COMPACT DISC REVIEW

By

Jack Rummel

Live at San Francisco ’s Pier 23

Virginia Tichenor, piano, with friends

Ragophile 1004

The Pinywoods Rag / The Pearls / The Naked Dance / Riverside Blues / Deep in the Ozarks / Mashed Potatoes / Grace and Beauty / The Easy Winners / Cole Smoak / It’s A Long Way Back Home / Shake That Thing / Swipesy Cake Walk / Atlanta Rag / This Is The Blues / The Thriller! / Virginia ’s Blues / The Cascades / Creole Belles / Blind Boone’s Southern Rag Medley No. 2 / Peacherine Rag / Texas Fox Trot / Kitten on the Keys.

            Since she gave up her day job to pursue a career in music, Virginia Tichenor has played a steady gig at Pier 23 on the San Francisco Embarcadero.  What began as solo piano performances has slowly expanded to include (on occasion) husband Marty Eggers on tuba and friends Craig Ventresco on guitar and J. Hansen on drums.  Often in the audience was rag aficionado and computer whiz par excellence Lewis Motisher, who suggested that he be allowed to record the sessions.  And thus, between August 2006 and March 2007 history was made.

            The fact that multiple recordings were used also allowed for various combinations of sidemen, i.e., different configurations of duos, trios and quartets, but it also is the Achilles heel of this CD, for the resultant sound varies considerably from one session to the next, reaching its weakest point on the September 5, 2006 session (The Pearls, The Naked Dance, This Is The Blues, Virginia’s Blues, The Cascades, Peacherine Rag, Texas Fox Trot and Kitten on the Keys) where the guitar and tuba overpower the sound and the piano is dimly heard.

            Still, this is a good album.  The other sessions are very well recorded and the musicians are all in fine form, especially Tichenor, who is playing better than ever.  It’s very rhythmic throughout (no rubato), but there’s not much in the way of dynamics (you gotta play loud to be heard in a popular joint like Pier 23).  There’s no info on the piano but I’m guessing it’s electric.  The live setting allows Motisher to sit in the front row with his digital recorder, but otherwise adds very little except occasional background noise.

            Tichenor’s experience with the Devil Mountain Jazz Band serves her well on the bluesy numbers (The Pearls, Riverside Blues, Shake That Thing, This Is The Blues and Virginia’s Blues) and a lifetime of being surrounded by ragtime has amply prepared her for the other cuts.  She gives smooth performances on the classic rags (Grace and Beauty, The Easy Winners, Swipesy Cake Walk, The Cascades and Peacherine Rag) but she’s perhaps at her best when she’s stomping her way through a peppy folk rag (The Pinywoods Rag, The Naked Dance, Cole Smoak, Deep in the Ozarks, It’s A Long Way Back Home and the oddity Mashed Potatoes).

            Virginia Tichenor has really come into her own as a professional performer as this CD will attest.  It’s a great playlist – familiar tunes with an occasional rarity – and the liner notes are excellent.  Thanks to Louis Motisher who had the mind to pursue this project (and who also supplied the eye-catching graphics).  As for Tichenor, the live setting showcases her almost flawless playing, since there’s little or no opportunity to edit out mistakes, and as for us, when the weaker-sounding tracks come along we’ll just pretend we got there late and didn’t get a good seat.