play the next day!)
When contest judges Paul Asaro, Patrick Holland, and Raymond Schwarzkopf came out of deliberation, they found out that Mia kept the Yara family rolling in the dough by pocketing $40 (good for fifth place in the Junior Division).
Nathan got fourth place among the J's (that's $60) and Eli made sure a Smith would get paid (he picked up $100, the third-place prize in the division). Meanwhile, Nina took her second-place prize of $125 back home to San Antonio, TX.
And Danny S. still had the magic...and it made him $250 richer.
One question remained: "Who's gonna play in the Regular Division semifinals?"
Wait for my next post and you'll get the answer!
I'm going to take a break from telling the story of the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival to tell you a little about...the 2015 edition of the Illinois get-together.
I missed the first eighteen (1975-1992) contests, and after making all but six (1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010, and 2011) of the next 22, I sure didn't want to miss what was billed as the final edition.
Well, at least the final Illinois staging.
OTPP 2015 was the final Land of Lincoln installment because of the real difficulty Old-Time Music Preservation Association members had been having in recent years to get younger hands steering the contest wheel and keeping the Memorial Day weekend event going.
More to the point: The fans who'd been supporting the C&F had been getting older...and many of their children and grandchildren hadn't been stepping up to lend their support for the contest.
With all of that in mind, John and Kimberly Santamaria (a couple from Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL) flew to the Peoria, IL area to find out just what Ted Lemen's claim to fame was all about.
Kimberly and John head up a group interested in bringing the event to Florida.
And from what I could tell, the Santamarias liked what they saw.
I met John and Kimberly at OTPP Weekend's first function- the Thursday night (5-21-2015) tuneups at the Sky Harbor Steakhouse in West Peoria, IL.
Folks who'd been coming to the steakhouse tuneups ever since the restaurant became part of the OTPP festivities noticed something different:
That 1883 Weber upright known to contest fans as "Moby Dink" had been moved to Sky Harbor.
What's more, Moby Dink stood proudly to the right of that yellow Grinnell Bros. upright.
And that meant lots and lots of possibilities for duets.
Lots of those duets involved one of this year's new contestants, an Illinoisan named Nathan Beasley. (Check out his YouTube videos...you'll really get a kick out of them!)
Nathan (he's in the yellow shirt in the photo above) played alongside just about any fellow ragtimer who went to the tuneup session...and he was kicking hind ends and taking names.
Do you remember reading about how Marty Mincer and "Perfessor" Bill Edwards began to really hit it off when they first met in the late 1980s at OTPP? Well, Nathan and fellow Illinoisan (and reigning Junior Division kingpin) Danny Souvigny started to forge that same kind of friendship during OTPP 2015.
And it was some kind of fun to follow...especially as Contest Thursday turned into Contest Friday (and the activities moved to the riverboat Spirit of Peoria and, ultimately, to the weekend's main venue, the Embassy Suites East Peoria).
5-22-2015 was the day of the OTPP New Rag Contest, which was won by Virginian-turned-Minnesotan David Cavalari (he turned in a rollicking number called "That Old 45 RPM Rag").
Right after that came the first (and hopefully not only) OTPP Duet Contest.
Just three pairs went out for the top prize: Dan Mouyard and Adam Yarian (the first and third contestants, respectively, to win the Regular Division crown after bagging Junior Division titles); Adam Swanson (the most decorated performer to ever enter the C&F) and the ol' "Perfessor" himself; and- you might've guessed it- Danny and Nathan.
Turned out to be some kind of close, and any of the three duos could've snagged the crown.
As things turned out, it was Bill the "Perfessor" and Adam the Prodigy. (Well, if you've ever seen the movie "The Entertainers," well...)
With that mystery out of the way, one big one remained as the main competition drew near: "What're they gonna use for a contest piano, now that 'Moby Dink' is at the steakhouse?"
Stay tuned for Part Two, and I'll tell you.
It's gone from an event held outdoors and subject to at least the worst atmospheric conditions Central Illinois tends to face in late May to an event held in hotels that keep getting better. (Every time this event has to find a new venue, the next venue tends to work out better than the old one.)
At first, it was a contest hurting for participants. Then it got to the point where so many contestants entered that a limit was eventually put on the field (26 is now the max).
When the event began, pianists of all ages competed for one prize. Then in 1985, a Junior Division was created so that players 17 or younger could go for the glory. (Now, performers in that division and the Regular Division fight for ten cash prizes...and the winner in each sector gets a trophy.)
And it's gone from a competition whose first five championships went to two women (1975-76 champ Joybelle Squibb and 1977-79 titleholder Dorothy Herrold) to an event whose biggest prize hasn't gone to a woman since Mimi Blais added the 2000 title to the championship she won in 1994 to a contest where its Regular Division hasn't had a female participant since 2012...the first (and- thus far- only) year Tennessee's Diana Stein went for the Big Trophy.
This year, people who spent Memorial Day weekend at Illinois' Embassy Suites East Peoria missed out on the chance to hear a Texan named Melissa Roen Williams show off her old-time piano skills.
And that's how eleven RD contestants (to go with seven Junior Division participants) ended up competing in the 40th annual World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival.
After 13-year-old Daniel Souvigny got his Junior Division crown back on 5-24-2014, it was up to contest judges Brian Holland, Patrick Holland, and Terry Parrish to eliminate one Regular Division contestant and send the remaining ten into the next day's semifinals.
This year's unlucky so-and-so was...was...was...
Well, actually, all eleven RD players moved on to the OTPP semifinals!
As was the case in the previous day's prelims, Damit Senanayake went first. I didn't get to find out what his first semifinal piece was (maybe one of you reading this blog can disclose the answer)...but I do know his second selection was "Blue Room."
Another thing about OTPP: You get fifteen minutes of rehearsal time before it's your turn to play the contest piano, that 1883 Weber upright better known as "Moby Dink." (As contest coordinator Faye Ballard- who spent the 1976-2010 period as a contestant before becoming just the second coordinator in C&F history- likes to say: "If you snooze, you lose.")
I put in the rehearsal time...after hearing Michael J. Winstanley pump out his two semifinal tunes during his own rehearsal time: "If You Knew Susie" and "Smiles and Shuffles."
And so, while Michael J. went to River E and F (the combined space where the actual competition took place) to perform his two semifinal selections, I took over at the rehearsal piano (a 1960s Hamilton studio piano placed just outside the Green Room).
To tell you the truth...I felt more comfortable during the semifinal round (my first semis since 1994!) than I did during the 2014 prelims. This round, I picked out "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" and an obscurity from 1902, "Robardina Rag," a number written by a St. Louis composer named E. Warren Furry.
Plus: I was so pumped up about making the semifinals that I did the same thing that Sunday as the day before: I ran to the stage.
And, just like the day before, Ted Lemen had to tell me: "No running!"
Domingo Mancuello was next up to bat...and he DID hit it out the park, with "I Get the Blues When It Rains" and "She Was Just a Sailor's Sweetheart."
William McNally followed, playing Joseph Lamb's "Topliner Rag" and the weekend's second edition of "Limehouse Blues."
Then came the man with the only other "Limehouse" rendition: Ethan Uslan.
Whereas William M. came out in a different tuxedo than the one he put on for the prelims, Ethan hit the stage wearing a...straw hat, striped T-shirt, swim trunks, and a life preserver.
And when Kate's husband (and Ben's and Henry's dad) got to the Embassy Suites stage in that getup, I figured: "That did it. Give Ethan the trophy!"
Ethan made it stick by stroking out "By the Beautiful Sea" and one called "Yack-a-Hula-Wicki-Doola."
All of that gave William Bennett a tough, tough act to follow.
And the Ann Arbor native did it, too! His semifinal entries were "How'd You Like to Spoon with Me?" and "Hothouse Rag."
David Cavalari brings some interesting, off-the-beaten-path numbers to the contest, and this round was no exception. In it, David rocked out "Impecunious Davis" and "Running Water."
"Perfessor" Bill Edwards followed up with "Swampy River" and "Old Folks at Home." (That's right...THAT "Old Folks at Home!")
John Remmers carries Ann Arbor's banner, too (he used to teach at the University of Michigan). With that great style of his, you know you can count on John reaching the semis year after year. And this time, he staked his claim with James Scott's "Prosperity Rag" and one titled "The Whistler and His Dog."
Now it was Samuel Schalla's turn to round out the 2014 OTPP second round...and I like what this physics student did with Joe Jordan's "That Teasin' Rag" and Luckey Roberts' "Nothin'."
When the semifinals were finished, Brian, Patrick, and Terry went off to do some more ciphering; Ted and fellow emcee Adam Swanson kicked back for a while; and the audience did some kicking back all its own...either inside River E and F or just outside the two combined rooms.
After all the judges' ciphering came to an end...Bill Edwards came back onstage to tackle ol' Moby Dink.
And tackle that 1883 Weber upright he did, hammering out "Red Raven Rag" and "The Blues (My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me)," a 1920 number made famous by Ted Lewis, the bandleader famous for "Is Everybody Happy Now?"
This year's wildcard theme was (drum roll)...color!
As things turned out, the other Bill ended up getting in line to get paid. As a result, we got a chance to hear the now four-time New Rag kingpin do "Green River Blues" and Maceo Pinkard's "Liza."
Bill McNally was followed by one of old-time piano's most passionate performers. (You guessed it...Domingo!)
After Domingo got the crowd a date with "Me and My Shadow," he invited the fans to say "Hello, Bluebird."
Adam and Ted regaled the OTPP audience with tunes (as well as old-time piano pointers) after Domingo's and the Two Bills' final sets. And after one last clinic, the two hosts turned it over to David...who turned in Duke Ellington's and Bub Miley's "Black and Tan Fantasy" as well as the romping "Shreveport Stomp."
This left Ethan as the last finalist...and he came out dressed like Abraham Lincoln (right down to the black suit, stovepipe hat, and fake beard).
Ethan picked up the Stephen Foster baton that "Perfessor" Bill ran with in the semifinals, and the 2007 and 2012 RD titleholder nailed "Old Black Joe" and "Oh, Susanna."
Well, in a nutshell, Bill E. finished fifth and won $250, David got fourth prize and earned $400 for it, Domingo outdid his 2013 showing by grabbing off third (that meant $550), and Bill M. won second place...and walked away with $800.
And Ethan racked up his third Regular Division title, good for $1,350 and that Ted Lemen Traveling Trophy.
And so it's time to practice up for next year...and to see what 2015 will bring. .
No more than 26 people can annually enter the main competition at the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival...and that means the Old-Time Music Preservation Association (the group that puts on the C&F) cuts the preliminary competition off at sixteen Regular Division contestants and ten Junior Division (seventeen and younger) combatants.
This time around, we had seven JDers and eleven RDers.
And the seven who competed for five Junior Division cash prizes came out of five families.
Speaking of families...births lightened the 2014 OTPP field. First of all, Martin Spitznagel (the contest's 2011 Reg champ) stayed home with his wife so that they could enjoy their first child.
And the reigning Regular Division titleholder, Russell Wilson (from the same Washington, DC area the Spitznagels now live and work in), couldn't come to the Embassy Suites East Peoria (IL) because his wife was due during OTPP Weekend with their first child.
So there we were...all eighteen of us gathered in the Green Room of the Conference Center portion of the Embassy Suites East Peoria at 7:30 AM (Central time) on Saturday, 5-24-2014. We'd gathered to draw numbers to determine playing order.
And, as things turned out...Washington's (America's 42nd State, not America's capitol city) Damit Senanayake became the first 2014 OTPP contestant...and the first Regular Division pianist to try and take Russell's 2013 title away.
Damit's got a pleasant, sedate, stately style...and he brought that style to Irene Giblin's most famous rag, "Chicken Chowder," as well as to Vincent Youmans' "Without a Song."
Then came Isaac Smith, the seventeen-year-old Iowan out to make it two Junior Division championships in a row.
Isaac made a strong bid by playing "Kitten on the Keys" and a very interesting version of "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain." (In Isaac's version, the "she" in the tune had to get six new horses!)
The audience assembled at the Conference Center's combined River E and F Rooms would soon find out that Isaac was the older half of a brother act (stay tuned).
It was back to the RD battles...and the next performer to get in the ring was Pennsylvanian Michael J. Winstanley, who brought his stompin' style to Scott Joplin's "Stoptime Rag" as well as to "Kansas City Stomp."
Michael J. gave way to the other Smith Brother in the competition, eleven-year-old Eli.
Isaac's 2013 success gave Eli plenty of reasons to see if he could get himself that Junior Division crown. Eli's two selections were "Twelfth Street Rag" and "Champagne Rag."
After meeting the younger half of a brother act, the OTPP enthusiasts then met the younger half of a sister act: North Carolinian Miasol Yara (Mia for short).
By the way...you pronounce Mia's first name "MEE uh," not "MY uh."
Mia turned in a really bluesy set, and it consisted of "Ma (He's Making Eyes at Me)" and an abbreviated "Rhapsody in Blue."
One thing about the JD competition...the younger performers have to prepare just two songs while the older ones have to get six tunes ready. That way, OMPA crowns the Junior champion that Saturday afternoon of OTPP Weekend.
Then it was back to the Regulars...with Virginian-turned-Minnesotan David Cavalari taking to the 1883 Weber upright (the piano better known as "Moby Dink").
David had a couple of interesting selections this round: "Ragtime Chimes" and "Tico Tico." (That's right, that "Tico Tico," the one made famous by organist Ethel Smith.)
So glad that Samuel Schalla made the trip from his native Tubingen, Germany this year. He's got a stately style of playing, too, and the 20-year-old Regular Division contestant brought that style of his to "Texas Fox Trot" and "Some of These Days," the Shelton Brooks number made famous by Sophie Tucker.
William McNally (he'd just won the New Rag competition the night before- the fourth time he's snagged that contest's "Remarkably Small Trophy") was looking to add this year's RD title to his collection. Bill likes to load his sets with very interesting tunes...stuff off the beaten path; in this year's prelims, the Pennsylvanian-turned-New Yorker brought home "Piano Puzzle" and something called "Chopinata." (I hope I got that name right!)
The next pianist in competition was a JDer from Illinois, Leo Volker.
Leo was having a great time up there as he delivered two Scott Joplin pieces: "Magnetic Rag" and "Reflection Rag."
Around 11:30 AM, we all took a lunch break (and took advantage of all the fine restaurant choices in and surrounding the hotel).
Then...
21-year-old Michigander William Bennett was the next performer to step up...and he didn't disappoint the crowd, either, with George Gershwin's "Rialto Ripples" and Irving Caesar's "Just a Gigolo."
I couldn't join that crowd at the moment, because I had to practice up for my own first-round set. And as a result, I didn't get to hear what "Perfessor" Bill Edwards (that Californian-turned-Coloradan-turned-Washington, DCer-turned-Virginian) brought to the first round. (Can somebody tell me what "Perfessor" Bill played?)
I had a good feeling about going up there for 2014; I wanted to show that I'd been taking the messages brought forth in "The Entertainers" to heart (messages like: "When you're playing a song, you're telling a story!")...and I wanted to have fun.
So...this time, I did "Hello Ma Baby" and followed that up with a 1925 number written by Billy Rose, Al Dubin, and Joseph Meyer: "A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich, and You." (Really had a lot of fun with the latter tune!)
When I was done, I hurried back and found a seat in the audience...and caught Ethan Uslan's two first-round tunes: "Dardanelle" and the durable "Limehouse Blues."
When he's not tickling those keys all around the world, New Jerseyite-turned-North Carolinian Ethan also teaches others to tickle those 88s. Some of his students include his eight-year-old son Ben and...the Yara Sisters (one of whom we've already met).
Glad to see Pennsylvanian (and RD contestant) Domingo Mancuello come back to get another crack at the Ted Lemen Traveling Trophy. Domingo's one of the most passionate performers in all of old-time piano, and in the prelims, he showed just why...doing "When You're Smiling" and a rag called "Chickenfoot Bob."
Then one of the steadiest performers in old-time piano, Michigan's John Remmers, stepped up to the plate. I really enjoyed his version of "Where the River Shannon Flows," which the one-time college math professor followed with "Under the Southern Moon."
The Junior Division provided the 2014 OTPP competition with the last three performers...starting with Miasol's thirteen-year-old sister, Madeline.
Maddy brought a bluesy style of her own to "Dolly Dimples" and to Mabel Wayne's "In a Little Spanish Town."
By the way...Maddy and Mia really do have a sister act going: When they're not playing old-time piano, the Two Yaras make up half a local (Charlotte area) rock band, the Control Freax. In the Control Freax, Mia and Savanah play guitars (Savanah also plays keyboards), Maddy plays the bass, and Maureen rounds out the act on drums.
The Freax really have it going on, and if you'd like to find out for yourself, just log on to www.youtube.com and type in "Maureen's band" or "The Control Freax." (I like what the band did with "Roll Over Beethoven.")
An Illinoisan named Reed Phillips rounded out the newcomers in the 2014 OTPP field. And he let 'em know that he was after Isaac's JD title, too. Reed (as did Leo) turned to the King of Ragtime to make his bid, selecting "Peacherine Rag" and the second "Stoptime Rag" heard in the prelims.
All through the competition, Ted and fellow emcee Adam Swanson (that's right, that Adam Swanson) showed the audience just what makes old-time piano so infectuous. (One of their most memorable interludes featured Ted- the man behind OTPP- playing a tune like "Happy Birthday to You" in the conventional way...only to see Adam- the most decorated pianist in contest history- turn the number into a rag.)
Yep...2014 not only was a year without Martin or Russell competing, it also was a year without Morgan Siever, the sole 2005 JD newcomer to not only come back for 2006...but also keep competing at the C&F into the 2010s.
Morgan's two-year reign atop the Junior Division (2010 and 2011) was ended by the last contestant to tackle Moby Dink for 2014: Fellow Illinoisan Daniel Souvigny.
And thirteen-year-old Daniel let EVERYBODY know he wanted that JD championship back. Big time.
Daniel came out roaring, putting over killer versions of "King Chanticleer" and "Tiger Rag." (To prepare for "Tiger Rag," Daniel even turned his vest inside out...to reveal tiger stripes!)
Well, with the competing over for the day, contest judges Brian Holland (the 1997-99 RD champ), Terry Parrish, and Patrick Holland got together to tally up scores...and, along the way, they found out the Smith Brothers outdid the Yara Sisters.
And as things turned out, Reed won fifth place (and $40), Eli got fourth place (and was able to pocket $60), and Madeline earned $100 for finishing third.
Isaac settled for second place and its $125 prize. (And 2014 started to look like 2008 in the JD competition; that year, the previous year's Junior Division kingpin, Missourian Wesley Reznicek, surrendered his title to the last pianist to compete: Cassidy Gephart from neighboring Kentucky.)
Eli's older brother surrendered his JD crown to...the last 2014 pianist to compete.
And that's how Daniel was able to go home $250 richer (and with his second JD trophy).
After the Saturday smoke cleared, it was time to find out which ten Regular Division contestants would do their thing at the hotel's River E and F rooms the next day.
Yep...according to the rules, one RDer would have to be sidelined.
And when I come back, I'll tell you who got sidelined.
I had to fight to get this opportunity.
And I'm glad for this chance.
Things have worked out so that I could attend the 40th annual World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival...which is now on its sixth venue: The Embassy Suites Hotel in East Peoria, IL.
If my boss at the plastics factory I work at hadn't encouraged me to fill out a vacation request form earlier this month (and if the plant manager hadn't okayed the form), and if my car had broken down someplace along the way, well...I'd be typing this out in Omaha, NE (and talking about another subject).
This time, I went from the Omaha/Council Bluffs/Bellevue area directly to the Peoria area...and I commenced the trip yesterday morning. And I fought the rain (okay, much-needed rain) until I reached Exit 110 on Interstate 80 (eleven miles west of West Des Moines, IA).
In addition, I fought through six different lane closings on the Iowa stretch of I-80...and through the demolition of the Bettendorf, IA convenience store where I filled up my car's gas tank before reaching Illinois.
But here I am...seven hours away from reaching the Green Room at the hotel's Conference Center to join eighteen other contestants in drawing out numbers to determine playing order as the meat of this year's OTPP Contest approaches.
Before that...
Made it to the hotel at 4:22 PM (Central time) yesterday, then an hour later, I caught a shuttle to the Sky Harbor Steakhouse (located in another Peoria suburb, West Peoria) to be a part of the contest-opening tuneups.
At the tuneups, anybody who wants to has an opportunity to play the restaurant's rinky-tink piano, a Grinnell Bros. upright from early in the 20th Century.
Lots of people- not just OTPP contestants- did.
On top of that, those who signed up to pound away at that upright were treated to a free buffet...featuring ribs, chicken, macaroni and cheese, a roll, your choice of vegetables, and your choice of beverage.
Personally, things went better at the Sky Harbor than they did a year ago. What's more, the steakhouse party didn't stop until around 9:15 PM.
Then earlier today, I tackled an experience I wasn't able to engage in since 2007: I boarded, for just the second time in my life, the local riverboat known as Spirit of Peoria.
I want to go back on that boat next year, too!
Just as is the case at the Sky Harbor Steakhouse, the food on the riverboat is great. On the Spirit, you get a lunch buffet that includes several different salads, your choice of chips, a few dessert items, three beverage choices, and a wonderful line of sandwich fixin's.
And...the boat has a spinet piano on each of the first two decks plus a calliope on the third (top) deck. (Okay...the actual calliope doesn't work anymore. They hooked up an electronic keyboard to the calliope's framework. And it still sounds great!)
Had a chance to work out on both the electronic keyboard-cum-calliope and the second deck's spinet. (Things turned out better for me here in 2014 than was the case seven years ago.)
At 4:38 PM this afternoon, it was off to the Embassy Suites Conference Center, where Paul Asaro did an impressive workshop on 1920s-1930s stride piano.
One great thing about this Embassy Suites is all the eateries within close proximity...like the Steak 'n' Shake next door. [About 50 minutes prior to the start of this year's New Rag Contest, I joined contestants Samuel Schallau and William Bennett (nope...not THAT William Bennett) and William's mom Sue for dinner at Steak 'n' Shake.]
And I tasted just why Steak 'n' Shake is legendary.
I want to go back there, too!
At 7:00 PM, it was time for New Rag...and out of seven contestants (it would've been eight had I entered), William McNally walked away with his fourth rag-writing title.
He gets to split it with a Californian named Vincent Johnson, who wrote the entry William M. played: "And So Fourth."
Then came the first of several get-togethers called "afterglows." In these afterglows, they've got open piano (two studio models) in one room- the one where the New Rag competition took place- while the other afterglow room is meant for people who play other instruments (you'll find a studio piano there, too).
I stayed in the New Rag room and was the last of seven to sign up to play.
And it felt more comfortable this time around than in 2013.
When I come back, I'll let you know how the first round of non-New Rag OTPP competition went.
I'm Jim Boston...thanks for reading this blog!
