Alna composer and pianist Aaron Robinson chats over coffee at Alna General Store on the morning of Thursday, Sept. 26 about the upcoming Glenn Jenks Ragtime Revue. (Christine LaPado-Breglia photo)
Reveling in ragtime: OK, if the likability and enthusiasm of Alna composer and ragtime pianist Aaron Robinson, whom I met for the first time on Thursday, Sept. 26 at Alna General Store, is any indication of the likability and top-notch quality of the upcoming Glenn Jenks Ragtime Revue in Camden on Saturday, Oct. 5 (and I believe it is), I say, “Go see it!!!” (That is with three exclamation marks, to be clear.)
Spending time with Robinson is pure pleasure. He is bright, witty, and a dedicated and talented composer and musician. He is also the dedicated friend of the late Glenn Jenks, a widely known ragtime pianist from Maine who passed away unexpectedly in early 2016 at the age of 69.
Robinson has, with the permission of Jenks’ widow and the help of a number of local musicians, arranged a musical extravaganza to celebrate the life and music of Jenks, who was also a composer. On the Oct. 5 bill, in addition to Robinson, are acclaimed Nobleboro bass-baritone singer John D. Adams, who will sing selections from the musical “Ragtime” and the Scott Joplin opera “Treemonisha,” among other pieces. Also featured are Newcastle pianist Sean Fleming and his Ragtime Orchestra, which includes local musicians Carol Preston, Helen Newell, Nan White, Allen Millett, and Richard Francis.
Ragtime composer and pianist Martin Spitznagel is also on the program. Listen to/watch Spitznagel’s “Star Wars”-ragtime mashup video “Chewie Fingers,” at martinspitznagel.com – it is hilarious and amazing at the same time!
Other performers will appear, including the Studio Red dance ensemble performing in ragtime-era style.
Glenn Jenks at the piano. (Photo courtesy Aaron Robinson)
“Glenn was a huge force, a huge voice in the music world here in Maine and in the Midcoast area,” Robinson said. “And, more importantly, in the ragtime world.”
In addition to composing and performing ragtime pieces, Jenks was a “multifaceted composer, of orchestral, of ensemble music,” Robinson said.
And Robinson, ever the devoted friend, colleague, and admirer, has spent the last three years doing “complete transcriptions” of all of Jenks’ written and recorded work, and digitizing everything from reel-to-reel tapes and cassettes, for instance, something that Jenks had begun to do before he died. “I have spent every single day with Glenn in one form or another” since mid-2016, Robinson said. “I would hear a recording and listen to how he played it versus the written version.”
Robinson said that Jenks wrote “37 complete works for ragtime, which is unheard of, each one of them absolute masterpieces in themselves …
“I realized he needed to be heard.”
Robinson said he wanted to take his work on Jenks’ catalog to the next step. “The next step was to honor him as a composer” with the Glenn Jenks Ragtime Revue, he said. “I wanted to have the best of the best coming in from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts … and I also wanted to spotlight that we have really good musicians here in Maine, and many of those right here in Lincoln County.”
Aaron Robinson at the piano. (Photo courtesy Will Wohler)
The proceeds from the revue will go to a scholarship for up-and-coming musicians in Jenks’ name.
When asked why he loves ragtime so much (which is obvious if one spends time with him and/or listens to his recordings), Robinson told me, “Ragtime was the very first music I heard as a child – that and church music – which are at their core very much the same. You perform it because it brings you joy. As the gospel hymn says, ‘I sing because I’m happy.’ I play ragtime because I’m happy – and in turn it makes others happy, too.”
Check out Robinson playing “Root Beer Rag,” youtube.com/watch?v=QJTJKLy8Dx0, and “Cafe Society Rag,” youtube.com/watch?v=xmM3P8leT1A, for a rollicking, fun time.
Listen to Jenks: “Stolen Moments,” youtube.com/watch?v=HxMkKjVyuNg, and “The Wrong Rag,” youtube.com/watch?v=RmGx_OHuaiU, which Robinson and Fleming will perform together at the same piano at the revue.
The Glenn Jenks Ragtime Revue takes place at the Camden Opera House, located at 29 Elm St. in Camden, on Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $10 for seniors and students, and can be purchased at camdenoperahouse.com, or reserved by phone at 236-7963. Tickets can also be bought at the door one hour prior to showtime.
(Christine LaPado-Breglia has written about the arts in both California and Maine. She is the recipient of two 2018 Critic’s Awards and a 2018 Local Columnist award from the Maine Press Association. Email her at clbreglia@lcnme.com or write her a letter in care of The Lincoln County News, P.O. Box 36, Damariscotta, ME 04543.)
