Music

Organist Hans U. Hielscher will perform on the Estey pipe organ at First Baptist Church in Brattleboro on Sunday, October 13, 2013 at 7:00 pm. The concert is a collaboration between the Estey Organ Museum and the Brattleboro Historical Society and will include works by Groom, Rawsthorne, Guilmant, Pasini, Ketèlbey, Goemanne and von Suppé.

Mr. Hielscher currently serves as Director of Music at the Wiesbaden Marktkirche in Germany and was Municipal Organist at the Wiesbaden Kurhaus Concert Hall from 1979 to 2004. Since 1962, he has presented more than 2,800 organ recitals throughout the world in such venues as Paris, Milano, London, Liverpool, Ely, Salisbury, Norwich, Wells, Canterbury, Prague, Budapest, Bern, Zürich, Oslo, and Stockholm.

Listen to this album. It is one of the most beautiful pieces of music you will ever hear. In fact, all of Nick Drake’s work is. Nick Drake is an English folk musician who released just 3 precious LP’s during his ultra short career before his untimely death. He would practice guitar for hours upon hours. He also experimented with different, unusual tunings. He was such an accomplished guitarist and songwriter, that to this day, hardly anyone can play a Nick Drake song properly, let alone figure out the tuning.

Almost unknown during his time, now decades later his music has finally received its proper recognition. Allmusic.com rates all three of his albums at 5 stars. For any musician to have three 5 star rated albums is almost unheard of. “Road” (track 5) and “From The Morning” (track 11) are my two favorite tracks on this album.

SHARON ROBINSON, cello; BENJAMIN HOCHMAN, piano

On Sunday, September 29, the Brattleboro Music Center’s 2013-14 concert season opens with an exceptional performance of the complete cycle of Beethoven’s sonatas and variations for piano and cello.

World renowned musicians, cellist Sharon Robinson and pianist Benjamin Hochman, will play Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano, five sonatas and three sets of variations, in two concerts, 3 pm & 7pm, at Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro, VT. 

Blue Oyster Cult are a lot like Babe Ruth – many home runs, and a lot of strike outs. When examining their musical output, you have to dig through a ton of dirt to get to the gold. However, when Blue Oyster Cult hit a home run, they hit it out of the park. 

Their origins date all the way back to 1967 and they have been recording and performing ever since. In fact, I had the opportunity of seeing them live when they played the Colonial Theatre in Keene a few years back. Blue Oyster Cult were intelligent, highly proficient musically, and at times, rocked harder than almost any other band. For this weekend’s concert, I have included Youtube cuts of 5 of my favorite Blue Oyster Cult ragers, enjoy:

Mini Mozarts is a composition and singing based theory class that focuses on learning the basics of rhythm, melody, and harmony through a hands-on, creative approach. The young musicians will experiment with sounds in order to achieve a deeper understanding of how music is constructed. We will march, clap, and play games to learn about how rhythm, tempo, and time signatures affect musical expression. Students will learn about scales by creating their own, then describing what those scales sound like. Students will also experiment with harmony by discovering how different notes sound while played together. At the end of each class, we will take time to write our own individual compositions based on what we learned that day. On the last day of class, each student will get to go home with a book of their original music!

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present folk singer, songwriter and comedienne extraordinaire Cheryl Wheeler plus folk/rock sister duo The Nields in concert on Friday, September 20 at 7:30 pm at Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill in Putney, VT.

It has always seemed as if there were two Cheryl Wheelers, with fans of the New England songwriter relishing watching the two tussle for control of the microphone. There is poet-Cheryl, writer of some of the prettiest, most alluring and intelligent ballads on the modern folk scene. And there is her evil twin, comic-Cheryl, a militant trend defier and savagely funny social critic. As the poet and comic forces join, taking their separate turns and melding into the same artistic vision, Wheeler emerges as a delightful, gifted and openhearted performer.

Steve Wilson and Lewis Nash to present a Musical Dialogue at the Vermont Jazz Center on September 21st, 2013 at 8:00 PM

The Vermont Jazz Center will kick off its 2013-2014 season on Saturday, September 21 at 8:00 PM with a performance by two of the most highly esteemed musicians in jazz. Along with their myriad other projects, saxophonist Steve Wilson and drummer, Lewis Nash have been performing together as a duo since 2001. At the VJC they will be joined by bassist, Nat Reeves.

Black Sabbath are the pioneers and progenitors of Heavy Metal. Along with Deep Purple, Zeppelin and Judas Priest they created an entire genre of music.

Formed by Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward in 1968, Black Sabbath were light years ahead of their time. Their first album was written in 1969 and is a timeless masterpiece. The opening track “Black Sabbath” still sounds heavy, ominous, and ahead of its time in present-day. 

Black Sabbath tackled heavier and darker subjects than their counterparts at the time. In an era when people were singing “Are you going to San Francisco with flowers in your hair?” Black Sabbath were writing songs like: Children Of The Grave, War Pigs, and Hand Of Doom. 

In my opinion John Belushi playing Joe Cocker is the funniest video of all time.

At Woodstock in 1969 Joe Cocker delivered this performance of his rendition of the Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends.” Joe Cockers’ passionate performance sounded great, but his stage antics are utterly bizarre and ridiculous. Watch this video first.

Today’s outdoor orchestra concert will take place as intended on the lawn at the Guilford Organ Barn!

Bring your umbrellas, raincoats, and waterproof grass-sitting gear, but so far things are looking good…we will monitor Dopple Radar all afternoon to be prepared if any significant precipitation approaches.

Lunch starts serving at noon, music at 2, follow signs from Guilford Country Store and allow 30 minutes to get to the barn from Brattleboro.  Directions may also be found at www.fomag.org

Friends of Brooks Memorial Library present: The Great American Songbook: A Night of Jazz and Dancing with Chris Bakriges and guests.

Saturday, September 21, 7-9 PM
The American Legion Hall, 32 Linden St., Brattleboro, VT

The Friends of Brooks Memorial Library is sponsoring a concert to fund the public access computing and lifelong learning programs of the library. 

Chris Bakriges, an internationally recognized jazz pianist living in Southern Vermont, is volunteering his talents again to create a special evening of  instrumental pieces from the Great American Songbook–the most popular and enduring popular songs from the 1920’s to 1950’s–on September 21, starting at 7 PM, in the American Legion Hall in Brattleboro. 

Twilight Music concludes its 11th annual Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, rock, jazz, zydeco, Celtic, swing, blues and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, August 25 with with Celtic rock quintet Prydein. The seventh and final concert of the 2013 series begins at 5:30 pm in downtown Putney on the Putney Tavern lawn (bring a lawn chair or blanket) or at Next Stage at 15 Kimball Hill in case of rain. The series is sponsored by the Town of Putney, Putney Food Co-Op, Soundview Paper Company, The Putney Inn, Next Stage Arts Project, The Stockwell Brothers and many other Putney businesses and organizations.  The concerts are free to the public (donations are accepted) and food will be available.

The Brattleboro Farmers’ Market hosts live music every week from 11am to 1pm. This week, Xopo performs: “Xopo plays traditional tunes of the Balkans on a variety of instruments including accordion, trombone, clarinet, drums and an array of stringed instruments. Haunting love songs, lively dance tunes and surprising rhythms create a diverse and entrancing musical experience.”

Twilight Music and Vintage Parlor Guitars present internationally acclaimed, roots music fingerstyle guitar virtuoso Toby Walker at Hooker-Dunham Theater & Gallery on Saturday, August 24 at 7:00 pm. All proceeds from the show will go to support Twilight Music concerts in Brattleboro and Putney, VT. Guitarist Steve Chipman of Chester, VT-based Vintage Parlor Guitars and acoustic bassist Thom Huntington will open the concert.

Toby Walker mixes blues, ragtime, country, bluegrass, rock and old time jazz in his own unique guitar style. He has been featured in the New York Times, the London Sunday Times, the London BBC and Sirius-XM radio, has won the International Blues Challenge Award given out by the Blues Foundation in Memphis, TN and has toured the US, England, Wales, France, Germany, Belgium and Holland. Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane says “Flat out… you have to hear this great musician… I’m blown away.”

Guilford, Vt. – Friends of Music at Guilford’s 48th annual Labor Day Weekend Festival presents French organ music in an intimate rural barn and orchestral works by composers from five countries on the expansive lawn just outside.

The Festival opens on Saturday evening, August 31, at 7:30 with “Vive la France!” on the Guilford Tracker Organ. Clark Anderson, who has performed recitals of solo and ensemble works by English and German composers on this instrument, has chosen a program of solo works by French composers from Pérotin le Grand (1180-1236) to Jean Langlais (1907-1991), including Couperin, Raison, Daquin, Boëly, Vierne, Gounod, and the ever-intriguing Anonymous.

new children ‘s cd “on the Island of Binga Bonga the war that never was” by tio namaya will be performed at the Kidsplayce 20 elliot street
wednesday at 2pm. admission is free. sponsored by the www.b4peacd.net and grace cares.

cd samples can be heard at www.namayaproductins.com and at www.vermontartpoetry.com

Guilford, Vt. – Rehearsals begin in mid-September for Friends of Music at Guilford’s 41st Annual Christmas at Christ Church program in Guilford, to be performed on December 13 & 15. A few additional voices are sought to fill out the choral ranks; membership in Friends of Music is not required.

Tom Baehr, who is embarking on a second season as director of the Guilford Chamber Singers, has selected repertoire celebrating The Baby. The program title is “Brightest and Best,” from Jean Ritchie’s family carol. The music is again a cappella, possibly doubling some voices with instruments where appropriate.

Twilight Music continues its 11th annual Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, rock, jazz, zydeco, Celtic, swing, blues and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, August 11 with Berklee College of Music-trained, acoustic Gypsy jazz/swing/pop quintet Occidental Gypsy. The seven concert series continues every other Sunday through August 25. All concerts begin at 5:30 pm in downtown Putney on the Putney Tavern lawn (bring a lawn chair or blanket) or at Next Stage at 15 Kimball Hill in case of rain. The series is sponsored by the Town of Putney, Putney Food Co-Op, Soundview Paper Company, The Putney Inn, Next Stage Arts Project, The Stockwell Brothers and many other Putney businesses and organizations.

Vermont Jazz Center’s 38th Summer Jazz Workshop and Concerts

For 38 years, the Vermont Jazz Center has presented its summer jazz workshop, encouraging students from down the street and around the world to hone their improvisational and musicianship skills while enjoying respite in a beautiful, country setting. The VJC’s summer workshop crystallized and attained non-profit status in 1974 when founding director, Attila Zoller officially organized the informal gatherings of guitarists he held at his home in Newfane. To this day, the VJC honors Zoller’s spirit and attention to quality, retaining many of the faculty who played alongside him. There exists a natural, intergenerational balance where participants of all ages learn from each other, gleaning from both the wisdom of jazz’s “old school” and the pedagogical advancements put forth in today’s developed system of jazz education.

Saturday, August 3rd, the Brattleboro Farmers’ Market hosts free live music by the Zora Quartet, playing Bosnian music from 11am to 1pm. Also at market this week, local herbalist Heidy Adams leads a free educational wild and medicinal plant walk. Participants are asked to meet at 11am at the center kiosk of the market and will walk the market grounds.

The height of summer bounty is rolling in from local farms and growers! Tree-ripened peaches, blueberries and raspberries, juicy tomatoes and the first corn on the cob is available, along with fresh veggies of all shapes and sizes. Globe-spanning cuisine and gorgeous crafts are available at the market; there’s something for everyone! Picnic spots and children’s play area are open for enjoyment.