The Last One? (Part 3)

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.

Oh, Brother! Oh, Sister! Oh, Baby!

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.

Loadin' for Bear...Oops, I Mean a Championship Trophy

The photos you're looking at took place after the competition officially ended at the 2013 World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival (at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel in Peoria, IL).

Not only did we have a ball after the competition wound down...we also had a ball during the competition itself (especially the Sunday phase, where the attention shifted to the Regular Division semifinals).

And as things turned out (there's that phrase again)...the three judges (Dean Gronemeier, Ian Hominick, and Terry Parrish) found ten Reg Division performers whose Saturday sets were good enough for advancement.

Not eleven. Ten.

The first 2013 RD semifinalist to go up to bat was Jack Graham, who made it to the hotel's Main Hall wearing another one of those unusual suits of his...and was still having a ball in his first OTPP competition.

Jack continued to restyle those familiar rags and make 'em his own...and on 5-26-2013, "Bohemia" and "Black and White Rag" got the Jack Graham treatment.

Next were...the Bills.

William McNally followed Jack by turning in winning versions of "Ramblin' in Rhythm" and "Bluin' the Black Keys." Then "Perfessor" Bill Edwards (he won the contest's Regular Division action in 1991) stepped up to the stage and rocked that 1883 Weber upright with "You Made Me Love You" and "Royal Garden Blues."

Speaking of winning...it was Tag Team Time again, with contest cohosts Ted Lemen and Adam Swanson showing just how old-time piano's supposed to sound.

One of the examples centered on tunes named after eggs (or, in the case of "Sunny Side Up," ways of cooking eggs). Here, Ted stretched the truth a little bit by adding "Exactly Like You." (Okay..."Eggsactly Like You!")

Well, one of the great things about Adam and Ted teaming up is that in case Ted's (and/or Adam's) jokes don't work, the youngest undefeated Regular Division champ ever can go back to the piano and get the audience back in there.

Hey...that's a strategy that worked for Steve Allen.  

John Remmers' strategy works great, too, because it keeps him putting on a costume every OTPP Sunday. The ex-math professor's semifinal numbers this time were "Old Home Rag" and "Peacherine Rag."  

David Maga made it to the RD Top Ten. This Virginian-turned-Minnesotan (he likes to tell people he switched from living in a commonwealth state to residing in the Gopher State because "I didn't think it over") had a very well thought-out set: "Carolina Shout" and "Sweet Sue- Just You."

And then came Michael J. Winstanley, the third 2013 OTPP newcomer to extend his stay in the weekend's Regular Division competition. Michael did it, in his all-out, take-no-prisoners style, with "My Gal Sal" (one of Paul Dresser's two most famous songs) and "Mr. Jelly Lord."

Jacob Adams became the fourth of five 2012 RD semifinalists to punch a ticket to this year's RD second round as well (after John and the Bills)...and his takes on Fats Waller's and Andy Razaf's "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Bluin' the Black Keys" showed why he escaped elimination.

After missing out on the 2012 C&F, Russell Wilson came back, as Joe Garagiola used to say, "raring back and firing." And that strategy served Russell in good stead as he fired up "When the Saints Go Marching In" and "Entry of the Gladiators," the latter that familiar circus march.

During "Gladiators," the man who plays those keys in the Marine Band (that's right, THAT Marine Band) pulled out a red rubber ball...and attached it to his nose!

That did it.

And that meant Domingo Mancuello (one of Michael's fellow University of the Arts students and the fifth OTPP first-timer to bust into this year's RD semis) had a tough act to follow.

Domingo did it.

I've done "The Prisoner's Song" in competition before...and I'll take Domingo's poignant version (he did it as a waltz) over my own. Hands down.

After Domingo finished his set with "Ain't She Sweet," Ethan Uslan (the fifth of five 2012 RD semifinalists to hang on to a semifinal spot) wowed 'em with "Star Dust" and "Smiles."

Ethan didn't just hang on...he made a great claim, using that improvisational style of his.

Well, it was time to find out which five performers were going to walk away from the Four Points with medallions (as well as prize money).

And all of this was going on in a year where three 2012 Reg Division finalists- Will Perkins, 2011 RD kingpin Martin Spitznagel, and Four Arrows (they told his story in "The Entertainers")- faced circumstances that prevented that threesome from coming out to Central Illinois for the 2013 festivities.

On top of that, you've really got to be on top of your game to come out ahead of "Perfessor" Bill and keep him out of the Regs' Top Five (he's been a RD finalist more often than anybody else who's ever gone after the Ted Lemen Traveling Trophy).

What's more, when Ethan improvises (okay, he says "wings it"), his winging it sure beats what a lot of us other OTPP contestants- especially myself- do when we're trying to go close to the vest on those tunes.

So now, the judges had totaled up the semifinal scores...and Terry, Ian, and Dean sent Jacob up to the Main Hall stage as the first of this year's Regular Division finalists. (Oh, by the way...Dean's brother Paul reached the top of the division in 1992, snatching the trophy away from "Perfessor" Bill.)

With the Top Five spot that was denied him last year, Jacob (he calls the Twin Cities home) knocked home "Doc Brown's Cakewalk" and Ford Dabney's "Oh, You Angel."

This time around, if you made it into the finals of the Regular Division during OTPP Weekend, you had to include a song with a man's name in the title. (In 2012, the wild-card selection had to include one of America's fifty states in the title.)

Ethan- one of the few OTPP performers making a living off music and only music- made it into the finals again. This time, he brought his cell phone to the stage...to help him make sure he finished each selection in four minutes or fewer.

You know what I say about that?

I say: "RIGHT ON!" (I mean, why not take advantage of today's technology?)  

Ethan's versions of "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and "Honeysuckle Rose" were right on, too. It looked as if the man from Charlotte, NC was going to clutch that Lemen Trophy a little tighter and keep it for another year. 

Then came a Washington, DC man who'd just gotten through attaching a funny ball to his nose.

Russell was clearly having fun, and it continued right into his playing "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey" and "Mack the Knife." 

The ivory tickler at 1600 (that's right, THAT 1600) had the audience at 500 Hamilton Boulevard eating out of his hands.

Ted and Adam like to get right down to business during Top Five Time...but they still leave room for being able to show the OTPP crowd what makes old-time piano so special. And in this case, Adam dusted off some songs Vera-Ellen (remember her from the 1940s?) made famous.

As things- you guessed it- turned out, Jacob wasn't the only 2012 RD pianist smarting after being locked out of that year's finals.

William McNally had wounds to lick, too...and his versions of "Texas Fox Trot" and "Alexander's Ragtime Band" provided the ointment for a man who's now teaching in New York City's Queens borough.

The Old-Time Music Preservation Association found out it now could get one Bill paid. 

Would the other Bill get paid, too?

Remember: You've got to turn in one heck of a performance to keep the researcher-computer programer from Ashburn, VA from collecting an Old-Time Piano Contest check.

Domingo did just that.

The young man who attends college at William M's previous stomping grounds (Philadelphia, PA) brought his passionate style to "Willie the Weeper" and what Domingo himself called "the most overplayed song in the world."

Domingo turned in the fifth version of "Maple Leaf Rag" on this year's OTPP books...and the only other "Maple Leaf" done by a 2013 Regular Division hopeful. (In fact, all five of this year's "Maple Leaf Rag" renditions were played by contest first-timers.)

Speaking of first time...it looked good for a first-time RD champ to emerge. (Or did it?)

Jacob, Ethan, Russell, William McNally, and Domingo lined up to get medallions draped over their shoulders.

Well, as- yep- things turned out, Jacob ended up winning fifth place in the RDs (good for $250). Domingo earned fourth prize ($400) and William got third (meaning he'll get a check for $550)...but not before someone switched William's and Domingo's prizes by mistake (triggering a comic chase).

After the mistake involving Domingo and William was corrected and the situation settled, the second-place medallion went to...Ethan. (And that includes a check for $800.)  

And then it happened...a man who'd been knocking on the door to the contest's Regular Division throne room for years finally made it to the top.

Russell's now the latest to earn the Ted Lemen Traveling Trophy and he's now $1,350 richer as a result.

And his ascension to the top begs one question: "Who said there are no winners in the nation's capital anymore...let alone winners with honor?"

Can't wait to get back to Peoria...and I hope to see you there, too.

Well, as Things Turned Out...

Anyway...as things turned out, I actually did officially enter the 2013 World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival.

The afternoon of Friday, 5-24-2013, I met contest coordinator Faye Ballard (of "The Entertainers" fame) in the lobby of the contest's actual venue, Peoria's Sheraton Four Points Hotel (pictured below).

Found out from Faye that an opening had arisen after all.  

Man, being able to tune up the night before at the Sky Harbor Steakhouse sure helped.  

Without the tune-ups, I wouldn't have dared say "Yes" about entering.

It'd been four years since I'd been a contestant during an OTPP weekend.

Back in the saddle again...and this time, the ride was much more comfortable than up the street at the Hotel Pere Marquette in 2009.

We had 25 hopefuls this time (it would've been 26 if circumstances had enabled Steve Muncey to show off his old-time piano skills)...and the field included two former (one reigning) Regular Division champs (their stories were told in "The Entertainers," too) and the last two Junior Division titleholders. 

Nope...this time, I didn't draw the piece of paper labeled "1."

More fittingly, Daniel Souvigny (the 2012 JD winner) did.

The 12-year-old phenom was also one of seven Junior Division contestants in 2013...and one of two Daniels to play at the hotel's Main Hall. 

I didn't get to come to the Main Hall to hear Daniel S. tear through "Smashing Thirds" and "Nagasaki." And I got to hear the next two performers- newcomers David Maga and Slade Patrick Darrin- only because I was in the same rehearsal room as they when David and Slade tuned up. 

David (one of 18 Reg Division performers and one of ten first-timers across both divisions) knocked out rag favorites "Grandpa's Spell" and "Possum and Taters," while Slade's two numbers included "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now."

I pulled out the piece of paper with "4" on it...and this year, I felt really comfortable playing the contest piano, the 1883 Weber upright nicknamed "Moby Dink." (And they really liked what I set out to do with "Red River Valley" and...Giuseppe Verdi's "Grand March," from the opera it took him two years to write: "Aida," cooked up to commemorate the opening of the Suez Canal.)

I patterned my version of "Grand March (from 'Aida')" after what I thought would've been Del Wood's take on the opera's most famous piece.

Well, now it was time to join the contest audience...and join them in hearing the other OTPP contestants.

Contestant #5 was Bill McNally, the college instructor who now hails from New York (he previously lived in and worked in Pennsylvania). His sets are always entertaining (well, I like to think so!), and his first-round takes on "Magnetic Rag" and "Fascinatin' Rhythm" fit the bill.

Alex Poyner was next; one of his first-round selections was the durable "12th Street Rag."

After Alex came the second of four JD first-timers, Tanner Wilson. Tanner- the second of two Nebraskans duking it out at Four Points- weighed in with two more ragtime favorites, "Maple Leaf Rag" and "Kitten on the Keys."

Tanner (he's from Fremont) made some more history in that he was the first JD'er to come out of the Cornhusker State since Julie Ann Smith, the Hastings native who competed in 1992 and 1993...and went on to grow up to become one of the world's best harpists. (Julie Ann's version of "Tickled to Death" got me to learn that 1899 Charles Hunter rag.)

RD favorite- and retired math instructor- John Remmers came up next...and the man from Ann Arbor, MI showed 'em how "All the Money" and "Magnetic Rag" are really done.

I'm glad Samuel Schalla came back for his second taste of OTPP fun. He's a college student from Tubingen, Germany...and he had a lot of fun when he came to Peoria in 2012.

For Samuel, the fun multiplied this time around...and you could tell that with his versions of Joseph Lamb's "Bohemia" and Joe Jordan's "That Teasin' Rag."

Speaking of fun...the fun continued to grow exponentially thanks to Ted Lemen and Adam Swanson (he'd just gotten through winning the previous night's New Rag Contest...making him a seven-time winner across three divisions) teaming up to handle the emceeing.  

At certain points in the competition, Adam (you'll find him featured in "The Entertainers") and Ted gave demonstrations of just how old-time piano's supposed to sound. One of those demos involved Ted (the man who cooked up OTPP) playing a singalong favorite...followed by Adam restyling it as a rag.

The next contestant put Iowa (the state Adam left to attend college in Colorado) back on the Old-Time Piano Contest's map: Junior Division contestant Isaac Smith (out of the home of the U of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls). 

And high-school student Isaac nuked Moby Dink.   

Isaac's selections were James P. Johnson's "Carolina Shout" and George Botsford's "Black and White Rag." When he got done with those numbers, Isaac had the crowd eating out of his hands...right down to the crumbs!

It was now time for another RD pianist to come up to bat...Maine's Doug Protsik, who was feeding a thirty-year drought between OTPP berths. 

Matter of fact, the last time Doug was in the contest, the event was held outdoors...in front of the Monticello (IL) Railway Museum (and subject to one atmospheric display after another).

Once Doug made his way to the Weber, he felt right at home as he put over "Buyback" and "Alabamy Bound."

Two more juniors rounded out the first half of the preliminary competition at the Sheraton: 2010 and 2011 JD champ Morgan Siever and fellow Illinoisan Megan Jobe, the youngest to go at it in 2013.

Morgan had her Sweet Sixteen celebration in April, and the pianist-softball player-basketball player from the St. Louis suburb of Carlyle, IL sought to extend the party (and get that JD crown back from Daniel S.) with "Grandpa's Spell" and "That's a-Plenty."

Ten-year-old Megan (a contest newcomer, too) did the last two selections of the morning: "Maple Leaf Rag" and "12th Street Rag."   

Megan's first try as a contestant reminded me of Morgan's OTPP debut (that happened in 2005)...and I hope Megan sticks with old-time piano. Just as Morgan showed in 2005 that she really had something at age eight, Megan showed me here in 2013 that she's got something, too.

After Samuel, RD contestant Russell Wilson, his mom Lynn, and I had something at a Culver's Butter Burgers not far from the hotel, we got back to the hotel to check out the second half of the Saturday competition.

And the first of the afternoon performers was...2007 and 2012 Regular Division kingpin Ethan Uslan (from- you guessed it- "The Entertainers").

This New Jerseyite-turned-North Carolinian opened his bid to make it two RD crowns in a row by delivering "Sing a Song" and movie theme "Ramona."

Minnesota's Jacob Adams missed out on joining Ethan in the RD's Top Five last year...and he came out on fire this year, heating up "Wall Street Rag" and "Cannonball Rag."

And the Regular Division contestants kept coming up, one after another. (Well, that's what happens when you go into a rehearsal room and draw a number out of a hat. You never know what you're going to get.)

What the audience- a more sizable one thanks to "The Entertainers-" got was some more fine, fine performances.

Damit Senanayake (from Washington's Seattle area) kept the fine, fine performances going. He topped his good 2012 first round by playing "Castle's Half and Half" in addition to May Aufderheide's "The Thriller."

Damit was followed by one of the 2012 first-timers, Floridian Bobby "Mr. Piano" Van Duesen...who kept the good times rolling in 2013 with the rag "Cum-Bac" and the novelty "Our Monday Date."

"Perfessor" Bill Edwards (check him out in "The Entertainers") took to the Main Room stage next...and he went on to show why he's been a Reg Division finalist more often than anybody else in C&F history. He provided the evidence with his versions of "The Poet and Peasant Overture" and "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue."

After the 1991 Regular Division champion came a newcomer named Domingo Mancuello.

Domingo comes from Pennsylvania, where he attends Philadelphia's University of the Arts. And I believe we're going to be hearing from him for a long time to come, what with the way he gets into playing those 88s. (Domingo brought his take-no-prisoners style to "Whispering" and "Krazee Bone Rag.")

Like Samuel, first-timer Jack Graham made the trip across the Atlantic Ocean to check out OTPP.

And I'm glad he did.

Before I go on with the selections, let me tell you that if you're going to be an OTPP contestant, you've got to wear something that people wore during or before 1929. And that usually means dressing up in period suits, flapper outfits, granny gowns, period tuxedos, and/or the famous "bartender's duds-" in other words, the shirt-slacks-vest-bow tie look. (Past variations have included Davy Crockett outfits, marching-band uniforms, and togas.)

Jack (from London, England) hit the stage in a suit that beat the band...right down to the hat.

Most important, I like how Jack takes chances with tunes (especially the ones we're used to hearing at the Old-Time Piano Contest)...and that's what he did with "Maple Leaf Rag" (his version starts in D-flat!) and "Cannonball Rag." 

To top it all off, Jack said that, coming into OTPP Weekend, he'd NEVER played in public before.  

Charles Mink (he's from South Carolina) told me he'd been thinking about packing it in (he became a C&F contestant in 2009)...but the way he played "Dizzy Fingers" and "How Could I Be Blue," I'm going to feel blue if he doesn't give next year's contest a try. 

Charles turned in his best work this year. (Well, I like to think so!)

One of Domingo's fellow U of the Arts students, fellow Keystone Stater Michael J. Winstanley, put the accent back on the 2013 rookies. Michael's got a style that's as joyous as Domingo's...and it showed in "Cheese and Crackers" and "New Orleans Joys."

Last year, Wisconsinite Daniel Levi came to Central Illinois to see "The Entertainers."

Daniel L. liked the OTPP experience so much he decided to come back in 2013...as a contestant.

I liked his set, too; it had "Swanee" and Luckey Roberts' "Pork and Beans."

One more RD contestant to go...and coming up to do his thing was the older of the two Wilsons competing in Peoria.

Russell (he hails from Washington, DC) really served notice; he was sizzling right from the start, what with "Russian Rag" and "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad." 

Russell Wilson's 2013 playing had this message written all over it: "Don't mess with a pianist who plays in the White House."  

The last contestant for 2013 comes from Peoria, IL itself.

And his name is Matt Lauer. (No...not THAT Matt Lauer!)

THIS Matt Lauer was the seventh and last JD performer in competition at the Four Points this year. And he acquitted himself quite well...as the first and only 2013 contestant to do Scott Joplin's "Elite Syncopations" and the fourth 2013 hopeful to play the number that put rags on the map to begin with. (That's right...good ol' "Maple Leaf Rag.")

Lots and lots of fine performances thus far at this year's Contest and Festival...and now it was time for contest judges Dean Gronemeier, Ian Hominick, and Terry Parrish to not only determine which ten (or more in case of a tie) Regular Division pianists moved on to the division's semifinals...but also find out which five Junior Division musicians earned prize money. (The JDs need to only prepare two numbers, while the RDs have to come up with six selections.)

When Dean, Ian, and Terry got back from deliberating, the three judges (it used to be four, but the Old-Time Music Preservation Association decided to take a page from American Idol) decided to give Matthew $40 for finishing fifth in the Junior Division competition, Slade $60 (fourth place), and Morgan $100 (good for third).

What's more, Daniel S. received a check for $125...while he watched Isaac walk off with the JD title and a check for $250.

And that made Isaac the third different performer to get the Junior Division championship in as many years.

When we come back, we're going to find out if a similar situation took place in the contest's Regular Division...and if they needed to make it an eleven-person RD semifinal.

Hello from Peoria!

For the first time ever, I'm giving you a blog post from someplace other than the apartment building I live in back in Omaha, NE.

This post is coming to you from the Sheraton Four Points Hotel here in Peoria, IL...the venue that, for the second year in a row, is hosting the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival.

2013 is, officially, the second year for the contest to kick off on a Thursday...meaning that I've been on the road since 5-22-2013, when I left the Big O to come to the Two River City (none other than Des Moines, IA, where my younger brother, younger sister-in-law, and nephew- Mike, Angela, and their son Jordan, respectively- live).

After visiting with Mike, Angela, and Jordan, I left Des Moines (home of Drake University) yesterday to come to the city where Bradley University (42,000 students strong) is located.

Got here at 4:08 PM (CDT); two hours after checking in at the hotel, I made it to the place where OTPP now gets launched...the Sky Harbor Steakhouse (1321 N. Park Rd., West Peoria, IL 61604).

From 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM (or until everybody's exhausted), the Sky Harbor (309 674-5532) hosts the contest's "tune-ups," an event that previously took place in a couple of hotel meeting rooms.  

No...I'm NOT a contestant this year (I'm shooting for 2014).

So the Sky Harbor get-together served as my prelims and semifinals.

The restaurant has two pianos- a spinet (we didn't get to play it) on one end of the place and an old Grinnell Bros. upright (we did get to play it) on the other side.

The buffet was great (especially the chicken and the refills on iced tea)...and after I got done eating, I was able to put over "Red River Valley," "Barney Google," my version of what could've been Del Wood's version of "Grand March (from 'Aida')," and a 1902 number written by a St. Louis composer named E. Warren Furry, "Robardina Rag."

Man, it's a good thing I spent the last three weeks trying to get some practice in!   

Even better than that, it was really great to hear "Perfessor" Bill Edwards, Adam Swanson, John Remmers, and former Regular Division contestant John Yates- to say nothing of the man behind OTPP, Ted Lemen- play.

There's a lot more playing to see- and do- before this weekend comes to a close. 

And when I come back, I'm going to let you in on some of that.

Stay tuned!