Ragtime Revue

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The Revue isn't simply a latter-day cover band going through the motions of a dead musical form; these musicians are playing red-blooded music they know and love, and their performances make the most of its sly syncopations and spicy arrangements. It'll be a pleasure to hear them rip into Sydney Perrin's "We'll Raise the Roof Tonight," Joe Jordan's "That Teasin' Rag," and Jelly Roll Morton's "New Orleans Bump."

Soprano Anita Johnson is Ann Arbor-born and Ypsilanti-raised, and local audiences will remember her from her time at the U-M. A national audience remembers her from her drop-dead gorgeous performance of Stevie Wonder's "I Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" at the White House last February at a ceremony honoring the composer. It'll be a particular pleasure to hear her take on Joplin.   

[Originally published in February, 2011.]