Miss Maybell and her Ragtime Romeos -2027

 By Neal Seagal

Miss Maybell and her Ragtime Romeos
Sunday, February 21, 2027 at 2pm

Haddonfield United Methodist Church
29 Warwick Road
Haddonfield, NJ 08033

This band reminds us of a time when phonograph records and motion pictures were in their infancy and live performance ruled. Lauren Sansaricq brought her (then titled) Jazz Age Artistes to Tri-State two years ago and they were a big hit - don't miss them today!

Miss Maybell & Her Ragtime Romeos revive the ragtime, blues, and hot jazz of the 1890s–1920s, much of it rescued from old 78s and antique sheet music. Led by powerhouse contralto and multi-instrumentalist Lauren Sansaricq, the band features New York jazz veterans Dan Levinson (reeds), Brian Nalepka (bass, tuba), and Andy Stein (violin), with rising stars Gavin Rice (banjo) and Brennan Ernst (piano). Expect toe-tapping two-steps, sly vaudeville numbers, and a voice that stops the room.

Miss Maybell & Her Ragtime Romeos bring the sounds of the early twentieth century roaring back to life with vintage jazz, ragtime, and blues. Bandleader Lauren Sansaricq, known on stage as Miss Maybell, digs her repertoire out of dusty 78 rpm records, antique sheet music, library archives, and flea-market finds, giving new life to songs written more than a hundred years ago. The result is a show full of theatrical storytelling: early dance crazes, city-versus-country heartbreak, moonlit courtships, and plenty of comic relief, delivered with period authenticity and genuine joy.

At the center of it all is Miss Maybell's voice, a rich, full-ranged contralto that critics have placed in the tradition of classic blues singers such as Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters. She is also a one-woman rhythm section, switching among banjo, guitar, and a custom-rigged washboard. The band's latest album, Under the Midnight Moon: Unrecorded Songs of the 1890s–1920s, revives forgotten tunes unearthed from sources as varied as the Library of Congress and composers' own families, and was warmly received in The Syncopated Times and Bistro Awards. The group has played New York's legendary Birdland jazz club and ragtime and traditional jazz festivals around the country.

The Ragtime Romeos pair veterans of Broadway, Hollywood soundtracks, and public radio with two of the most exciting young players in early jazz today.

The Lineup

Lauren Sansaricq (Miss Maybell) — leader, vocals, banjo, washboard, guitar A singer, multi-instrumentalist, and painter, Lauren grew up hearing her grandmother, raised in a Hell's Kitchen tenement, play piano and sing Tin Pan Alley songs. That early spark became a lifelong mission to find, perform, and preserve the popular music of the ragtime and early jazz eras.

Dan Levinson — reeds One of the foremost interpreters of the jazz styles of the 1910s through the 1930s, clarinetist and saxophonist Dan Levinson has been a member of Vince Giordano's Nighthawks since 1993 and toured with Leon Redbone for nearly two decades. He has appeared on more than 150 recordings and on the soundtracks of Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, HBO's Boardwalk Empire, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. He was named Best Clarinetist in Hot House Magazine's 2017 NYC Jazz Fans Decision awards.

Brian Nalepka — bass, tuba Brian began his professional career in 1974 and went on to co-found the Manhattan Rhythm Kings, who performed in all 50 states and enjoyed a 32-year collaboration with Broadway legend Tommy Tune. On Broadway, Brian originated the role of "Moose" in the Tony Award–winning musical Crazy for You, performing it more than 900 times. His bass, tuba, and vocals can be heard on more than 50 albums and on film soundtracks including The Aviator, Elf, and several Woody Allen films.

Andy Stein — violin Andy Stein was a founding member of the country-rock band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen and spent 22 years in the house band of Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion. A classically trained violinist, he has recorded with Itzhak Perlman, played featured roles in Broadway productions, appeared in Ken Burns documentaries, and has been the violinist with Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks since 1979.

Gavin Rice — banjo A Cape Cod native and graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Gavin is one of the rare players fluent on tenor, plectrum, and classic five-string banjo as well as guitar. He received the 2024 Young Talent Award at the Mike Durham Classic Jazz Party in Whitley Bay, England, made his Jazz at Lincoln Center debut with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in 2025, and leads his own band, Gavin Rice & His Famous Collegiates. He owns a collection of more than 50 instruments over a century old.

Brennan Ernst — piano Originally from Leesburg, Virginia, and now based in Philadelphia, Brennan fell for Scott Joplin's music at age eight and for the stride piano of James P. Johnson at fourteen. A multi-instrumentalist on piano, guitar, and banjo, he has performed professionally since sixteen, toured across North America and Europe, and is a familiar face at Piano in Bryant Park and with bands such as Drew Nugent and the Midnight Society.

Visit Miss Maybelle's website.

Oh Johnny! Oh Johnny! ( 1917)

Coney Island Washboard