Your 2021 Scheduled Performers
Paul Orsi
Paul Orsi arrives at the Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival fresh from having captured the world championship of the 2019 Old-Time Piano Playing Contest, held annually over Memorial Day Weekend in Oxford, Mississippi. Due to the current Covid19 pandemic, the 2020 Festival was postponed until May 27-30, 2021. Paul has participated in the global competition for the last several years and brought home to the West Coast the 2019 world championship.
A ragtime aficionado since the 1970s revival sparked by "The Sting." Paul began professionally performing at age 13 at pizza parlors in the Los Angeles area and has been wowing audiences throughout Southern California ever since with his high energy ragtime style.
He's probably best known as a Disneyland Coke Corner pianist, a platform he enjoyed from 1983-1992. After a lengthly hiatus, aul returned to the Ragtime scene in 2015, bringing more pizzazz than ever. In addition to his active performance schedule, which includes many local retirement communities in Southern California, Paul has composed new piano Rags, recorded piano rolls and issued CD'S.
Paul Orsi arrives at the Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival fresh from having captured the world championship of the 2019 Old-Time Piano Playing Contest, held annually over Memorial Day Weekend in Oxford, Mississippi. Due to the current Covid19 pandemic, the 2020 Festival was postponed until May 27-30, 2021. Paul has participated in the global competition for the last several years and brought home to the West Coast the 2019 world championship.
A ragtime aficionado since the 1970s revival sparked by "The Sting." Paul began professionally performing at age 13 at pizza parlors in the Los Angeles area and has been wowing audiences throughout Southern California ever since with his high energy ragtime style.
He's probably best known as a Disneyland Coke Corner pianist, a platform he enjoyed from 1983-1992. After a lengthly hiatus, aul returned to the Ragtime scene in 2015, bringing more pizzazz than ever. In addition to his active performance schedule, which includes many local retirement communities in Southern California, Paul has composed new piano Rags, recorded piano rolls and issued CD'S.
Carl Sonny Leyland
Carl Sonny Leyland was born & raised on the South Coast of England, growing up close to the city of Southampton. As a child he was drawn to the American music which he heard on LP records his father would play. It was here that he developed an appreciation for Dixieland jazz, the rock & roll of the 1950s & the country music of Jimmie Rodgers & Hank Williams. At age 15 Leyland discovered boogie woogie when he heard a school friend working through a written arrangement of a tune called JD's Boogie Woogie (Marvin Wright). Captivated by the sound of the repeating 8 to the bar left hand pattern, Leyland was inspired to go to the piano & begin on a path that would become his life's purpose. Within 3 months he would be performing in public & shortly after would become a member of a respected local group "The Bob Pearce Blues Band."
Initially influenced by boogie woogie greats Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson & Meade 'Lux' Lewis, Leyland went on to fully explore the piano blues genre, becoming an authority on early & obscure styles such as those played by Cow Cow Davenport, Little Brother Montgomery, Montana Taylor & Speckled Red to name a few. Leyland has also continued his involvement with the rockabilly scene & plays each year in the backing band at Viva Las Vegas & more recently at the Summer Jamboree in Senegalia, Italy. In this capacity he has worked with such notables as Janis Martin, Ruth Brown, Billy Lee Riley & Carl Mann. (See 'Career History' page for a complete list of artists). Whether playing solo or with his trio, Leyland's playing displays an infectious spontaneity, providing plenty of surprises for the listener. While he possesses the necessary vocabulary to pay tribute to the greats of old, he refuses to be limit himself to this & prefers to let each performance be an opportunity to say something new.
Michael Chisholm
Michael is originally from Houston, Texas, but now living in Southern California, and grew up in a musically appreciative family. His first music training was in middle school, where he learned to play the xylophone and marimba. Eventually, he graduated to piano. Michael's first exposure to ragtime was watching JoAnn Castle play on a rerun of the Lawrence Welk Show. From that moment, he knew ragtime was his style of music. Since then, he has composed over 50 rags and has started collecting the original prints of ragtime sheet music. Besides piano, Michael likes to rag out on the flute, piccolo, and clarine
Frederick Hodges
Hailed by the press as one of the best concert pianists in the world, Frederick Hodges is sought after by today’s foremost orchestras, festivals, conductors, and collaborative musicians. His artistry, virtuosity and charisma have brought him to the world’s most renowned stages, leaving audiences around the globe captivated.
Classically trained as a concert pianist, Frederick Hodges has established a reputation as a truly versatile artist equally sought after as soloist, singer, guest soloist with the California Pops Orchestra, and dance band pianist with Don Neely’s Royal Society Jazz Orchestra. His extensive repertoire includes all the best ragtime, stride, and novelty piano solo pieces. He has appeared on national television, radio, and in several Hollywood films. He is also a much sought-after silent film accompanist for both live performances and on DVD. He performs regularly at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum. Frederick has participated in many prestigious festivals including in Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, the WestCoast Ragtime Festival, The Blind Boone Festival in Columbia Missouri, the Templeton Ragtime Festival at Mississippi State University, the El Segundo Ragtime Festival, and the Sedalia Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival. His website is: www.frederickhodges.com.
Elliott Adams
Elliott has been playing ragtime since age 10 and is now known internationally as a ragtime player, collector, historian, writer, and composer. His extensive collection of ragtime, blues, and early jazz sheet music is available to researchers, musicians, and publishers. He has several notable solo recordings on the Stomp Off and PianoMania labels.
Elliott is an intrepid golfer and a practicing dermatologist.
Matt
Matt Tolentino
Matt Tolentino, who shares a birthday with Fred Astaire, was born May 10, 1985 in Dallas, TX. He was not born 80 years too late- rather, he is placed in the perfect time- the present day- to preserve the music of generations past, to bring the music of yesterday to the modern audience of today. Music has always been at the center of Matt's life. His father played saxophone and piano in his younger days, in a band comprised of neighborhood boys. Through his dad he first learned to love jazz, and at the age of 7 claimed Henry Busse to be one of his favorites. When he was 8, he was given a copy of the album, 'Shakin' the Blues Away,' recorded by the Coffee Club Orchestra, the then-16 piece house band of radio's 'A Prairie Home Companion.' The album was comprised of pop tunes from the 1920s and early 1930s, and was his first exposure of the niche music he now performs. To this day it remains one of his favorites.
Matt Tolentino began his musical venture at 11, when he picked up the clarinet to play in the band at Stonewall Jackson Elementary. He played clarinet exclusively until he entered his sophomore year of high school, when he branched out and added saxophone, tuba and accordion, which he spent the entire summer learning. At 15 Matt met one of his greatest musical influences, Robert Atwood of San Antonio, a very fine accordionist who taught him much about the instrument and music in general, and who would serve as his friend and mentor. Much of high school was spent playing polka gigs in restaurants and playing with the school jazz band. The accordion was Matt's first musical love, even before he could play - very contrary to his generation, 'The Lawrence Welk Show' was part of his usual television viewing. Matt never missed an episode, and for the longest time the thought never occurred to him that these were in fact old shows!
Following high school, Matt briefly tried going for a music education degree, but realized playing music within a strict academic setting wasn't for him, and he gave it up after one school year. He took time off, and in 2006 hit the road with the south Texas-based polka band, The Sauerkrauts, playing clarinet and saxophone. It was his first time on tour, and the experience was invaluable. The same year he began to play off and on with the Austin based band, The White Ghost Shivers, on accordion and bass saxophone. He returned to school in 2007, and stayed with it for a while before finally yielding to the temptation of doing music full-time. The same year Matt met one of his good friends, Drew Nugent, a very talented cornetist and pianist from Philadelphia. Upon seeing Drew's success with his own bands, Matt decided to put his own together, and thus his Singapore Slingers orchestra was born. He had been collecting 'stock' arrangements for some time, and now had a group to play them. Matt assembled the group from people he had known through his various work in pit orchestras, recording, and gigging. The result was a group of dedicated, talented players, a great number of which are still with the orchestra to this day. The Slingers play a wide variety of musical styles, including "rag-a-jazz"- a brief period in music between the late teens and early twenties- a musical hybrid of ragtime and jazz. Matt also heads up The Matt Tolentino Band, and various other smaller incarnations of the larger Slingers, which usually boasts 4 or 5 musicians, and plays for small jazz clubs, private parties, dances, and anywhere that hot jazz music is requested, and both the Matt Tolentino Band, as well as the Singapore Slingers, are very popular with the dancers.
He continues to focus exclusively on pre-swing popular music of 1895- 1935, including rags, fox trots, marches, one-steps, two-steps, and waltzes. Being an accordion player, he is also very well versed in the traditional music of Germany, Austria, The Czech Republic, and Switzerland. Before he adapted jazz to the accordion, he played a repertoire of polkas, waltzes, and marches, which he still performs a lot. He plays a lot of solo accordion, but also leads The Royal Klobasneks, a 7 piece dance band, which, like his other bands, is dedicated to preserving traditional music- they, too, are also a hit with dance fanatics!
A true multi-instrumentalist, he is equally at home on accordion, clarinet, tuba, piano, tenor guitar, banjo, and saxophones, specializing in baritone and bass sax. Some of his greatest influences include Vince Giordano, The New Leviathan Oriental Fox Trot Orchestra (the catalyst for starting the Slingers), Adrian Rollini, Al Bowlly, Paul Whiteman, Scott Joplin, Walter Donaldson, Myron Floren, Garrison Keillor, and Joan Morris and William Bolcom. He has traveled far and wide to play, including New York, New Orleans, California, and British Columbia (July 2008- 2010 with Alex Meixner). This music has made Matt a lot of friends, and even brought his wife Danielle and him together, through a mutual love of this music- what started as friendship in 2006 led to marriage in June 2010. Matt will continue to bring the music of yesterday to the audience of today, presented with respect and reverence- the way it should be.
Matt makes his home in Cincinnati, Ohio, sharing an old Victorian house with his wife Danielle, their chihuahua Doo-Dad, and a1952 Kaiser DeLuxe.
Matt Tolentino
Matt Tolentino, who shares a birthday with Fred Astaire, was born May 10, 1985 in Dallas, TX. He was not born 80 years too late- rather, he is placed in the perfect time- the present day- to preserve the music of generations past, to bring the music of yesterday to the modern audience of today. Music has always been at the center of Matt's life. His father played saxophone and piano in his younger days, in a band comprised of neighborhood boys. Through his dad he first learned to love jazz, and at the age of 7 claimed Henry Busse to be one of his favorites. When he was 8, he was given a copy of the album, 'Shakin' the Blues Away,' recorded by the Coffee Club Orchestra, the then-16 piece house band of radio's 'A Prairie Home Companion.' The album was comprised of pop tunes from the 1920s and early 1930s, and was his first exposure of the niche music he now performs. To this day it remains one of his favorites.
Matt Tolentino began his musical venture at 11, when he picked up the clarinet to play in the band at Stonewall Jackson Elementary. He played clarinet exclusively until he entered his sophomore year of high school, when he branched out and added saxophone, tuba and accordion, which he spent the entire summer learning. At 15 Matt met one of his greatest musical influences, Robert Atwood of San Antonio, a very fine accordionist who taught him much about the instrument and music in general, and who would serve as his friend and mentor. Much of high school was spent playing polka gigs in restaurants and playing with the school jazz band. The accordion was Matt's first musical love, even before he could play - very contrary to his generation, 'The Lawrence Welk Show' was part of his usual television viewing. Matt never missed an episode, and for the longest time the thought never occurred to him that these were in fact old shows!
Following high school, Matt briefly tried going for a music education degree, but realized playing music within a strict academic setting wasn't for him, and he gave it up after one school year. He took time off, and in 2006 hit the road with the south Texas-based polka band, The Sauerkrauts, playing clarinet and saxophone. It was his first time on tour, and the experience was invaluable. The same year he began to play off and on with the Austin based band, The White Ghost Shivers, on accordion and bass saxophone. He returned to school in 2007, and stayed with it for a while before finally yielding to the temptation of doing music full-time. The same year Matt met one of his good friends, Drew Nugent, a very talented cornetist and pianist from Philadelphia. Upon seeing Drew's success with his own bands, Matt decided to put his own together, and thus his Singapore Slingers orchestra was born. He had been collecting 'stock' arrangements for some time, and now had a group to play them. Matt assembled the group from people he had known through his various work in pit orchestras, recording, and gigging. The result was a group of dedicated, talented players, a great number of which are still with the orchestra to this day. The Slingers play a wide variety of musical styles, including "rag-a-jazz"- a brief period in music between the late teens and early twenties- a musical hybrid of ragtime and jazz. Matt also heads up The Matt Tolentino Band, and various other smaller incarnations of the larger Slingers, which usually boasts 4 or 5 musicians, and plays for small jazz clubs, private parties, dances, and anywhere that hot jazz music is requested, and both the Matt Tolentino Band, as well as the Singapore Slingers, are very popular with the dancers.
He continues to focus exclusively on pre-swing popular music of 1895- 1935, including rags, fox trots, marches, one-steps, two-steps, and waltzes. Being an accordion player, he is also very well versed in the traditional music of Germany, Austria, The Czech Republic, and Switzerland. Before he adapted jazz to the accordion, he played a repertoire of polkas, waltzes, and marches, which he still performs a lot. He plays a lot of solo accordion, but also leads The Royal Klobasneks, a 7 piece dance band, which, like his other bands, is dedicated to preserving traditional music- they, too, are also a hit with dance fanatics!
A true multi-instrumentalist, he is equally at home on accordion, clarinet, tuba, piano, tenor guitar, banjo, and saxophones, specializing in baritone and bass sax. Some of his greatest influences include Vince Giordano, The New Leviathan Oriental Fox Trot Orchestra (the catalyst for starting the Slingers), Adrian Rollini, Al Bowlly, Paul Whiteman, Scott Joplin, Walter Donaldson, Myron Floren, Garrison Keillor, and Joan Morris and William Bolcom. He has traveled far and wide to play, including New York, New Orleans, California, and British Columbia (July 2008- 2010 with Alex Meixner). This music has made Matt a lot of friends, and even brought his wife Danielle and him together, through a mutual love of this music- what started as friendship in 2006 led to marriage in June 2010. Matt will continue to bring the music of yesterday to the audience of today, presented with respect and reverence- the way it should be.
Matt makes his home in Cincinnati, Ohio, sharing an old Victorian house with his wife Danielle, their chihuahua Doo-Dad, and a1952 Kaiser DeLuxe.
Brian Holland
Brian Holland is an internationally renown pianist, composer, recording artist, and entertainer who has enjoyed a music career spanning more than 35 years. After spending his formative years playing in pizza parlors and clubs throughout Indiana, Brian's career flourished when he discovered the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest. In 1999, he won his third title and was retired as "undefeated." He has since returned three times to serve on the judges panel.
Brian has played with some of the hottest jazz bands in the U.S. — Titan Hot Seven, Wally's Warehouse Waifs, the Holland Rhythm Company, and others — and has traveled all over the world performing his creative styles of jazz, ragtime, stride, boogie, and blues. Most recently Brian and Danny Coots have formed a musical partnership, and together they are quickly building a reputation as the fun and musical duo, Holland & Coots.
Brian has fourteen recordings (solo and ensemble) to his credit, and garnered a Grammy nomination for his work with Bud Dresser on their album, "Ragtime - Goodtime - Jazz".
Danny Coots
Danny Coots in 1964 was just six years of age when he began playing drums in upstate New York. Since then, he has studied with Nick Baffaro, Rich Holly, Alan Koffman and Jim Petercsak in percussion. Danny attended The Crane School of Music and St. Lawrence University. He eventually served as adjunct faculty at St. Lawrence University, Clarkson University and Potsdam State University from the 1970s into the 1990s.
He continued traveling and performing with David Amram, Ray Shiner, Daniel Pinkham, Herb Ellis, Will Alger, Jack Mayhue, Speigle Wilcox, Mimi Hines, Phil Ford, Bob Darch, Pearl Kaufman and Arthur Duncan.
In 1996 Danny moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and has lived there ever since. Danny has recorded extensively in Nashville, New York and L.A. and has appeared in over 100 countries. He has played on over 100 recordings, one of which won a Grammy in 2005.
After moving to Tennessee, Danny joined the Jack Daniel's Silver Cornet Band for five years and helped found the Titan Hot Seven. During this time he played and recorded with Dick Hyman, Houston Person, Bob Wilber, Johnny Varro, Jeff Coffin, Tim Laughlin, Harry Allen, Dave Hungate, Bill Allred, John Allred, Randy Reinhart, Ron Hockett, John Cocuzzi, John Sheridan, Dan Barrett, Vince Giordano, Rebecca Kilgore, Ken Peplowski, Duke Heitger, Neville Dickie, Bob Shultz, Nicki Parrott, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli, Yve Evans, Chuck Hedges, Warren Vache and Allen Vache to name a few.
Paul Stewart
Hailing from North Carolina, he is making his way to Sutter Creek again. He has performed in Sutter creek at past year's festivals. Paul continues to be an active Ragtime Performer and in 2018 won 2nd place in the Senior Division of the World Championship "Old Time Piano Playing contest and Festival" hosted by the University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi.
Stevens Price
Stevens Price is the co- founder, with Keith Taylor, of the Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival, and former owner of the Sutter Creek Ice Cream Emporium. He has currently taken over the reigns, so it is now the "Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival". He is the Master of Ceremonies for the festival where he can sing out some ragtime tunes as well as play them on the piano.
He began his musical career by singing in his church choir at age 8. Began playing the piano after hearing his Dad working on some Boogie Woogie. Soon music was an integral part of his growing up. Choirs, musical theater, concerts. He studied music and drama in college where he met his wife. He frequented the Maple Leaf Club in Los Angeles and grew to love ragtime music. Opening the Ice Cream Emporium in 1997, he brought in a player piano and soon acquired hundreds of rolls. The emporium was the ragtime center of the foothills. The Sierra Foothills Ragtime Society still meets there every other month. He is currently delivering mail in Sutter Creek and is known as the "Singing Mailman".
Anthony Sarginson
Pianist
Extraordinaire
2019 recipient of the Historic Sutter Creek ragtime Festival Scholarship
Pianist
Extraordinaire
2019 recipient of the Historic Sutter Creek ragtime Festival Scholarship
John Remmers
John hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan, his interest in ragtime dating from the 1970s ragtime revival. He has been playing piano at festivals since the 1990s, all the more intensively since his retirement as a professor of mathematics and computer science in 2004. Specializing in the classic ragtime of Scott Joplin and his contemporaries, he has played at Sutter Creek since 2001 and was a regular performer at the Scott Joplin Festival in Sedalia, Missouri for many years. Other appearances include the West Coast Ragtime Festival, the Lake Superior Ragtime Festival, the Blind Boone Ragtime and Early Jazz Festival, the Eau Claire Ragtime Festival, and the Greenfield Village Ragtime Street Fair. Recently John was the winner of the Senior Division of the 2018 World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest held in Oxford, Mississippi. His CD “Hand Played Rags” is available at the festival and online at cdbaby.com
Julia Riley
Flautist Supreme
Key Founding member of the Raspberry Jam Band and
wonderful addition to any of the listed performers!
Flautist Supreme
Key Founding member of the Raspberry Jam Band and
wonderful addition to any of the listed performers!
Invited Performers
The Easy Winners
Nick Robinson and Zac Salem – perform ragtime era music of the Americas on mandolin and guitar. Their repertoire includes classic rags, waltzes, cakewalks, tangos, marches, and songs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For the Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival they will be joined by special guest Robert Armstrong on Hawaiian steel guitar, ukulele, banjo guitar, musical saw, and vocals.
Nick Robinson played mandolin with the Ragtime Skedaddlers string band at ragtime and roots music festivals throughout northern California. He produced their three CDs: Rag Time Skedaddlers, Mandolins at the Cake Walk, and The Latest Popular Mandolin and Guitar Music. Nick has also performed Balinese gamelan, old time mandolin, and klezmer music.
Zac Salem has been performing ragtime in the USA and Mexico since the age of 16. He is a vocalist, pianist, and performer on various stringed instruments. He is an enthusiastic researcher and collector of early twentieth century Mexican and Latin American popular song, and he performs ragtime era music on both mandolin and guitar.
Robert Armstrong started playing early 20th century on various string instruments while coming of age in Southern California. A founding member of the Cheap Suit Serenaders, he has performed with dozens of groups over the years that keep the sound and feel of old musical styles alive.
Nick Robinson and Zac Salem – perform ragtime era music of the Americas on mandolin and guitar. Their repertoire includes classic rags, waltzes, cakewalks, tangos, marches, and songs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For the Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival they will be joined by special guest Robert Armstrong on Hawaiian steel guitar, ukulele, banjo guitar, musical saw, and vocals.
Nick Robinson played mandolin with the Ragtime Skedaddlers string band at ragtime and roots music festivals throughout northern California. He produced their three CDs: Rag Time Skedaddlers, Mandolins at the Cake Walk, and The Latest Popular Mandolin and Guitar Music. Nick has also performed Balinese gamelan, old time mandolin, and klezmer music.
Zac Salem has been performing ragtime in the USA and Mexico since the age of 16. He is a vocalist, pianist, and performer on various stringed instruments. He is an enthusiastic researcher and collector of early twentieth century Mexican and Latin American popular song, and he performs ragtime era music on both mandolin and guitar.
Robert Armstrong started playing early 20th century on various string instruments while coming of age in Southern California. A founding member of the Cheap Suit Serenaders, he has performed with dozens of groups over the years that keep the sound and feel of old musical styles alive.
Patrick Aranda
Performing in Sutter Creek since 2002, Patrick has a huge ragtime Repertoire which includes novelty and Classic rags, Harlem stride and favorite tunes from the Tin Pan Alley era.
As A music professor at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga,, where he chairs the music department, Patrick also directs the jazz and concert bands and teaches classes ranging from theory to musicianship to history of Jazz. Patrick plays trombone in his brother's Salsa band, performs with several Southern California Dixieland groups and has recorded his own solo Cd's.
He has been performing at Universal Studios, and along with Amanda Castro, maintains a full schedule of jazz and private party performances.
Performing in Sutter Creek since 2002, Patrick has a huge ragtime Repertoire which includes novelty and Classic rags, Harlem stride and favorite tunes from the Tin Pan Alley era.
As A music professor at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga,, where he chairs the music department, Patrick also directs the jazz and concert bands and teaches classes ranging from theory to musicianship to history of Jazz. Patrick plays trombone in his brother's Salsa band, performs with several Southern California Dixieland groups and has recorded his own solo Cd's.
He has been performing at Universal Studios, and along with Amanda Castro, maintains a full schedule of jazz and private party performances.