Special guests Evan Christopher (clarinet) and Tom McDermott (piano), both leading New Orleans musicians, will join the R4 orchestra for a program featuring ragtime and jazz from the Crescent City. Christopher and McDermott both appeared in and contributed music for the HBO series “Treme,” based on post-Katrina New Orleans.

The program will feature well known figures in ragtime and jazz and includes works by Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Kid Ory and the Original Dixieland Jass Band.

The 8th Annual Ragtime Extravaganza will be dedicated to James Dapogny, who passed away recently after a long fight with cancer. Dapogny collaborated with R4 to help produce the last six Ragtime Extravaganzas. Jim is already missed greatly and we will honor his legacy with music he shared with us over the years.

At The Ark in Ann Arbor. Tickets can be purchased here.

Evan Christopher, clarinet
Tom McDermott, piano
Bill’s Beer Garden, Ann Arbor

Join these two outstanding New Orleans musicians as they play a benefit concert for R4. Special thanks to Bill’s Beer Garden for providing the space and donating a portion of all drink orders in support of R4! Enjoy great music with a craft beer and free hotdogs…all while supporting the programming of the River Raisin Ragtime Revue! $7 cover at the door.

R4 concerts at this annual event in Dearborn, Michigan are on Saturday, September 7 from 7-9pm and on Sunday, September 8 from 3-4pm. Information about the Old Car Festival can be found here.

Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, MI
Featuring Dr. Robert Lindahl, trombone

R4 partners with Central Michigan University to feature the role of the trombone throughout the development of early popular American music. Early trombonist/bandleaders like Frederick Innes and Arthur Pryor, great ragtime arrangers who expanded the role of trombone in the theater orchestra, and the development of the “tailgate” style of early jazz performance will be explored. This project includes masterclasses at CMU, a public performance and a new CD recording! Specific event times to be announced.