Wednesday, August 20 2008

Please join Passim staff and some amazing artists in Kendall Square for a FREE outdoor summer concert series!

featuring rising young artists from a variety of styles – including Gypsy, swing, Latin, and contemporary jazz – with Executive Chef Peter Davis flipping burgers on the grill.

Each session will begin with a duo set featuring a different theme each week, performing a set by a specific composer, such as Duke Ellington or George Gershwin; or lyricists such as Johnny Mercer or Lorenz Hart; and tunes associated with vocal artists such as Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan. The dinner show will be followed by a jam session.

As musicians arrive at ELIXIR to join in the fun, they will be asked to sign in with their name and a couple of tunes that they are interested in playing. These sessions are sponsored by ELIXIR, Interplay Jazz, and two generous, anonymous donors from Hanover. Call ELIXIR at 802-281-7009 for reservations.

Steve Howard is a singer songwriter who, although based in New England, has performed his music all over the country. He has worked and shared the stage with many noted performers from Tom Rush and Jamie Brockett to Jerry Garcia, Peter Rowan, Dave Bromburg, Juice Newton and Lacy J. Daltron. His songs are stories, sometimes serious, at times humorous but each with Steve's unique style and craftsmanship.

Come on down and share a song, a poem or play something for the always attentive and willing audience. Come and sign up beginning at 6:30pm. Bring your friends.

Bruce Marshall, a celebrated singer songwriter from Concord, will host acoustic open mike every Wednesday night. Musicians are invited to perform with Bruce or solo. Bruce has recently released a solo CD entitled Restless Soul. The 15 song disc contains solo acoustic versions of some of Bruce's most requested original songs some of which that have not been previously released. This is Bruce's first solo CD and is being released in conjunction with his receiving the "Outstanding Acoustic Musician" award in the Blues Audience Magazine Readers Poll for '07.

Trains and Boats features Cantrell's first new recordings in three years, ending a temporary hiatus during which her attentions were focused on raising her new daughter. The new, all-covers collection adds a vibrant new chapter to the artist's distinctive, deeply personal body of work, which has artfully merged her lifelong affinity for American country and folk traditions with an unmistakably contemporary sensibility. The result is timelessly resonant music that's unmistakably personal and thoroughly original.

featuring Duke Levine, Chris Cote, Kevin Barry, Marty Ballou, Andy Plaisted, Paul Alstrand and Mark Early

Doors 9pm