Greg Rahn’s hands coast on the ivory
Pianist Greg Rahn recording an homage to ragitme, boogie-woogie.
One wonders if Greg Rahn would have been more in his element if he were born a century or so ago.
Sure, he wouldn’t have had all the benefits of modern technology in recording his music. But then, ragtime and boogie-woogie masters would have been the 61-year-old American Canyon musician’s peers instead of merely inspiration.
From Fats Waller to Professor Longhair and Scott Joplin, Rahn’s hands move swiftly up and down his “cheap, German-brand baby grand” he bought nearly 40 years ago. Not that he doesn’t mind a stellar Steinway, used to record “Rent Party Piano,” a tribute to the all-night performances in homes and apartments in the 1920s and ’30s.
“In American cities like Harlem, New Orleans and Chicago, they would hold ‘rent parties’ for people,” Rahn said. “They’d let people come in, pay a little, put money in the tip jar and have an all-night party. Literally, all night.”
Pianos “were super important in those days,” Rahn continued. “Every home, every apartment, had a piano of some sort. Other musicians would join in and the thing would go until dawn.”
With the COVID-19 rent
eviction moratorium expiring in June, those “rent parties” could make a comeback, Rahn lamented.
“That would certainly be a driver for this type of thing. The whole vibe is relevant today,” he said.
An invitation would typically include the musician of note and yes, Rahn said, the legendary Waller often did rent parties.
“These ‘rent parties’ would happen every Saturday night,” said Rahn, researching what he could, “which hooked me into this whole concept.”
So, in the style of Waller, Professor Longhair, et al, Rahn wrote, arranged and performed most of the 13 tunes for the May 1 release, adding his own version of “Amazing Grace” plus Joplin’s classic “Maple Leaf Rag.”
As much as the solo release was a tribute to the genre, it’s also a tribute to the Black artists of the 1920s and ’30s, Rahn said.
“They not only raised this craft to an incredible level, they did it in times of intense racial violence,” Rahn said. “If you thought it was bad during the Civil War, it was worse in the 1890s. And Scott Joplin was making on this beautiful, happy music in the midst of all that.”
“They laid the foundation for so much music that came later,” Rahn continued, believing that “would have never had funk without Joplin and all the music that came afterward.”
Rahn thinks he first heard of these “rent parties” from a documentary, perhaps Ken Burns’ acclaimed “Jazz” film “when he talks about the early beginning of jazz.”
Bearded and bespectacled, Rahn has become an aficionado of ragtime, “doing a lot of research — everything I could find about ragtime music in the 1890s.”
Though the pandemic allowed Rahn to arrange and record “Rent Party Piano,” he said he’s ready to hit the road again, notably with acclaimed Bay Area guitarist Chris Cain.
“The gigs are starting to trickle in a bit,” Rahn said. “In September, we’re looking at it getting back to a full-time thing with festivals all over. It has been hard. We’re all trying to find ways to earn an income.”
Rahn figured he’s done 13 live-streamed shows, including Friday nights last summer from his home.
“It was a blast. People seemed to really enjoy it,” he said, with the number of weekly viewers ranging from in the 20-50.
“A little community,” Rahn said. “It was pretty cool. I had my own little show.”
Live-stream has been fine, but “it’s definitely time” to get out and play in front of real people, Rahn says.
“That’s the reason you do this,” he said, adding that live-streaming from a theater devoid of people “is the weirdest vibe.”
Rahn realizes the music is pretty much a lost, if merely unappreciated, treasure.
“I realize what I’m doing here is a niche of a niche. Blues is a tiny enough niche already,” Rahn said. “It’s not a popular thing at all.”
Rahn feels keeping the genre alive is his legacy.
“That’s one of the reasons I do it,” he said. “I feel like it’s disappearing.”
For more information about “Rent Party Piano” and Greg Rahn, visit gregrahn.net.