Saturday, February 27 2010

During the day from 9:00am to 5:00pm In Bezanson Recital Hall and other Music Wing rooms there will be performances by High School Jazz Ensembles, and adjudications and clinics by guest jazz trombonist Conrad Herwig, members of the Jeff Holmes Big Band and UMass Amherst Jazz faculty. These activities are free of charge. For further information: jwholmes@music.umass.edu.

A pre-concert performance will be given at 7:30pm by the winning ensemble of the day-long Festival.

The Jeff Holmes Big Bandwill perform at 8pm in Bowker Auditorium with guest jazz trombonist Conrad Herwig. The concert, generously co-sponsored by the Fine Arts Center, will feature music by Herwig for big band and combo, plus music composed/arranged by Jeff Holmes, UMass Amherst Director of Jazz and African-American Music Studies, Professor of Composition and Conductor of the University’s Jazz Ensemble I. Herwig, voted the #1 Jazz Trombonist in the 2002 Downbeat magazine Jazz Critic’s Poll, has 200 recordings to his name and four Grammy nominations.

Tickets for the evening concert are available on line www.umasstix.com or at the Fine Arts Center Box Office, 413-545-2511. Tickets are $3 for UMass Amherst students; $5 for other students, senior citizens, and children under 18 years of age; $10 for the general public.

2nd Show 1:00pm

Diane Kordas of Romper Rhythm and Puppets will present two family puppet shows. The Outer Space Adventure Show is suggested for children three years of age and above. Each 45-minute show features humorous and educational stories derived from children’s literature, folk tales and legends from throughout the world. There will also be audience participation.

Admission costs are $3 per child and $5 per adult – up to a maximum of $20 per family.

For additional information or to purchase tickets, call 508-653-0971 or visit www.fcc1651.org and click on the “Calendar” link.

Proceeds from the shows will benefit the MetroWest Interfaith Hospitality Network (MIHN), which provides assistance to local homeless families.

These real-life, regular girls with a passion for music are “the best of both worlds.” Classic and contemporary pop favorites like “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and “Pon de Replay,” their own original songs, and cool hip-hop, jazz and cheer choreography guarantee a high-energy performance that parents and kids can enjoy together. Girl Authority tours nationally with two hit CD’s. www.girlauthority.com

Villa Victoria Center for the Arts showcases the Chinese Folk Art Workshop, New England’s most prominent Chinese traditional troupe, in a free, all-ages concert. The Chinese New Year Celebration is produced to offer an opportunity for inter-cultural exchange amongst South End residents and the greater community, while enjoying the rich and ancestral music and dance expressions from China, in the heart of Villa Victoria.

The Chinese Folk Art Workshop is a non-profit organization based in the Boston area. The Workshop aims to promote interaction with and understanding of Chinese culture in the community. Its members range in age from 12 to 18, and they perform a variety of traditional Chinese folk arts such as Dragon Dance, Lion Dance, Taiwanese Drums, Chinese yoyo and Folk Dance.

For more information visit: www.villavictoriaarts.org For more information about Chinese Folk Art Workshop: www.folkartboston.org

Free Admission! All-ages event.

Willie Sordillo suggests that a small and joyful way we can help the people of Haiti is by raising a few bucks to send to Partners in Health, Dr. Paul Farmer's organization, which has been working to improve health conditions in Haiti for many years through (among other things) building neighborhood health clinics run by Haitians.

There will be Haitian food and music by a group of caring and talented musicians, including but not limited to: Josh Rosen, Doug Rich, Stanley Swann, Marlene del Rosario, Kaoruko, Bob Pilkington, Ron Murphy and Lisa Durkee.

The suggested minimum donation is a very moderate $5.00.

2nd Show 10:00pm

Tim Blane, Todd Martin, Chad Perrone, Patrick Thomas, and Syd in the round like you've never seen before! http://www.whosthatpack.com http://www.timblane.com http://www.toddmartinmusic.com http://www.chadperronemusic.com http://www.myspace.com/patrickthomasmusic http://www.syd-music.com

2nd Show 10:00pm

One artist, two distinct but interwoven concepts: this is the captivating logic behind Double- Booked, pianist Robert Glasper’s third album for Blue Note, following up Canvas (2005) and In My Element (2007). An artist who “unfailingly gets the feeling right” (New York Magazine), Glasper has made waves throughout the music world as leader of both the acoustic Robert Glasper Trio and the electric, hip-hop-oriented Robert Glasper Experiment. With Double- Booked, the 32-year-old Houston native puts his enviable versatility front and center, emphasizing these different hemispheres of his musical brainat the same time.

Beginners workshop @ 7:00 PM

A different caller each dance. No experience necessary. Singles & groups welcome. Free snacks & beverages at the break. Dress is casual.

Adults $5; Children $3, maximum $12 per family. FREE for students with ID. FREE for first-timers who come to the Beginners workshop at 7 pm

Web page: www.westford.com/pca Contact email: WestfordBarnDance@hotmail.com

Dziga Vertov’s groundbreaking film, Man with a Movie Camera, has influenced the generations of films that came out since the silent era. The film’s rapid editing and nonstop energy provide the perfect subject for what many believe is Alloy’s best score ever. And now a gorgeous new print from the Moscow Film Archive makes this show a “must see” event.

FOR TICKETS AND INFORMATION CALL WORLD MUSIC / CRASHarts (617) 876-4275 Buy online: www.WorldMusic.org

Think of Dan Goggin's all male ''Nunsense A-Men'' as "Mrs. Doubtfire enters the Convent." Done totally straight, this laugh riot of a musical is, to quote one critic, "no drag." First performed in Brazil as "Novicas Rebeldes," this all-male version of "Nunsense" premiered in New York in 1998 receiving rave reviews and standing ovations. A whole new layer of comedy surfaces with lines like "The guys in the old neighborhood still can't believe I became a nun!" To quote the New York Times: "A change of habit, boy oh, boy!"

Don't miss this hysterically funny, slightly irreverent, toe -tappin' production with a team and cast filled with local IRNE and EMACT winners and nominees!

Two-hundred-plus voices strong, Greater Boston’s Mystic Chorale will present “Mystic Chorale Celebrates Gospel” This eagerly anticipated annual concert offers a mixture of traditional spirituals, traditional gospel and classic modern gospel. Selections will include the great Negro spiritual Listen To The Lambs, a gospel choral setting of Psalm 150 as originally performed by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, the traditional gospel piece I've Got Peace Like A River, I've Got The Joy and the gospel classic Goin’ Up Yonder, which was originally performed by gospel pioneer Walter Hawkins.The Chorale will be accompanied by the Mystic Band, led by Austin Marks on keyboards. Mr. Marks will be joined by Yusaku Yoshimura also on keyboards, as well as other talented musicians.

The Mystic Chorale is a non-profit, volunteer-run community chorus based in Arlington, Massachusetts. The Chorale was founded in 1990 by Melrose and Boston-based composer, conductor, author and song leader Nick Page who was inspired by his experience of working with the world renowned musician, actress and educator, Dr. Ysaye Maria Barnwell, of the legendary a cappella group, Sweet Honey in the Rock

General admission tickets at $15.00 and [$10.00 for seniors and students] go on sale January 18 at http://www.brownpapertickets.com; tickets may also be available at the door, day of show. For more information, call: 781-316-2500. Converse Hall is wheelchair accessible and is located one block from the Park Street T station, next to the Omni Parker Hotel.

A new CD has just been released: Mystic Chorales 20th Anniversary

 

Percival Auditorium

Boston’s own troubadour Ellis Paul has been one of the leading voices in the singer/songwriter genre that emerged from the Boston folk scene, creating a movement that revitalized the national acoustic circuit with an urban, literate, folk pop style in the 1990s. Since then, Paul hasn’t slowed down one bit, with 14 albums to his credit and numerous Boston Music Awards. With his soaring vocals and heartfelt storytelling, Paul is part poet and part singer, an impressive talent whose keen insight into life’s ways and means might just make you sit up a little taller and listen a little more intently.

Dave Coffin, the Maine native and Boston-based singer-songwriter, will be the opening act. The emerging artist’s first album, “The King is Dead,” is being released this spring.

Tickets are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors and $7 for visitors 18 and under. Tickets are available at the Weston Box Office at 978-655-3347. The box office is open from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. This performance is co-sponsored by Worcester Magazine and 90.5 FM WICN Public Radio.For more information, visit www.fsc.edu/cultural.

Join local rock luminary Charlie Farren and surprise guests for this special event celebrating the release of his retrospective DVD: Live at the Regent Theatre. Charlie has long been known for killer songs and searing vocals, and most recently for outstanding live solo acoustic performances. SoundCheck Magazine says “Charlie is contagious, displaying a candor rarely demonstrated by former arena rock stars." www.charliefarren.com

Host of the popular NPR music program From the Top, Christopher O'Riley has stretched the piano beyond conventional boundaries. Touring in support of his latest release, Out Of My Hands, O’Riley tackles the music of R.E.M., Portishead, Cocteau Twins, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, the Bad Plus, the Smiths, Tears for Fears, Radiohead, and a newly-released song by Elliott Smith. Co-presented with World Music/CRASHarts.

Tickets: $25 members; $28 non-members. Tickets for all programs will be available to ICA members at Associate Level and above on Jan. 5 and to the general public on Jan.19. Tickets can be purchased at www.icaboston.org or by calling (617) 478-3103. For information about membership, visit the web site or call (617) 478-3102.

It's not that vocalist Paul Redmond can't belt out a tearjerker of a torch song, or the band can't turn out an inspiring rock anthem, but rather that the bulk of their music focuses on providing a soundtrack for good times.

Fat City operates most often in that territory where the roots of rock and roll were formed, with rhythm and blues, swing, jump blues, New Orleans gumbo and boogie woogie all meshing together in some smoky roadhouse jam session. It might be amazing to first time listeners to realize the band is doing original music here, so wonderfully do they capture the essence of the best of their forebears.

More info: www.fatcityband.com/

JOHN PIZZARELLI, the internationally acclaimed guitarist-vocalist – a master in the art of reinventing jazz classics – celebrates the music of Duke Ellington, undeniably one of the most prominent musical icons of the 20th century with the release of his new CD, Rockin’ In Rhythm - A Tribute to Duke Ellington. This is Pizzarelli’s first ever Ellington recording and his ninth release with Telarc International, a division of Concord Music Group.

Opening for John Pizzarelliwill be the Cory Pesaturo Trio featuring Cory Pesaturo on Roland Electronic Accordion, Ron Murray on 6 and 7 string guitars and Arti Dixson on drums. In September 2009, Pesaturo won the World Digital Accordion Championship in New Zealand.

Tickets at $40.00 and $30.00 for the Saturday, February 27 show at the Park Theatre can be purchased at http://tickets.ricpa.net/ at the RICPA Box office [848 Park Avenue, Cranston, RI 02910] or by calling 401-467-7275. For more information, call: 401-467-7275.

2nd Show 10:00pm

Sultry chanteuse Lavay Smith evokes a sensuous era of glamorous Jazz divas and sexy pinups adding a modern, feminist twist. Whether singing her own compositions or drawing on a large repertoire of classics, Lavay and her all-star 8-piece band bake up an instant recipe for good times.

2nd Show 10:00pm

Popa Chubby loves to play his unique style of rockin' blues. Don't miss this amazing artist.

Like many of you, we feel compelled to do SOMETHING, anything as we have read and watched news with sorrow and frustration. From these feelings and conversations with fellow musicians in the Worcester area, we decided to try our hand at a musical fundraiser where dollar for dollar, all monies raised would go to UNICEF and the programs that they have in place to assist those in need. The numbers are staggering and they seem to grow everyday and we know we can make a difference!

TONY SARNO & HARD BLUES (www.tonsarno.com) along with other Worcester area musicians will unite for your entertainment in support of the Haitian earthquake victims. A night of rock & roll where your pleasure is their relief!

You can contribute to the cause while enjoying a Saturday night of great music in a beautiful theatre for a small donation of $20.

Sopped in the backbeats of New Orleans R&B and southern funky soul, award-winning vocalist Jordan Valentine and her band The Sunday Saints burn up the stage with a horn-stoked 60s soul barnburner. Evoking the likes of Ike & Tina, The Meters, Lyn Collins, and Booker T, they bring a drum-tight, sharp-dressed soul review to the stage, fueled by future-classic originals and rare gems.

As the Boston Phoenix wrote, "Valentine is a veteran of the Bucket of Blood circuit, where five or six sets of hard entertainment is what keeps bikers and other bar beasts from peeling each others' skins off, and a good singer needs to be able to hold and bend a note in a firestorm of sound - just like she does." The Saints' show is part revivalist meeting, part Saturday night sin, and all soul satisfaction.

w/B J Magoon-Guitar/Vocals, Jim Guttmann-Upright/Elec. Bass, Dave Deverell-Drums

Kitchen open until 10pm, Texas BBQ at it’s best!

N.E.’s premier Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band

Rock, folk, reggae n’ blues all in one great show

Rock Bottom came about when a bunch of well known Boston rockers (from bands the Upper Crust, the Baggs, Ross Phasor, and other bands) started playing their favorite ‘70’s covers, strictly for kicks. Fortunately, they didn't know when to quit and you'll never hear better renditions of guilty pleasure classics by Kansas, Billy Squire, Styx, and Led Zeppelin.

Featuring Downbeat 5 / DMZ guitarist, JJ Rassler, DB5's rhythm section, hot-shot guitarist Julian Hammond, this already seasoned quartet churns out ‘60s influenced rock 'n roll, soul and greasy R&B, and cranks out instrumentals that are more turf than surf. Northern and Southern Soul, Chicago Blues, and the Toe Rag sound of ‘80s/’90s London are all influences. Sounds of “The Stroll,” complement the Tiger Beat and Rave magazine (sub)mentality. It’s dance your tail off music that you don’t have to strain your brain to appreciate. http://www.myspace.com/jjtheecubanheels