Ms. Marie and group,  I, too, was at the West Coast Ragtime Festival,
and I am completely surprised you didn't see Mr. John Motto-Ros' fine
display of his immaculately restored Wurlitzer Pianino coin piano in
the lobby.  It was right by the sliding doors.  (There was even a jar
of nickels to put in the slot.)

You couldn't miss it unless you either never entered that part of the
hotel or were unfortunate enough to wander by when Mr. Motto-Ros was
away and the instrument was covered up (usually early morning or late
at night).  It was there last year too, and there's a video of it on
YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc6cTzn8Bc8


It should be noted that Mr. Motto-Ros sat at a table next to the
Pianino while it was on display, and was always willing to answer
questions about it and talk about the Pianino and coin pianos in
general.  He had stacks of AMICA membership brochures for anybody to
take, as well as old back-issues of the AMICA bulletin, also for anyone
to take who might be interested in joining.

Regarding the Pianino, not only was it always in fine form, musically,
but he brought some rolls of great rags, and the sound pleasantly
filled the lobby without intruding on the performers in adjoining
rooms.

I think it was a great festival.  Some other mechanical music
highlights include Galen Wilkes' lecture and demonstration on early
cylinder recordings from the ragtime era, which was ended in grand
style by attaching a recording horn to the phonograph, and having
Tom Brier make a brand-new cylinder recording!  This was played back
for the audience as soon as it was made.

Speaking of Tom, not only can he play exactly like a player piano
(when the mood strikes), and has transcribed a number of great rolls,
but he has also arranged some outstanding piano rolls himself, both
of new compositions by him and others, and great old-time rare rags.
He had a couple of rolls of his outstanding arrangement of Kittie
Hamel's "White Seal Rag" for sale in the ragtime store.  Perhaps you
got one of them.  This same arrangement can also be heard on his 2000
CD: "Pianola" (where it is played on a MIDI-driven Steinway grand).

Bob Pinsker, historian, musicologist, violinist (with the Heliotrope
Ragtime Orchestra) and pianist, debuted a great folio in the ragtime
store called "Piano Roll Sampler" which has exact transcriptions of
some truly outstanding rolls, played by such luminaries as James P.
Johnson, Jimmy Blythe, Roy Bargy, and Charley Straight.  I was the
first in line to purchase the folio, and though I will be chewing
on these transcriptions for quite a while, they are quite worth the
challenge, as listening to the rolls will attest!  (Now, all that is
really needed with this folio is an accompanying CD of the rolls to
hear how they are supposed to sound.)

There were some boxes of old piano rolls available for sale/picking
through in the store, and by that time I'd blown all my cash on CD's
and sheet music, so was heartened when I saw a couple local
roll-collector friends going through the boxes for the "good ones"!

To all those who can go to the West Coast Ragtime Festival but don't,
or have never heard about it, see what you are missing!  See these
YouTube user channels for lots of videos of this year's festival:

  http://www.youtube.com/user/tdub1941
  http://www.youtube.com/user/Keeper1st

Andrew Barrett