Music

Christian Sands to Perform an Overview of Jazz-trio Piano History at the Vermont Jazz Center on Saturday, February 11th.

The Vermont Jazz Center welcomes the Christian Sands Trio to the stage on February 11, 2017 at 8:00 PM in eager anticipation of a guided tour through the colorful and exciting history of jazz piano. Sands is one of the top, young pianists of our time. Mentored personally by Dr. Billy Taylor, influenced by Barry Harris, Hank Jones and Oscar Peterson and apprenticed in the hot seat of Christian McBride’s trio, Christian Sands’ playing is steeped in the tradition–but not limited to–its constraints. He is comfortable playing old-school stride piano like Fats Waller, stretching out in a post-bop setting like McCoy Tyner or re-arranging a hip-hop anthem by Drake. Sands notes that “My music is about teaching the way of jazz and keeping it alive.” He will be performing with long-time associates Russell Hall on acoustic bass and Jerome Jennings on drums.

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present a midwinter dance party/concert featuring The Gaslight Tinkers and The Bluebird Orchestra at Next Stage on Friday, February 10 at 7:30 pm.

The Gaslight Tinkers’ blend of African, Caribbean, funk, reggae and Latin rhythms creates a joyously danceable sound around a core of traditional roots, New England old time and Celtic fiddle music, merging boundless positive energy with melody and song. Audrey Knuth (fiddle), Jopey Fitzpatrick (drums), Garrett Sawyer (bass) and Peter Siegel (guitar) create the genre-bending future of the music of the past.

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present indie/folk/chamber-pop quintet Winterpills, plus contemporary folk singer/songwriter Antje Duvekot, at Next Stage on Saturday, January 21 at 7:30 pm.

One of the most exciting bands to emerge from Northampton, MA in recent years, Winterpills plays haunting, delicate, dynamic music with shimmering melodies and aching lyrics. Critically praised as a mirror of sorrows and a beacon of hope, the music of Winterpills – true to the band’s name – is medicine for weary hearts.

SAXTONS RIVER, Vt. – Local indie rock band The Snaz will hit the stage at
Main Street Arts Saturday, Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. for an energetic live performance of their quirky brand of throbbing rhythm.

   Billed as “coming from the depths of Brattleboro,” the group is made up of four local kids who came together four years ago as young teens and have grown and improved since, finding a favored spot in Windham County’s competitive music scene and expanding farther afield across New England.

New Orleans Trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah to present “Stretch Music” at the VJC on Saturday, January 14th, 2017

The Vermont Jazz Center presents Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah’s Stretch Music on Saturday, January, 14th, 2017 at 8 PM. Scott is one of the leading voices of his generation – a composer, a bandleader, a record producer, an educator, an articulate activist championing racial equality and prison reform; he is an eloquent speaker whose goals include “reaching a consensus to move forward.”

Scott aTune Adjuah will be performing on trumpet as well as two custom-designed horns: a reverse flugel and a sirenette. He will appear with the same group that plays on his most recent and highly acclaimed CD Stretch Music. The ensemble includes renowned young artist Elena Pinderhughes (flute), Logan Richardson (alto saxophone), Lawrence Fields (acoustic piano and Fender Rhodes), Kris Funn (upright and electric bass) and Corey Fonville on drums.

Join the local ‘Ukulution’ and learn to play this sweet and easy instrument, with instructor Lisa McCormick!

Classes start the week of Jan.9, and run for 6 weeks, at New England Youth Theater, 100 Flat St., in Brattleboro.

Beginners (no musical background needed!), and Advanced Beginner levels available. Daytime and evening options. Ukuleles avaible for use in class.

More info and schedule: bit.ly/UkeClass

Ukulele New Years Flash Mob! Sat., Dec. 31, 6:00 – 6:30pm. Brooks House Atrium, 130 Main St., Brattleboro. Accessible. Presented by Lisa McCormick. Get a head start and download the free PDF music-packet at 

FREE and open to all! Come play, sing, or just enjoy.

Take a break from the news, and holiday chaos this Sunday. Come immerse yourself in learning all the basics of playing the ukulele, in this one-day workshop for beginners.

Last workshop sold out, and this one is almost full. Ukuleles available to rent, or to purchase at class. No musical background needed. Sunday, Dec. 4, 10-3. Next Stage Arts, Putney, VT.

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present Darol Anger’s 5th Annual Keepin’ It In The Fam Holiday Show at Next Stage on Friday, December 2 at 7:30 pm. In addition to fiddler Darol Anger, the concert features banjoist Tony Trischka, singer/songwriter Emy Phelps, bassist Ethan Jodziewicz and guitarist Grant Gordy.

To celebrate the holidays, Darol Anger and Emy Phelps have gathered some of the country’s best string musicians for an evening of mythical, magical, musical mayhem. The multigenerational musical experience focuses on the spirit of midwinter and the turning of the year. Anger has a long history of organizing holiday shows, from Windham Hill Winter Solstice Concerts through Newgrange to Yulegrass, and his old friend and musical colleague, banjo genius Tony Trischka, will be on board as this year’s very most special guest. Bassist and Edgar Meyer protege Ethan Jodziewicz (Sierra Hull) and guitar wizard Grant Gordy (David Grisman Quintet) round out the band.

Vermont Jazz Center Big Band Gala with guest vocalist Wanda Houston Celebrates the Music of Ella Fitzgerald and Raises Money for Scholarship Fund

The Vermont Jazz Center will present its annual big band swing gala on Friday, December 2nd at 8:00 PM paying tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, one of the greatest jazz singers in history. The performance will celebrate Fitzgerald’s centennial birthday anniversary by featuring arrangements she performed with Count Basie, Duke Ellington and others. All proceeds will support the VJC’s Scholarship Program. The VJC Big Band is comprised of area professionals, is led by music director Rob Freeberg and administrated by band manager Sherm Fox. Acclaimed vocalist Wanda Houston will front the band for this gala performance, an annual concert that has evolved into one of the VJC’s most popular events.

Three days of extraordinary music are scheduled during the 18th Annual Cotton Mill Open Studio and Holiday Sale Friday–Sunday, December 2-4, 74 Cotton Mill Hill, Brattleboro, VT.

Daniel Ehrenberg is providing a venue for five top-notch musicians at his Aegis Art Work Studio on the 3rd floor of the mill. The line-up of performers is so outstanding that you just might want to return each day for continued musical enjoyment. The performances in Ehrenberg’s studio are free and space is limited, so plan your time.

Brattleboro, Vt. – Friends of Music at Guilford invites singers and music lovers in the Tri-State region to start their holiday season at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 3, with the 46th annual Community Messiah Sing, a benefit for the homeless. Centre Congregational Church, at 193 Main Street in Brattleboro, has been home for the Sing since 1982 and for a few prior seasons as well.

Anthony Speranza, a resident of Vernon, led the Sing from 1989 through 2001 and again in 2010. His interest in conducting began as a 6-year member of the St. Kilian Boychoir and School in New York State (from age 7 to 13); he later earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in conducting, and was vocal music teacher for the town of Brattleboro for many years. William McKim, who has played the organ at this event for twenty-eight past seasons, and officially “retired” twice from doing so, now has his sights on continuing in this role as long as he can. Joyana Damon, in her eighteenth year as instrumental and classroom music teacher at Vernon Elementary School, and a performer with a number of Tri-State groups, will be featured on trumpet this season.

Montreal (AFP) – Leonard Cohen, the storied musician and poet hailed as one of the most visionary artists of his generation, has died at age 82.

He was able to sum everything up in one simple sentence:

“Everybody knows the deal is rotten: Old Black Joe’s still pickin’ cotton. Everybody knows.” 

On Saturday, November 12th at 8:00 PM, the Vermont Jazz Center will present saxophonist Javon Jackson’s quartet “We Four” featuring renowned drummer Jimmy Cobb (who has had tenures with Miles Davis, John Coltrane etc.) along with Jeremy Manasia on piano and David Williams on acoustic bass. We Four’s understated promo reads “four jazz luminaries who join together to lovingly pay tribute to John Coltrane and the music of his time.”

Their CD (with a different pianist and bassist) sticks to the more accessible late ‘50s/early ‘60s era of Coltrane’s repertoire presenting choice standards like “My Shining Hour” and “You Don’t Know What Love Is” as well as familiar Coltrane compositions such as “Like Sonny and Naima.” San Francisco Jazz Collective states “Since John Coltrane’s death in 1967 at the age of 40 there has been no shortage of tributes to the saxophone titan. But tenor mastermind Javon Jackson’s project focusing on Coltrane-associated compositions stands above and far beyond the ordinary, featuring four veteran masters with close professional and spiritual ties to Trane…Coltrane’s legacy is in good hands”

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present an evening of acoustic/electric Americana music from Sleepy Hollow, NY by The Slambovian Circus of Dreams (aka The Grand Slambovians) at Next Stage on Saturday, November 5 at 7:30 pm.

The music of The Slambovian Circus of Dreams has been described as “hillbilly-Floyd,” “folk-pop,” “alt-country, roots-rock,” and “surreal Americana” – a clear indicator of its singularly indescribable uniqueness. The quartet taps a broad palette of styles ranging from dusty Americana ballads to huge Pink Floydesque cinematic anthems. Dancing freely between all existing religious and philosophical mythologies, featuring an exotic instrumental arsenal in addition to standard rock regalia, the music is uplifting, empowering and a lot of fun.

Samirah Evans: How the heck did I get to VT? A musical memoir to benefit Brooks Memorial Library. Please join us on Friday, Nov 4, 2016 at 7 pm to hear a spectacular voice and celebrate a Vermont – and world – treasure.

Samirah’s live performance repertoire runs the gamut from raunchy blues to jazz smooth as silk. She has often been compared to Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, and Etta James. Like many jazz and blues artists, Samirah dedicates time to perpetuating indigenous American music. She was a long time participant in the Blues Schoolhouse program sponsored by the International House of Blues Foundation. She also served as a volunteer show host on the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage radio station, WWOZ, for over ten years.

Anna & Elizabeth – An evening of all new ballads and crankies

Anna & Elizabeth bring their intimate and haunting traditional music & mesmerizing multi-media show to Sandglass Theater, Sunday, November 6, 2016 to share and celebrate a new cycle of work, inspired by ballad singers of the 1930s and 1940s in Vermont and Virginia—the states where they grew up. This dynamic duo is returning to Sandglass Theater with brand new music and brand new crankies.

The pair based in rural Virginia and Baltimore, springs from the unique talents of Anna Roberts-Gevalt (fiddle, banjo, guitar) and Elizabeth LaPrelle (ballads, banjo), and their shared desire to inspire people with the beautiful soul of Appalachian roots music. Powerful harmony singers steeped in knowledge of mountain tunes, ballads and stories, the young women are gifted storytellers and visual artists reviving the lost art of “crankies,” scrolling storyboards made of sewn fabric or cut paper.

“There’s something happening here….”
The sweet ukulele is a balm for the heart, soul, and community.
Learn all the basics in this one-day workshop, taught by Certified Gateless Master Teacher, Lisa McCormick.
Sunday, December 4, 10-3, Putney, VT. 

Some wicked fun from last night’s Halloweeny Ukulele Flash Mob in Brattleboro! 

All are welcome, no need to play or sing – just come out and savor the spooky-fun scene!

Brooks House Atrium, Main St., Brattleboro. Friday Oct. 28, 6pm sharp!

Free, accessible, fun! Led by Lisa McCormick.