Ragtime and Jazz Festival

Jeff Barnhart and Eddie Erickson playing piano and banjo

At Mississippi State University, My husband and I toured the Charles H. Templeton, Sr. Music Museum, filled with old record players, music boxes, and a huge collection of ragtime sheet music. We also saw a disk twelve-inches wide perforated with holes, which came from the inside of a music box.

During our two evenings at the Ragtime and Jazz Festival, several performers played the piano or the guitar, and a student played a soprano saxophone solo. Jeff Barnhart and Kris Tokarski played separately and together on two pianos.

Jeff Barnhart played the piano for two silent movies while we laughed at the antics of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. One cabinet filled with ragtime and jazz sheet music is shown below.

Jeff Barnhart playing for silent movie showing

Victor Talking Machine Company exhibits in Templeton Music Museum

My husband Jack with harp in Templeton Music Museum at Mississippi State University

Advertisements

Holiday with a Prince

Prince Mario flies Kelly to Mt. Etna and the pyramids

“What do you mean I’m too late?” I gasped. “This can’t happen. I need to get to Paris tonight.”

Holiday with a Prince will soon be published in The Royals of Monterra Kindleworld. To do that, I have to delete all excerpts until it’s published, so watch this site for excerpts after it’s published.

Spring Blossoms, playing with time, and a new book

March is almost over, and I welcome the “snowfall” of white petals from my blossoming pear tree. I think I saw some early Texas blue bonnets blooming on the highway, so I may see more soon, especially as my husband and I will be driving to Mississippi to see the annual Ragtime Festival at Mississippi State University in a few days.

         Playing with Time

     My husband showed me a website where a pianist demonstrated playing certain musical pieces in 16/19 time and 6/8 time. (The first number shows how many beats to a measure, and the second shows what kind of note gets a beat. Waltz time is ¾ with 3 beats to a measure and a quarter note getting a beat.)

New Book Coming Soon

          I am getting ready for the launch party on April 24^th for my latest book, Holiday with a Prince, a Kindle World book featuring The Royals of Monterra. There are many books in the series started by Sariah Wilson with Royal Date.

I’ve enjoyed researching all the interesting places where Prince Mario takes Kelly Chandler.

Next month I’ll tell you about Romancing the Doctor,  being published in May by MuseItUp. While handsome CDC doctor Daniel Whistler and Heather McKinley are hot on the trail of a mysterious virus spreader, tension also heats up between them.

What to Do with Leftover Pumpkin

Halloween is over, but I have this cute little pumpkin left. Do I want to make pumpkin pie from scratch? I did it once and remember it was a lot of work, but I’ll get out the butcher knife and tackle it again.

Wow, it is really hard to cut. Finally, I get it cut into a few pieces. Now for scraping the seeds out. They are firmly attached with tough shreds, and there are a lot of them. Pumpkin is like winter squash. I can put some butter and brown sugar on the pumpkin pieces and run them in the microwave. However, what I get is a hard chewy mess of congealed brown sugar.

Time to go back to the drawing board. I boil the pieces until they seem tender, then sprinkle the brown sugar and butter on top. I only microwave them for a minute. So far, there is no chewy mess on top, so I give them another minute. Now I have some tasty triangles that taste like the winter squash I remember.

However, my husband refuses to eat any, so we compromise. He eats summer squash, while I eat broccoli, and I eat the pumpkin and any winter squash I buy. The picture below shows the pumpkin stem, pieces of squash, some of the stringy pulp that came with the seeds and a little pot in which I planted two pumpkin seeds. I’ll wait and see what comes up.

 

Protected by Love Audio

Hear chapter one of Protected by Love, narrated by Ted R Bailey, Book One in the Witness Protection series, Hiding from Love, is free as an e-book (Amazon, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes) for a limited time.  (Audio under construction)

PROTECTED BY LOVE
Witness Protection Series, Book Two

Fashion designer, Elizabeth Leventhal, Lee’s sister, wants to escape her abusive ex-husband, who works for the Elites, a Texas crime ring. When he beats down her door, she calls U.S. Marshal Joe Berg, to put her in the Witness Security Program. He asks her to attend an Elite party to get enough evidence to enroll her in the program. That fills her with dread.

HIDING FROM LOVE
Witness Protection Series, Book One

Laura Lee Leventhal won’t let her ex-boss continue running his miniature mafia. She trusts the Witness Security Program to set her up in the small town of Grandville, Texas. There she not only hides from him, but from love and marriage until she meets handsome Alexander Brandon. When her ex-boss’s thug shows up, Alex helps her escape. Wary, she resolves not to get involved with him.

TEMPTED BY LOVE
Witness Protection Series, Book Three

U.S. Marshal Sheila Talbot picks up a rebel ex-cop as her first witness. She tries not to be impressed with his good looks and his more than a touch of arrogance, which she finds hard to ignore. He runs her ragged trying to keep him safe. Despite rules against involvement with witnesses, he tempts her at every turn. When he bolts from the program, fearing for his safety, she follows him to Hawaii, and they barely escape danger.

A Bucket List to Entertain

I took my husband to a performance of the Bucket List Jazz Band, a group of ten men who play old time jazz melodies with flair and originality.

Several members played original improvised trumpet solos during many of their numbers. One player kept switching from a baritone saxophone to an alto one and back.

When they played and sang “When the Saints Go Marching In,” the audience clapped. Originally an American gospel hymn, it was made famous after Louis Armstrong recorded it on May 13, 1938.

They also performed “Ain’t She Sweet.” My toes were tapping to their rendition of South Ramparts Street Parade, taking me back to hearing the Michigan State University marching band play at football games.

The leader said forming a jazz band was on his bucket list, so he rounded up musicians and named the band, the Bucket List Jazz Band.

 

 

Newsletter Signup and Books by Carolyn Rae

If you sign up for my newsletter, I’ll send you a free short story, A Hot Time in Dew Drop, Texas. Send your e-mail address to carolynrwilliamson@charter.net and put “want free story” in the subject line. You’ll get updates on my new books and short excerpts from the next one coming out. The next one has excerpts from Romancing the Doctor.
CLICK HERE to browse my books on Amazon.com.