The 13th Annual Charles H. Templeton Ragtime & Jazz Festival was an unqualified musical success. The event, held in the Mitchell Memorial Library and McComas Hall at Mississippi State University in Starkville, featured returning performers—pianists Martin Spitznagel and Jeff Barnhart—together with three newcomers: pianist Larisa Migachyov, clarinetist/pianist Dave Bennett and this writer on drums.
Before the official start of the festival on Thursday, Barnhart (who is also the Musical Director of the event) performed at two area schools as Ivory&Gold®, along with his wife Anne—an accomplished flautist and vocalist. On Thursday evening both Barnharts, Migachyov, Bennett, and Smith played for the “Gatsby Gala” at Mitchell Memorial Library. This event showcases fashions designed and modeled by Mississippi State students. Later that night, the performers (with the addition of a late-arriving Spitznagel) gathered at the home of festival co-chair Chip Templeton and wife Connie for a reception and jam session which gave the newcomers a chance to play together in various combinations.
On Friday morning, a tour of the Templeton collection of phonographs and recordings illustrating “The Business of Music” was offered to festival attendees, followed by a discussion led by Barnhart which included all the performers: “The Varying Roads Taken and Choices Made Which Fi
