Liverpool — One of the most versatile keyboardists in Central New York, Dave Liddy has lent his talents to a wide array of popular combos including the Moss Back Mule Band, Blueprints, Out of the Blue, Stringbee and The Merry Pranksters.
He primarily performs rock and roll, blues and swing with those combos, but Liddy’s true love is ragtime piano.
Ragtime is a musical genre that enjoyed its peak popularity between 1895 and 1918. Its chief characteristic is that it’s syncopated, that is played in “ragged” time. Liddy has studied ragtime performance styles with Michigan’s master pianist Bob Milne.
At 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17, Liddy will lead his Thirsty Ragtime Trio in a free concert at Liverpool Public Library. The threesome will kick off the library’s Origins of Jazz Series that runs through April. Admission is free; 457-0310; lpl.org.
The Thirsty Ragtime Trio also features guitarist Steve Quenneville and drummer Mark Tiffault. In May 2015, Liddy and Tiffault were both inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame, and last July 20 the Moss Back Mule Band, including Liddy and Quenneville, helped celebrate the Liverpool Is The Place 30th anniversary Summer Concert Series at Johnson Park.
‘Maple Leaf Rag’
On Sunday at the library the Thirsty Ragtime Trio will play compositions such as Tom Turpin’s “Harlem Rag” and “Maple Leaf Rag” by Scott Joplin, the Texas-born composer known as the “King of Ragtime Writers.”
Other tunes the trio will tackle include “Dill Pickles” (1906) and “Crazy Bone Rag” (1913) by Charles L. Johnson, “Sensation” (1908) by Joseph F. Lamb and “The Chrysanthemum” (1904), another Joplin composition.
Over the years, Liddy, who hails from nearby Camden, has shared the stage with prominent musicians such as pedal steel guitarist Buddy Emmons, guitarist/fiddler Charlie Daniels and blues harmonica player Mark Wenner.
Last fall, Liddy appeared at the Valley Ragtime Romp in Canoga Park in Los Angeles and also performed at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site in St. Louis, Missouri.
Origins of Jazz
continued — The library’s Origins of Jazz Series continues Feb. 21 with the Carolyn Kelly Blues Band, performing urban blues; March 20 with the Bear Cat Jass Band playing hot jazz of the 1920s; and April 17 with the Tony Joseph Swingtet paying tribute to the King of Swing, Benny Goodman.
With its infectious syncopated rhythms, its uplifting collective improvisation and its world-renowned joie de vivre, traditional jazz will forever appeal to listeners and dancers alike.
More January jazz
The Seneca Savings January Jazzfest will take place from 1 to 9 p.m. Hosted by CNY Jazz Central, the annual event promises four floors of fun with bands performing mainstream, bebop, cabaret, blues, Latin and R&B. Acts TBA, and a pre-fest buffet will be served from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tickets cost $25 in advance, or $30 at the door; 479-5299; cnyjazz.org.
That same day at 4 p.m., Ithaca’s Gypsy swing band Djug Django welcomes special guest trumpeter Frank Campos to the stage at Pensabene’s Casa Grande, 135 State Fair Blvd., on Syracuse’s West End. The concert is hosted by the Jazz Appreciation Society of Syracuse, whose president, trombonist Bobby Morris, lives in Liverpool. Admission to the Djug Django concert costs $12 for JASS members, $15 for others; 652-0547; jasscny.org.
Knight’s appetite sated
On Friday night, Jan. 8, midfielder Antonio Manfut scored a hat trick for the Syracuse Silver Knights at the Oncenter War Memorial, as the Knights vanquished the Harrisburg Heat, 5-3, in the Major Indoor Soccer League game.
The following morning, Manfut ate breakfast at the Gardenview Diner, 650 Old Liverpool Road.
A 21-year-old native of Cleveland, Ohio, Manfut stands just 5-foot-4, but he’s a big presence on the field.
In the fourth quarter on Friday, Manfut broke a deadlock to complete his hat trick. After a scramble in the box, the ball fell to Manfut’s feet and he drilled a shot into the net making the score 4-3 Syracuse.
The next Knights home game will be at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 22, against the St. Louis Ambush; syracusesilverknights.com.
The columnist can be contacted at [email protected].
