Music

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present Winnipeg, Canada-based roots music quintet The Duhks at Next Stage on Saturday, November 9 at 7:30 pm. The Grammy nominated and Juno award-winning band’s original members – Jessee Havey (vocals), Tania Elizabeth (fiddle), Jordan McConnell (guitar, pipes, whistles, vocals), Leonard Podolak (banjo, vocals) and Scott Senior (percussion) – have reunited after a three-year hiatus. Vermont-based, Americana, folk and roots music duo Red Heart The Ticker will open the show.

Theory & Musicianship I, an introduction to music theory for all instrumentalists & vocalists, will provide the fundamental skills related to music theory, analysis, and general musicianship. Designed for instrumental and vocal students, members of this course will use their primary instrument to help review basics of key, interval, and diatonic chord motions. Basic actions of harmony and voice leading will be discussed, providing students with insight into how a melodic line implies or demands certain chord movement. Discussion of melodic content, phrase, and motive will lead to an introduction of basic analytical techniques.

Vocalist and Composer, Kavita Shah to appear in VJC’s Emerging Artist Series, November 2^nd, 2013 at 8:00 PM

The Vermont Jazz Center launches its new Emerging Artist season with a choice that perfectly fits their concept.  The goal of the series is to present young musicians who deserve to be heard, individuals who are on the cutting edge, performing original, fresh, high quality music; artists with unfamiliar names whose personal statements are moving the music forward.  Kavita Shah is all of the above and more.  A talented singer, she is a tireless organizer with a vision and a body of work that challenges the definition of jazz while at the same time paying deep respect to its lineage. 

Here’s a band that seems largely forgotten now.

Back in ’85 when this concert was recorded, REM was becoming one of the biggest bands in America – even if nobody could understand Michael Stipe’s mumbled lyrics.

From Germany, REM, in 1985.

As part of the opening of the Windham Orchestra’s 44th season, Maestro Hugh Keelan and the Windham Orchestra, along with musicians and singers present Resounding Hills: A Transformative Musical Collaboration. This concert takes place at 7:30 PM November 1 at Kurn Hattin Homes’ Higbie auditorium and is open to the public. Admission is by donation at the door.

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present roots music quartet Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem at Next Stage on Saturday, October 26 at 7:30 pm.

One of “America’s most inventive string bands” (The Boston Herald), Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem mix traditional, original and contemporary sounds on fiddle, guitar, bass and recycled percussion, and top that with joyous harmonies from four skilled lead singers. Hailed as “one of the most song- and arrangement-oriented bands in a field overgrown with pyrotechnic, jam- and solo-conscious virtuosos” (San Francisco Guardian), the band tackles the human condition with playfulness, courage and heart.

On Sunday, October 20 at 3 pm, the Brattleboro Music Center presents a recital with faculty members Richard Ullman, guitar, and guest Kristen Carmichael-Bowers, voice, at Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro, VT.

For this recital, Ullman revisits some of his favorite pieces from Spanish composer Andrés Segovia’s repertoire.  Segovia is considered the father of modern classical guitar and, although his works have fallen out of fashion in recent decades, is credited with popularizing classical guitar music. Segovia was a catalytic figure in granting respectability to the guitar as a serious concert instrument capable of evocativeness and depth of interpretation.

Over Columbus Day weekend, the Blanche Moyse Chorale will again honor the memory of its beloved founder, Blanche Moyse, by performing a favorite selection of J. S. Bach’s choral music. This year’s selection is the “Christmas Oratorio”. But why in October? Simply because Mme. Moyse’s celebrated New England Bach Festival (NEBF: 1969-2004) was always held in early October. Thus the scheduling of her annual Memorial Concert has followed the same tradition. Moreover, while Bach’s oratorio does tell the Biblical Christmas story, this great work of art touches on many aspects of human experience, transcending the specifics of the Christian holiday calendar.

The 3rd Annual Blanche Moyse Memorial Concert will be performed twice: at 7:30 P.M. on Friday, October 11, at the Bellows Falls Opera House, in Bellows Falls, VT, and at 2:00 P.M. on Sunday, October 13, at Marlboro College’s Persons Auditorium, in Marlboro, VT.

The Gaslight Anthem are a band that formed in the early 2000s from New Jersey. They are heavily influenced by Bruce Springsteen and the Clash. They are also influenced by legendary soul and blues musicians such as Miles Davis, Wilson Pickett and Sam Cooke. They rock hard and know how to masterfully craft a great song. Their songs almost invariably have memorable melodies. They have 4 LP’s out at this point and all of them are solid with tons of excellent tracks. ’59 Sound is probably their best. Check it out!

What does a conductor do? Why? How?

What’s actually going on during music making?

How and why do we respond to music? Create music?

Can music and our responses be controlled, and is that desirable?

What is it to listen? To hear? To rehearse or practice? To participate? To lead?

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