PUTNEY, VT— 3/7/2023 — Next Stage Arts presents a double bill featuring international fusion band House of Waters, and composer and multi-instrumentalist Ben Cosgrove, on Saturday, March 25 at 7:30 pm at Next Stage Arts.
“A virtuosic hammered dulcimer player like Max ZT is a sight to be seen,” says Keith Marks, Executive Director of Next Stage Arts. “House of Waters can’t be placed in any boxes. Musically, it’s rich and earthy, ethereal and grounding. This is a show for the music lover to see something that doesn’t regularly happen.”
“One of the most unique groups you will ever come across . . . I can only describe their sound as being a sound which one has longed to hear without truly realising it.” (The Bubble)
“In today’s world, there are no musical boundaries,” says Max ZT of ‘House of Waters,’ a trio that makes those words come alive as they incorporate elements of West-African, jazz, psychedelic, indie rock, classical and world music into their astonishingly unique sound.
The “Jimi Hendrix of the Hammered Dulcimer” (NPR), Max ZT is an innovator of an instrument rarely heard in contemporary music. With roots in Irish folk music, Max has studied in Senegal, where he trained with the Cissoko Griot family, and India, where he studied under the santoor master Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. His unorthodox playing style has been a pioneering force in revolutionizing dulcimer techniques.
Moto Fukushima is a recognized master of the six-string bass. With a background in jazz improvisation, Western classical music and the music of South America, Moto’s playing is a combination of finesse, subtlety, and power that leaves audiences “slack-jawed in awe.” (Jazz Wise)
Drummer Richie Barshay is one of the most sought after drummers in the NYC scene. Performing regularly with The Klezmatics, Herbie Hancock, Lee Konitz, Esperanza Spalding, and many others, Richie brings a unique blend of jazz, Afro-Latin, and klezmer drumming styles to the group.
House of Waters’ latest album, Rising, produced by Guy Eckstine (Herbie Hancock, Chris Botti, Wayne Shorter) was released in partnership with GroundUp Music in February 2019. Their eponymous 2016 album House of Waters was also released on Snarky Puppy’s GroundUP Music label, and debuted at #2 on the iTunes World Music Charts. All About Jazz calls it, “A rare and beautiful gem,” while TimeOut NY calls their performances, “A sight to behold.”
House of Waters has scored an Emmy-winning documentary (ESPN), and recently re-scored three 100+ year old French Dadaist-Era silent films in partnership with GroundUP Music and Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas.
Having shared the stage with influential musicians including Pandit Ravi Shankar, Victor Wooten, Tinariwen, Snarky Puppy, Karsh Kale, and more: “House of Waters is a band that is bending the very fabric of the musical universe as we know it.” (Onstage Review)
Ben Cosgrove is a traveling composer-performer whose “compelling and beautiful” instrumental music explores themes of landscape, place, and environment. He has performed in every U.S. state but Delaware, collaborated with groups ranging from rock bands to research scientists, and held residencies and fellowships with institutions including Acadia National Park, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, White Mountain National Forest, Harvard University, Middlebury College, the Schmidt Ocean Institute, the New England National Scenic Trail, NASA, and the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology. Ben’s fourth studio album, The Trouble With Wilderness, an evocation of different expressions of nature and wildness within the built environment, was released in 2021. It has been the subject of an episode of the NHPR show Outside/In, was deemed one of the spring’s best new releases by WBUR, and has been called “beautiful and fascinating” (The Maine Edge), “deeply impressive” (Independent Clauses) and “immediately evocative and fully arresting… brim[ming] with technical mastery and emotional capital” (Seven Days). In addition to his solo work, Ben has toured and recorded with a long list of artists that includes Ghost of Paul Revere, GoldenOak, Max García Conover, and many more.
Next Stage is located at 15 Kimball Hill in downtown Putney, VT. Tickets are $20 Advance / $24 At the Door. Advance tickets are available at nextstagearts.org. For information, call 802-387-0102. Next Stage will provide a beer, wine, and cocktail cash bar.
Next Stage Arts serves southeastern Vermont as a regional cultural hub, arts producer, and instigator of meaningful cultural experiences. Founded in 2010 as a nonprofit organization, Next Stage Arts is a transformative, community-centered project dedicated to revitalizing Putney’s cultural and economic village center through excellence in arts programming valuing diversity as a springboard for nurturing community.
Please visit our Health & Safety page for our current COVID protocols.
For more information and updates please go to: nextstagearts.org
