Next Stage Arts Project presents two Drive In theater concerts by the Vermont Jazz Center Sextet on Friday, July 3 at 5:30 and 7:30 pm in the Basketville parking lot in downtown Putney, VT. Cars will be socially distanced, leaving a vacant space between cars for lawn chair seating (bring your own chairs). Rain date for the concerts is Sunday, July 5.
The Vermont Jazz Center Sextet is the VJC’s community outreach ensemble. The group has developed programs which are performed in schools, assisted-living homes and libraries, bringing live jazz into settings outside of concert halls. Through these performances and clinics, people who might not attend concerts at the VJC are given the opportunity to hear and learn about the music of Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Art Blakey and others, with original music and arrangements often written by members of the ensemble.
The members of the VJC Sextet are: Rob Freeberg (trumpet), Ron Kelley (alto saxophone), Jim Heffron (tenor saxophone), Cathy Martin (piano), Jay Elfenbein (bass) and Mike Patek (drums). Collectively, they have decades of experience teaching, performing, directing and composing a variety of musical styles with groups and ensembles in Southern Vermont and beyond.
The Next Stage Drive In is located at Basketville at 8 Bellows Falls Road in downtown Putney, VT. Advance tickets are $20 per car, available online at nextstagearts.org. Putney Mountain Winery will offer a cash wine bar. The concerts are sponsored in part by Basketville, Putney Mountain Winery, Rolling Home and Greenberg Associates Architects, with special thanks to Patrick Noyes. For more information, visit nextstagearts.org or call 802-387-0102.
