Music

Music section

49th Messiah Sing: A Benefit for the Homeless

by fomag | Music

Brattleboro, Vt. – Friends of Music at Guilford (FOMAG) invites singers and music lovers in the Tri-State region to start their holiday season at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 7, with the 49th 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.

Kenneth Olsson, who conducted the Sing in 2017 and 2018, is moving to the organist’s bench this year. A well-known vocalist and performer on piano and organ, as well as music director for opera and musical theater, he has led FOMAG’s Guilford Festival Orchestra since 2012 and in 2014 co-founded the Southern Vermont Lyric Theatre.

Antje Duvekot and Matt Nakoa at Next Stage on Saturday, November 30

by stobro | Music

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present a contemporary folk singer/songwriter twin bill with Antje Duvekot and Matt Nakoa at Next Stage on Saturday, November 30 at 7:30 pm.

Antje Duvekot is a German-born, American-raised singer/songwriter whose songs have been critically praised for their hard-won wisdom, dark-eyed realism and street-smart romanticism.  Her bicultural upbringing and relative newness to English have helped shape her unique way with a song, giving her a startlingly original poetic palette.  They are the keys to the powerful, even revolutionary, empathy that informs everything she writes.  She has won some of the top songwriting awards including the Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, the Kerrville Folk Festival Best New Folk Award and the Boston Music Award for Outstanding Folk Act.

“Love Changes Everything”: Brattleboro Women’s Chorus’ Fall Concert

by bwchorus | Music

The Brattleboro Women’s Chorus will present their 24th annual fall concert titled Love Changes Everything on Saturday, November 23 at 3:00 pm and 7:30 pm at the newly named Epsilon Spires, formerly the First Baptist Church, on Main Street.

Director Becky Graber and the 100-plus member chorus will be joined by guest musicians Lisa McCormick with her ukulele orchestra and Cathy Martin on piano.

Trio Mambo and Caribbean Diner at Next Stage on Friday, November 22

by stobro | Music

Next Stage Arts project presents an evening of music by Trio Mambo and Caribbean food by the Putney Food Co-op at The Next Stage Café on Friday, November 22. Dinner and cash bar start at 6:00 pm and music hits at 7:00 pm.

Trio Mambo is a Latin jazz trio of piano, bass and congas featuring three veterans of New England jazz: Dan DeWalt on piano and trombone; Wes Brown on bass; and Julian Gerstin on percussion. Deep grooves, intricate rhythms, deliver an infectious, high energy evening of mambo magic in the casual, downstairs setting of the Next Stage Café.

Friesen, Rogers Offer Winter Concert

by Not Signed In | Music

SAXTONS RIVER, Vt. – Cellist Eugene Friesen and singer/songwriter Elizabeth Rogers will bring in the holiday season at Main Street Arts with a CD-release concert Saturday, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m.

The duo will bring a soulful collaboration to a repertoire of Celtic-infused holiday songs and instrumentals from their new recording “Down in Yon Forest,” featuring such classics as “The Ivy and the Holly,” “I Wonder as I Wander” and less well known songs of the season.

Heather Pierson Acoustic Trio + Emily Lyons

by Mark Piepkorn | Music

The Heather Pierson Acoustic Trio burst into the national folk scene with their 2015 EP, Still She Will Fly, and the title track was that year’s #2 single on folk radio. Their 2017 CD, Singin’, debuted at #1 and was the #11 folk charting album of the year. Heather’s new solo album, Lines and Spaces, came out this month and is her twelfth CD release.

The trio will bring their “traveling music store” of instruments — piano, acoustic guitar, tenor banjo, ukulele, melodica, cornet, dobro, fiddle, mandolin, bass, and maybe more — to Stage 33 Live in a special 2:00 PM matinee performance on November 24. Local up-and-comer Emily Lyons will open.

Sofia Rei and JC Maillard at Next Stage on Saturday, November 16

by stobro | Music

Next Stage Arts Project is delighted to present Sofía Rei & JC Maillard on Saturday, November 16  at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $22 in advance, $25 at the door, available now online at nextstagearts.org and at Turn It Up!, Brattleboro, the Putney General Store three weeks before the show.  Next Stage is located at 15 Kimball Hill, Putney, VT.

After 4 years in the works, Sofía Rei & JC Maillard‘s duo album “Keter” from John Zorn Masada was released in January 2019 on Tzadik records, with Sofía Rei on vocals, loops & charango and JC Maillard on saz bass, and vocals.

The Suitcase Junket plus Kate Lorenz and The Constellations at Next Stage on Friday, November 15

by stobro | Music

Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present The Suitcase Junket – Matt Lorenz’s internationally touring, throat-singing, slide guitar playing one-man band – plus rock/folk/country/blues band Kate Lorenz and The Constellations at Next Stage on Friday, November 15 at 7:30 pm.

With warmth, wildness, unkempt vitality and sharply imaginative musicality, The Suitcase Junket works the border of Americana and rock, with image-driven songwriting, idiosyncratic storytelling and effusive vocal presence.  Artist, tinkerer, swamp yankee, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matt Lorenz draws from a fantastically patchwork sonic palette, shaping his songs with elements of jangly folk, fuzzed-out blues, oddly textured psych-rock and dance-hall festivity. 

Songs For Our Times: Concert this Sunday!

by Ruthie | Music

This coming Sunday, 3:00 pm, at 118 Elliot!

Directed by Lisa McCormick, the Southern Vermont Ukulele Ensemble (30+ members!) presents a concert of songs promoting Care of the Planet, Community-building, Welcome, Justice, and Peace.

Audience sing-alongs will be encouraged. All are welcome. Venue is accessible.

Rupert Wates + Josh Maiocco at Stage 33 Live

by Mark Piepkorn | Music

England-born, Oxford University-educated Rupert Wates has released nine acclaimed solo CDs. Since relocating to the USA, two tribute albums to his material have been made by musicians in Nashville and Los Angeles, and he’s won dozens of songwriting awards. He’s been a fulltime songwriter since the late ’90s, when he signed an exclusive publishing deal with London-based Eaton Music.

Wates prefers the up-close intimacy of small listening rooms over large venues and festivals to perform his eclectic mix of acoustic, melodic art/folk flavored with jazz, vaudeville, and cabaret. Stage 33 Live is honored to host the final East Coast date before his tour heads to southern states.

Vermont Jazz Center Presents: Friday Jazz Walk and Emerging Artist Fest

by vtjazz | Music

The Vermont Jazz Center received a generous Arts Impact Award from the Vermont Arts Council and further support from the Windham Foundation to sponsor its second annual Emerging Arts Festival. This weekend’s activities will include a Jazz Walk during Brattleboro’s first Friday Gallery Walk. Seven different student groups will perform jazz music in five venues. The Festival will also include a Saturday afternoon workshop and evening concert at the VJC with renowned Cuban pianist, Harold López-Nussa and his quartet.

See below for schedule.

Vermont Jazz Center Presents: 2nd Annual Emerging Artist Festival featuring Harold López-Nussa Quartet

by vtjazz | Music

The Vermont Jazz Center is excited to present pianist Harold López-Nussa and his all-Cuban quartet on Saturday, November 2nd as part of the VJC’s Emerging Artist Festival. This event is being held in memory of the VJC’s dear friend and generous patron, Jonathan Flaccus, whose passion for Cuban music and classic bebop as well as his generosity in assisting those in need has had a great impact on the Jazz Center. This is a rare opportunity to hear the López-Nussa Quartet live, as they are based in Cuba and are coming to the VJC as part of a tour that will take them to seven venues on the East Coast as well as performances in France and the United Kingdom.

Thanks to an Arts Impact Award from the Vermont Arts Council, the Harold López-Nussa Quartet will also be presenting a free workshop on the basic building blocks of Cuban jazz performance and style at the Vermont Jazz Center at 2:00 PM on Saturday, November 2nd.  This workshop is free and open to the general public. The López-Nussa Quartet concert at 8:00 PM is a ticketed event (tickets available at vtjazz.org).

StompBox and Pumpkintown at Next Stage on Saturday, November 2

by stobro | Music

Next Stage Arts Project presents an evening Americana music and art with StompBox Trio and Pumpkintown at Next Stage on Saturday, November 2 at 7:30 pm.

StompBoxTrio is a Western Massachusetts-based band that features Evelyn Harris (vocals, percussion), John Cabán (“Dobro” steel guitar, stompbox) and David Rodriguez (wood bass, foot tambourine). The trio reaches deep into the wellspring of vintage American blues, funk and soul to bring folks a hip-shaking, foot-stomping great time.

The End Of America + Oshima Brothers at Stage 33 Live in Bellows Falls, Saturday November 2

by Mark Piepkorn | Music

BELLOWS FALLS – The End Of America returns to Stage 33 Live on Saturday, November 2, co-headlining with Oshima Brothers. This is the first show of an Eastern US tour by the two bands.

The End Of America was voted Favorite New Artist at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and won the Emerging Artist Showcase at Falcon Ridge, returning the next year as that festival’s Most Wanted band. Beck invited them to play his Song Reader album release show. David Crosby of Crosby, Stills & Nash tweeted, “they sound great.”

Ben Cosgrove and Mark Kroos at Next Stage on Friday, October 18

by stobro | Music

Next Stage Arts Project presents a double bill with pianist Ben Cosgrove and guitarist Mark Kroos at Next Stage on Friday, October 18 at 7:30 pm.

Ben Cosgrove is a traveling composer-performer whose music explores themes of landscape, place and environment in North America.  Ben has performed his “electric and exhilarating” instrumental music in every U.S. state except Delaware and Hawaii, and held artist residencies and fellowships with institutions including the National Park Service, the National Forest Service, Harvard University, Middlebury College, the Schmidt Ocean Institute and the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology.

Vermont Jazz Center Presents: Nicholas Payton + Cyrille Aimée Duo

by vtjazz | Music

 The Vermont Jazz Center welcomes Grammy-winning trumpeter Nicholas Payton and vocalist Cyrille Aimée to the stage in a duo performance on Saturday, October 12th. Payton will perform on trumpet, acoustic bass, piano and Fender Rhodes; Aimée will sing and, at times, use a looping device to layer her vocals. Individually Payton and Aimée are two of the most creative musicians on the scene today, but as a duo their collaboration synergistically expands the perimeters of improvisational music. They spontaneously interact or push each other, sometimes delving into material from the American Songbook, other times exploring new sonic textures or hypnotic grooves.

FLOW at Next Stage on Wednesday, September 25

by stobro | Music

Forty years after Windham Hill became a catalyst for a global musical phenomenon, its bountiful legacy of best-selling instrumental artists and Grammy-winning musicians extends into a new age with FLOW — a new four-piece ensemble comprised of Windham Hill Records Founder Will Ackerman and three of today’s most acclaimed independent artists.  FLOW is an anagram of the group’s names Fiona Joy Hawkins (Australian Pianist), Lawrence Blatt (acoustic guitarist), Jeff Oster (Flugelhorn master) and Grammy winning guitarist and producer Will Ackerman.

Blues & BBQ with Danny Brooks and Li’l Miss Debi plus Sunny Lowdown at Next Stage on Saturday, September 21

by stobro | Music

Next Stage Arts Project presents Blues & BBQ with Texassippi Soul Man Danny Brooks and Li’l Miss Debi and Blues Blast Music Award nominee Sunny Lowdown at the Next Stage Café, on Saturday, September 21. BBQ by Top of the Hill Grill will be for sale starting at 6 pm, with music starting at 7 pm. Admission is $10 in advance available online at nextstagearts.org or at the door. Next Stage offers a beer and wine cash bar, and there will be a dance floor.  Next Stage is located at 15 Kimball Hill, Putney, VT. For more information, visitinfo@nextstagearts.org.

Sept. 29: The Classical Guitar’s the Star!

by fomag | Music

West Brattleboro, Vt. — As a musical treat for local residents and foliage visitors alike, Friends of Music at Guilford (FOMAG) is presenting “A Celebration of the Classical Guitar” at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 29, at All Souls UU Church in West Brattleboro. Featured performers include David William Ross and the Procter/Hale duo of Steve Procter, guitar, and Alison Hale, flute.

Vocalist Jessica Gelter introduced FOMAG to Keene-based guitarist Ross in February 2018, when he was a member of the instrumental trio for her performance of David Lang’s “Death Speaks,” the centerpiece of FOMAG’s musicale “The Last Dance.” Soon afterward, Ross queried whether FOMAG would host a solo guitar concert connected with his next recording project. This expanded celebration of the guitar evolved from that proposal.

Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens at Next Stage on Saturday, September 14

by stobro | Music

Next Stage Arts Project is thrilled to present Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens on Saturday, September 14 at 7:30 pm, returning to Next Stage after rocking the house for sold out crowds at their two previous appearances.

Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens are an American gospel and soul music group led by front woman Naomi Shelton. The group was formed in 1999. They have released two albums with Daptone Records, What Have You Done, My Brother? (2009) and Cold World (2014).