Another Chas. L. Johnson Ragtime arrangement from Steve

Here is one of my favourite pieces as played by the Fred Van Eps Trio and was, I believe, recorded in 1918 on HMV records.

 

“Where the Lanterns Glow" was composed in 1916 by the master of ragtime Chas. L. Johnson.  Steve Harrison in his continuing quest to arrange every piece of ragtime, ever composed, for Classic banjo !!

 

 

It seems that the complete works of Chas Johnson are now in his sights  :-)

 

I have added the score, which is not too difficult to play, to the MUSIC LIBRARY.

Steve has left out a chunk of Van Eps “variations” to make the playing more accessible to us mere mortals!

Here is the Maestro Fred Van Eps playing the piece:

 

WHERE THE LANTERNS GLOW played by the Van Eps Trio

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Permalink Reply by Mike Moss on December 13, 2013 at 11:20

Love this one, a brilliant ragtime oriental foxtrot, not too difficult either, and it just exudes nostalgia. 太好了！

Permalink Reply by Trapdoor2 on December 13, 2013 at 23:17

Yeah, these are some of my favorite tunes. I fell in love with Oriental Foxtrots back in the '70's when the New Leviathan Oriental Foxtrot Orchestra released their first LP. Miz Diane and I are planning on attending the New Orleans Jazzfest in 2014 and seeing them perform again (they are a fixture there).

Permalink Reply by thereallyniceman on December 14, 2013 at 9:03

Just what I feel about these "Oriental" style pieces.

This one churned up my insides (in a pleasant way) the very first time that I heard it. It is definitely one on the list to learn. I will attempt to work out the "Van Eps interlude" that accompanies the sax solo. Working it out may be OK... playing it may be the tricky bit.

Thanks Steve.

Permalink Reply by Steve Harrison on December 14, 2013 at 10:54

Does anyone else know of any more oriental style foxtrots that may be worth arranging? I'll do a bit of googling and see what I can find...Steve.

Permalink Reply by thereallyniceman on December 14, 2013 at 11:30

I am afraid that, for me, it has to be another Fred Van Eps performance:

Ching Chong by Lee S Roberts, but my knowledge of Foxtrots is a little lacking, so it maybe not be one  ;-)

CHING CHONG played by Fred Van Eps
Permalink Reply by Trapdoor2 on December 14, 2013 at 23:35

Well, there's the original, "Cui's Orientale" but I don't know how well it would translate to banjo. The one unifying motif of the "true" OF is that it must have the "snake charmer" theme used somewhere in the composition. The "orient" of the period was far more "middle east" than what is current these days.

Tunes like "Arabian Moon", "Fate", "Dardanella", "Old King Tut", "Imam", "When Rebecca Got Back From Mecca", "Palestina", etc., had tenor/plectrum banjos as rhythm instruments (Paul Whiteman's orchestra, Selvin's, etc.)...and lots of whole-note melody lines which probably wouldn't translate to a banjo lead very well.

Still, there were enough Chinese/Japanese tunes in the period that the line gets a bit blurred. Whiteman's "Japanese Sandman" might make a good one. Also, "Poppy Time In Old Japan" might do nicely (and it is a favorite of mine anyway). http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/4195/

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