The Carolina Shout - Ragtime and Jazz Piano with Ethan Uslan

Today is the first day of the semester at Carolina Shout Podcast University. Experience a brief freshman orientation and jump right into Ragtime 101 with Professor Ethan. According to the syllabus, today's topics will include the Maple Leaf Rag, St Louis Blues, and more. Our sponsor is Bernard's Dehydrated Water. Tuition is free so you might as well enroll!

Vocalist Laura Windley opens the show with a number fresher than Starkist tuna. Ethan plays a polka written for a Civil War Sanitary Fair, and he explains what a Sanitary Fair is (no, it is not a soap circus). Then Ethan puts together a complicated Piano Puzzle, sings a song about a spunky country girl named Neuralgia and, finally, presents an epic narrative ballad about a couple who fall in love, get married, have children, and die - without ever leaving the confines of JC Penney.

Ethan puts together a train-themed episode. First he sings a song that rhymes just about every train line from the Cotton Belt to the Wabash Cannonball. Then he plays a Scott Joplin march about a massive train collision. After that, Ethan reveals his true nature as a hardened criminal. He takes out his revolver, puts a bandana over his face and holds up a train. Finally Ethan plays a WC Handy number about the Ole Miss - fastest train out of Memphis.

This episode begins with Gina Marie singing "Squeeze Me." Then, Ethan reads an email from Gina about her adventures in Europe, which leads to an expensive musical gondola ride. Raw Press, our sponsor for the episode, requests Ethan to sing about juice, which he does. Ethan then plays a song about opium smoking (Limehouse Blues) and ends the episode with some Scott Joplin and some semi-investigative journalism about the all-powerful pineapple industry.

Ethan presents a program of puzzle songs from the 1920s and 30s with insights provided by special guest Will Shortz, editor of the NY Times Crossword. Vocalists Doug Bowles and Gina Marie sing "Cross Word Mama You Puzzle Me (But Papa's Gonna Figure You Out)," "Cross Words Between My Sweetie and Me," and more. Ethan also presents the first known recording of an Argentinian crossword song that loosely translates to the "Horizontal Tango."

Vocalist Anna Cecilia swings by the podcast studio and regales us with a few scorching hot jazz numbers. And for the first time in Carolina Shout history, we have a live studio audience (of 4 people). HIGHLIGHTS: Anna Cecilia singing My Baby Just Cares For Me, Old Fashioned Love, and Dear Old Stockholm - in Swedish! LOWLIGHTS: Ethan croons an original song about shopping at Ikea.

Ethan has fun with the music of Frederic Francois Chopin. He plays some hit songs of yore that were based on Chopin's melodies, and of course, Ethan makes his own hot Chopin arrangements as well, including a romping C# Minor Waltz and a Prelude played in the styles of Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton. Finally he ends the show with Joseph Lamb's Ragtime Nightingale, which drew inspiration from the Revolutionary Etude.

Chicago jazz vocalist Gina Marie DeGregorio drops in to sing a few tunes with Ethan. Their chit-chat topics range from middle school jazz band repertoire to where/when you can get half-price martinis. Songs included are "Exactly Like You," "Love Me or Leave Me," "I Like Pie, I like Cake" and more.

In this episode, sponsored by Unicorn Drops, Ethan opens up the show with a short "Carolina in the Morning." He then introduces the episode's theme: Madame Butterfly (you know, the opera by Puccini). Then he plays a jazzy "Cho-Cho San" which is a fox-trot based on Madame Butterfly themes. Opera singer Melinda Whittington drops in for "Poor Butterfly" and its not-so-feminist sequel, "Poor Little Butterfly is a Fly Girl Now."