Published: November 20, 2009

WATERBURY – Imagine an unlikely marriage of a dignified and seemingly somber Latin Mass with somebody like tenor jazz saxophonist Coleman Hawkins playing free-wheeling riffs at the breaks. It sounds impossible but perhaps plausible only in the minds of fans who have attended the last several concerts of the Mad River Chorale. Fifty singers have been rehearsing a challenging but rewarding vocal composition, “Missa in Jazz,” every Monday night since August in a basement room of the Sugarbush Conference Center off German Flats Road. The concert will be presented tonight at 7:30 p.m. in St. Andrew’s Church in Waterbury and on Sunday, Nov. 22, at 4 p.m. in the Warren School auditorium. The instrumental accompaniment includes Michael Zsoldos on saxophone, Mary Jane Austin on organ, and Dov Schiller, percussion.

Tickets are $15, $12 for students (under 12 free); for reservations, call (802) 496-4781.

Published: November 20, 2009

MONTPELIER – Pianist Ian Altman, a virtuoso in the “grand manner,” will perform music of Scarlatti, Chopin and Prokofiev, tonight at 7:30 p.m., at Bethany Church, 115 Main St. in Montpelier. Altman has performed throughout the United States and Canada.

Admission is by donation; for information, call (802) 563-2860.

By TOM HUNTINGTON Arts Correspondent – Published: November 20, 2009

One of the most lauded indie bands around visits Vermont on Sunday, when the Los Angeles folk-rock collective Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros brings its celebratory, dance-inducing live show to Club Metronome in Burlington.

Judging by recent reviews of the group’s current tour, the show should be one for the ages.

Case in point, the band’s Tuesday show at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City: “Energetic and uplifting, the songs shed an overwhelming joy over the sold out Bowery Ballroom,” said a Wednesday article in the New York Press. “The normally motionless New York City crowd fell into a frenzy of dancing.”

And this about the group’s Halloween show at the Park Plaza Hotel in L.A., where the Zeros “turned the completely costumed capacity crowd into a transfixed mass of movement,” according to LA Weekly.

Rolling Stone described the band’s euphoric live shows as “more like shamanistic tent revivals than rock concerts,” while the University of Georgia student paper called the group’s Athens show at the 40 Watt Club “a high-energy love fest.”

The 10-piece group is fronted by singer-songwriter and band mastermind Alex Ebert, a modern-day pied piper of hippie-fied folk-rock who made a name for himself as leader of the L.A. electro-dance band Ima Robot.

Ebert named his current band after a fictional character in a book he was writing “about a boy who transcended his dismal world by tapping into some sort of universal music,” according to Rolling Stone.

The Zeros are touring in support of their debut album, “Up From Below,” released in July. Called “a warm collection of loose and jangly songs that marries The Polyphonic Spree’s ensemble glee with sing-along hooks,” by A.V. Club (The Onion), the album was recorded live onto two-inch tape using an old 24-track analog tape machine from 1979.

Celebratory anthems abound, but the centerpiece is “Home,” an insanely joyous and infectious love song featuring added vocals by singer (and Ebert’s partner) Jade Castrinos.

“One of the more unusual musical acts to emerge from Los Angeles in some time,” said the L.A. Times, “the band has become standard-bearers for the folk-rock revival.”

By ED DUFRESNE Arts Correspondent – Published: November 20, 2009

Wow, I hardly know where to begin this week. There are so many great offerings around the area this weekend, it’s hard to know where to start. Rest assured if you’re looking for quality live performance, there’s something for everyone, so, here we go!

Ah to be young, beautiful and super-talented. … Not many can be all three, but there are those exceptional folks that possess these qualities in spades, and the North Carolina duo The Stereofidelics are just those kind of folks. The virtuosic multi-instrumentalist team of Chris Padgett (guitar, keyboards, loops, vocals) and Melissa McGinley (electric violin, drums, vocals) are truly stunning musicians whose youthfulness makes their immense talent even more impressive. Their high-energy sound combines elements of jazz, folk, classical and rock into a frenetic stew of auditory delight, and you’ll be amazed so much sound can come out of only two people. Prepare to be stunned tonight at Charlie-O’s World Famous on Main Street in Montpelier, starting at 9:30 p.m. It will be some of the most impressive musicianship you’ll ever witness in a dive bar, guaranteed.

Saturday night at O’s, local favorite pickers The Mad Mountain Scramblers come up from the valley with their upbeat bluegrass music in tow. They’ll take the back of the barroom at 10 p.m. And, as always at O’s, it’s all for free – woohoo!

I’ve been able to give the Granite City of Barre some love in this column lately, and that is because of the outstanding programming that has been lined up at the Barre Opera House this fall season. The trend continues this weekend, with great shows that offer a triumvirate of entertainment options: Tonight starts off with comedy featuring three of the finest funny-men the Northeast has to offer. Joey Carroll, Rob Steen and Dave Rattigan have appeared at prestigious comedy festivals in Boston and Montreal as well as on TV, and all three have divergent styles to offer a well rounded evening of laughs. The $20 show starts at 8 p.m.

Saturday night at the Opera House, a very special show of a different kind takes the area’s finest stage when The Sacred Forest features music from accomplished local musician Gordon Stone’s latest “Night Shade,” alongside the West African choreography of Elhadji Mamadou Ba from Senegal. The 7 p.m. show is a mere $10 in advance, and free for kids 6 and under, a price that can’t be beat for what is sure to be an excellent collaboration.

Finally, on Sunday, the world-famous Flying Karamazov Brothers close out the weekend with their “zany combination of theater, comedy, music, and juggling with a bit of philosophy thrown in for good measure.” The 3 p.m. show is $10-$30 and more information can be had at www.barreoperahouse.org. Kudos to BOH director Dan Casey for bringing such excellent and diverse talent to our neck of the woods this fall.

Back over in Montpeculiar, Langdon Street Café helps the town live up to the moniker with the most unique offerings of the weekend in a weekend full of unique offerings. Avant-folk chamber-pop anyone? LSC has it tonight when Portland, Oregon-based Ah Holly Fam’ly rolls into town along with fellow Portlandites Ohioan. I listened to both online, and difficult to describe is an understatement. Picture Peter, Paul and Mary, Donovan and Hank Williams playing in a chamber orchestra in a dark basement while tripping on acid, and you get some idea of the music these acts purvey. If you’re looking for something strange and wonderful, this is a show for you.

And speaking of trippy, one of the most promising new-ish Vermont acts plays LSC Saturday night when electro-acoustic experimental trio Durians takes the diminutive stage at the corner of Elm and Langdon. Can you dance to it? Yes. Would you want to? Maybe. Is it adventurous, interesting, awesomely arranged live electronic music? Definitely. Highly recommended for a $5 suggested donation. Both shows start at 9 p.m.

And, a very special weeknight show takes place at LSC this week when excellent alt-singer-songwriter Robert Sarazin Blake plays on Tuesday. He’s like a punk-rock version of Dylan singing in Leonard Cohen’s vocal key (and yes, I made that up having seen him before, so if you judge it inaccurate, go ahead and sue me). Caitlin Canty and Matt Bryan open the show starting at 7 p.m.

For fans of Gypsy music (an all-encompassing term that I’m using generically here to capture a variety of ethnic folk music), The Black Door is the place to be this weekend when two great bands playing music from different strains of the canon take the third floor lounge stage at 44 Main St. in Montpelier. Tonight, all-female foursome Zora appears. Forming out of a singing-camp trip a few years back with Vermont-based vocal troupe Village Harmony, they perform traditional songs from Bosnia, Serbia and Macedonia. The mostly vocal-harmony based group augments their outstanding voices with accordion and clarinet.

Saturday night, Burlington-based ensemble Lokum plays music of the Balkans, Turkey and Armenia for your dancing pleasure. A very ethnically traditional weekend of tunes at the Door, for sure. Both shows start at 9:30 for the usual honor cover.

As I’ve stated before, we are extremely lucky to be able to have so much quality local and touring talent performing in our little neck of the woods, so, count your blessings and go see live music!

Ed DuFresne is the former talent coordinator at Langdon Street Café, occasionally produces concerts, and books at various venues in the area on a freelance basis. He lives in Montpelier with owners of a local vintage clothing franchise and an annoying bird named Lucy.

By TOM HUNTINGTON Arts Correspondent – Published: November 20, 2009

The daughter of legendary Brazilian singer-guitarist Joao Gilberto and beloved Brazilian singer Miucha, the New York City-born Bebel Gilberto has made a major name for herself as one of the sultriest singers alive. A relative unknown at her solo debut, the now classic “Tanto Tempo,” was released in 2000, Gilberto, 43, is now a bona fide international superstar who tours all too infrequently.

A new Bebel Gilberto album is always cause for celebration, and her latest delivers in spades. “All in One,” released in September, conjures the classic bossa nova sound that’s clearly in Bebel’s blood, and continues her winning combination of samba and bossa with pop, jazz and electronic that has become her trademark.

Highlights include several compelling cover tunes, including the classic-sounding Joao tune “Bim Bom,” one of the first-ever bossa nova compositions. Stevie Wonder’s “The Real Thing” is given a gorgeous dance floor-friendly treatment, aided by the magic touch of guest producer Mark Ronson. Bob Marley’s “Sun is Shining” becomes a hypnotic chill-out tune, while the Carmen Miranda classic “Chica Chica Boom Chic” is playfully bouncy and fun.

And Gilberto’s original songs, according to the Phoenix New Times, “are a marvelous blend of melodic American pop and Brazilian rhythmic swing – a sound that is truly her own.”

The venue alone is worth the trip. L’Astral, which made its debut last summer at the Montreal Jazz Festival’s 30th anniversary soiree, is a 350-seat gem of a space that’s like a larger version of Burlington’s FlynnSpace. L’Astral has been hosting the first concerts of the festival’s new “Jazz All Year Round” series.

By ART EDELSTEIN Arts Correspondent – Published: November 20, 2009

John Gibbons, a previously unknown artist to this writer, has re- leased his first CD, “Small Town Dance,” and it highlights a musician with lots of promise.

For starters, Gibbons has gathered an excellent group of backup musicians and singers to add to the high quality of songs. He’s chosen a producer, Colin McCaffrey, whose work has graced many albums recently. All this gives this recording a very professional sound.

The music on this CD leans toward bluegrass, with several country and folk songs as well. The opening cut, “Silence or Tears,” shows Gibbons’ bluegrass tenor chops. He’s a fine singer and would have no problem fronting a bluegrass band. His lead guitar playing reminded me of the work of John Starling with Seldom Scene. For the banjo work we have Andy Greene, formerly a member of the Bluegrass Gospel Project.

Producer and multi-instrumentalist Colin McCaffrey contributes fiddle, mandolin, bass and harmony on this track and many others.

Gibbons, who comes from the Champlain Valley area, has 30 years of performing experience under his belt and it shows. He’s poised and has chosen a range of material that suits his voice and instrumental abilities. He’s also a fine songwriter. This is evident on his seven contributions to this CD, “This Cowboy I Know,” “220,” “The Wall That Moves,” “Oh Well, AOL,” “Pick Your Place Anne Marie,” “Hard Water” and “Another Shot of Rye Whiskey.”

Gibbons writes songs about Vermont as shown in “220,” about trains in this state, and in the waltz, “Pick Your Place Anne Marie.” He’s also got a sense of humor as shown in the catchy “Oh Well, AOL.”

Since 2000 Gibbons has been performing in a trio with Karen McFeeters and Craig Anderson. McFeeters is a fine singer and her work was profiled here earlier this year. Anderson is a singer-songwriter and guitar builder. They contribute songs, backup singing, and guitar work to this album.

Carol Hausner also sings backup. She, along with McCaffrey, won a bluegrass songwriting contest earlier this summer. Her voice is a perfect harmony match on the bluegrass songs.

McCaffrey again shines as a full band of backup instrumentation as he shows on the fine Richard Shindell penned “The Kenworth of My Dreams,” where he plays all the instruments. He also knows when to keep the track simple and understated.

Gibbons, who seems to have waited much too long to start his recording career, has released a very listenable album. If he can put a band together he’ll have a musical vehicle to show off his talent.

Gibbons is releasing his CD Saturday evening at the Champlain College Alumni Auditorium.

By TOM KEYSER Albany Times Union – Published: November 19, 2009

Grandpa Arlo Guthrie, now 62, is leading a Guthrie fam band across country on the “Guthrie Family Rides Again” tour.

In August, Guthrie released “Arlo Guthrie: Tales of ‘69,” a concert recorded just before Woodstock. Guthrie, of course, remains one of the most memorable Woodstock performers because of his stoned raps and declarations, such as “The New York State Thruway is closed, man!”

On this tour, the family features new songs by the legendary Woody Guthrie, Arlo’s father, as set to music by contemporary musicians. Woody died in 1967 at age 55 from complications of Huntington’s disease, a genetic neurological disorder. There is no cure, and each child of a Huntington’s parent has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the Huntington gene.

Between stops on the family tour, Arlo talked by phone with the Albany Times Union.

Q: What can fans expect?

A: We did a tour like this about three or four years ago. It was me and my son, Abe, who’s been working with me a good 25 years; and my daughter Sarah Lee and her husband, Johnny Irion. We were doing a lot of my dad’s old material and some of our own songs. It was such a good time, we thought, “Let’s take everybody.”

It’s my four kids and my seven grandkids, and a good friend, Terry A. La Berry. Its focus is on some of the new Woody Guthrie songs that have been coming out as the result of my sister Nora’s work in making the lyrics available to young musicians around the world.

People have been bringing these songs to life, adding their own music, because my dad … wrote a lot of songs that are just lyrics on the page. If he had a tune for them, the tunes went with him when he left us.

So we’re going to do those in addition to the songs we’re writing ourselves.

Q: Do the grandchildren perform, too?

A: Yeah, all seven of them. They’re everything from 2 to 18.

Q: So the 2-year-olds might get on stage?

A: There’s no “might” about it. They’ll be there.

Q: So it has an intimate family feel?

A: That’s all it is. There are songs I have to do just because I’m me — the shorter ones that are popular, you know, as far as I go. There are new songs some of the kids have written, new songs that even the grandkids have written.

Q: What’s the story behind “Tales of ‘69″?

A: This was an old tape that had been sitting around the house. My kids were listening to it, and they called me into the studio. And they said, “Pop, you’ve got to hear this thing.”

So I went in. They had tears in their eyes. They were rolling around on the floor. They said, “You were crazy.”

I said: “That’s kind of funny. I don’t even remember that one.”

They said, “We’ve got to put this out.”

I said: “You can’t put it out. It’s not ready for prime time. It never really was.”

They said: “No, we’ve got to put this out. It’s too late in your career; it’s not going to hurt you.”

So we put it out mostly because we knew that there would be some old-time fans who would enjoy a little window into that world back years ago.

Q: Would you be 20 again, right now, if you could be?

A: No. I love being who I am right now. To me, the ’60s were all about people being free to experiment with their own lives, see what works and doesn’t work, rather than sit back and be told what should work for you, and what you should do …

That was a great time to grow up. And frankly, that has shaped my political philosophy to the point where I am constantly reminded of the danger of accepting other people’s experience as your own, that you really need to be free to have no doubt about your own reality. And that means taking chances.

Q: Did you ever think you’d still be making music and touring at this point?

A: I always figured that this is what I wanted to do. I didn’t actually want to do this for a living, by the way. I meant to be a forest ranger. So I went to college for that out in Montana. And I loved it out there.

But, the ’60s were going on. And they weren’t going on as much in Montana (laughs) as they were in other places. So I left school, because … I felt I needed to be on the streets at the demonstrations. I needed to be a part of the civil rights movement, not just hear about it. I wanted to be part of the anti-war movement, not just hear about it …

I found myself out on the street with a guitar, and there was my old buddy Pete Seeger, my dad’s friend, really, at that time. And so I just hung out with him and ended up playing songs with him so that we could feel good about marching around and demanding that things change. It changed my life. I ended up doing that as a living.

Q: I understand you never got tested for the Huntington’s gene. Why?

A: If they could do something about it as the result of finding out one thing or another, I might be interested. But just to find out? That doesn’t make any sense. If they had a test for your likelihood of getting hit by a car, would you take that test, too?

Q: Did you think about getting tested before having kids?

A: We didn’t have the test before we had the kids. But it would have been the same anyway.

Q: Huntington’s disease typically begins in midlife, from 30 to 50. So does that mean you’re free and clear?

A: It’s a curve. So far, so good.

By Josh O’Gorman STAFF WRITER – Published: November 19, 2009

CHESTER — With one performer returning from Hollywood and another on her way to Nashville, the Green Mountain Festival Series will showcase some of the area’s finest homegrown talent.

The show — starting at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Green Mountain Union High School — will feature music by Dylan Duncan, Ida Mae Specker, Brendon Thomas, and Matt and Kate Lorenz of Rusty Belle, as well as comedy from actor Sam Lloyd Jr.

“I’m very excited to be going back to the school,” said Lloyd, who attended Flood Brook Union School, graduated from GMUHS in 1981 and has gone on to a successful stage, film and television career. “It was a huge time in my life and it helped shape me as a person and as a performer.”

Lloyd was active in the high school’s drama program, performing in “Arsenic and Old Lace,” “Oliver!” and Moliere’s “The Learned Ladies,” which gave him an unexpected opportunity to hone his improvisational skills.

“The whole thing was in rhyming couplet, and I delivered the wrong line and then I had to try and make it rhyme,” Lloyd recalled.

Lloyd will perform as “Tom Richmond,” a character he developed years ago at Weston Playhouse and who “took on a life of his own,” Lloyd said, including in pair of “Seinfeld” episodes in 1993 and 1994.

Also on the bill is Dylan Duncan, GMUHS class of 1999, who will perform songs he began writing in Chester in 2003.

“I’ve definitely been creative my whole life. As kids we made comic books and video games,” Duncan said of his childhood. “I think Chester has been good for artists because it’s so quiet. You’re 45 minutes from the nearest mall so you end up doing something creative instead.”

Duncan began playing guitar while attending art school in Florida and plays music influenced by his love of the bands U2 and Iron and Wine. He will be selling CDs of his song “Ask You,” inspired by his mother who died of amyloidosis in1997, with proceeds benefiting Boston University’s research into the disease.

Lloyd and Duncan have both left the area to seek their fame and fortune and soon Ida Mae Specker will do the same when she departs for Nashville to pursue a country music career.

The Andover native and Vermont Academy grad has been playing the fiddle with her father John Specker for 19 of her 22 years.

“I started playing when I was 3 years old.” said Specker, who also plays with her sister Lila Specker. “We play old-time Appalachian music. I love playing with my whole family. It gives us something to do besides eat.”

Specker said Saturday’s show, and another Nov. 29 at Andover Town Hall, will likely be her last before she departs for Nashville.

Saturday’s show begins at 6:30 p.m., but the public is invited to come at 5 p.m. for a Putney Pasta chicken Alfredo dinner to benefit a class trip to the Grand Canyon in April. Dinner is $8 for adults and $5 for children younger than 10.

Tickets for the show are $10 for adults and $7 for students when purchased in advance and $2 more at the door. For more information about the show, including a list of ticket outlets, visit www.greenmountainfestivalseries.com.

josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com

By GEORGE V. NOSTRAND – Published: November 12, 2009

The fellows from Bluegrass band Big Spike are not shameless in their plug that they play and sing this style of music “the right way.”

One listen to the sound clips on their Web site (www.BigSpikeBluegrass.com) will make a believer out of any Bluegrass aficionado. If you like sawing fiddles, trilling mandolins and that deep plunkin’ bass, this band has just what the doctor ordered this time of year. Not to mention some down-home four-part green mountain vocal harmonies.

Big Spike will kick off another year of the ever-popular “Saturday Night Coffee House Concert Series” at Unitarian Universalist Church on West Street in Rutland.

I want to put in a special plug for the Coffee House Series at the U.U. First of all, this is one of the best rooms I have ever heard music in. Churches like this were built to carry acoustically, and this particular church seems to have a nice warm sound.

Second, they always do a nice job in booking a wide range of acts. These musicians range from local to a little way down the road, and stylistically cross plenty of genres. Hats off to Boaz Cohen for consistently bringing high-class talent to Rutland, and to whoever makes the great snacks they always have there.

Getting back to the band, I had one of those “Wow, cool!” moments when I saw that Michael Santosusso, one of the founders of the band Smokin’ Grass was this band’s bass player.

When I moved back to Vermont after some of my earlier ramblings, Smokin’ Grass quickly became one of my favorite bands. I was glad to see and hear he was hooked up with another great band.

Find out more about the rest of this band on the Web site, which has a lot of great stuff including a “Vermont Huma’” (humor) page with some corny Vermont jokes.

The concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $10 advance at Tattersall’s on Merchant’s Row, Downtown Rutland, $12 at the door, $7 seniors, $4 children. Call 492-2252 for more information.

I want to give three big cheers (hip-hip-hooray!) to the Paramount for bringing in and putting on a phenomenal show Friday night. Yes, I am still talking about Derek Trucks and he, and the fact that his band came to our town, are worth talking about.

A real rock show at the Paramount – how about that. I talked to several people who had traveled quite a distance to come for the show. Not only were they impressed with the band, but also talked about how beautiful the theater is.

We have to remember how lucky we are to have the Paramount here, and show our support. And with the economy always on the tip of people’s tongues, this is also proof of how the arts, and a creative economy can make a difference — even in tough times. Keep up the good work ladies and gentlemen of the Paramount.

While last week Carnival Hill had to compete with Derek & his boys, this weekend they actually paid him to stay away … Rutland’s own “Bad Boys of Rock-n-Roll” will be at Chaser’s on Friday.

Go on down for your dose of classic and slightly newer but not overly used rock. If you’ve eaten all your kids’ leftover candy, don’t worry — these guys are always a treat.

…and by George, keep supporting live, local music!

George Nostrand is basking in the warm November weather, thinking about doing one more show in Main Street Park before it snows…

Turn Up the Volume – I Can’t Hear You! Do you have a band, play in a band, know somebody who does or have any interest in live, local music? If so, let me know by e-mailing me at localspin@gmail.com. The deadline for submitting for the coming week’s column is Tuesday at noon.

Published: November 12, 2009

Rutland’s Paramount Theatre will host an cappella experience Friday.

Rockapella, an a cappella ensemble, will bring its noninstrumental musical flavor to the theater’s stage. The all-male quintet is known for its blend of R&B, soul, jazz and rock. The group performs original compositions as well as a cappella renditions of classics.

“They really are the world’s premiere a capella group,” said Eric Mallette, the Paramount’s assistant director. “It is stand on your feet, standing ovation quality-type stuff.”

The night of a cappella music also includes the University of Vermont’s Top Cats and Rutland’s own Curbstone Chorus.

Friday’s show at the Paramount Theatre starts at 8 p.m. and tickets range from $20.50 to $25.50. For tickets or more information, call the Paramount box office at 775-0903 or visit www.paramountvt.org.

By Josh O’Gorman STAFF WRITER – Published: November 12, 2009

Something about this town sounds familiar to singer-songwriter Richie Havens.

“I’ve been in five different Woodstocks, and one of them was in Germany,” said Havens, who opened up the three-day Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969 and who will bring his message of peace and love to the Historic Town Hall Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Havens had already made a name for himself before Woodstock. A veteran of the Greenwich Village coffee house scene, Havens had released three albums, toured Europe and played the Newport Folk Festival twice before taking the stage before 500,000 people Aug. 15, 1969, in Bethel, N.Y.

“I got pushed to the stage because my friend Michael (festival producer Michael Lang) was freaking out and he had nobody to go on,” Havens recalled. The roads were jammed with people traveling to the show and he and the other acts were stranded six miles away. Since Havens had the least amount of gear to carry — just an acoustic guitar and a voice that is both fiery and poignant — Lang tapped him to ride by helicopter to the festival stage.

“They flew us over and I looked at that crowd and I said, ‘My God, look at all these people!’” Havens said, before taking the stage for nearly three hours. With nobody in the wings to play and the crowd roaring for more, Havens returned to the stage for one last encore, a performance immortalized in the concert film.

“I just started singing ‘Freedom’ because in my mind, I thought, ‘This is the message we need to hear. This is what we’ve achieved already, with everyone attaching themselves to each other with hugs,’” Havens said.

Havens’ performance of “Freedom” and “Motherless Child” — a song he hadn’t sung since his days in doo-wop groups 15 years earlier — set the tone for the festival that in turn defined the Woodstock generation, and during his Voice of Woodstock 40th Anniversary Tour, Havens is finding the spirit of that time is alive and well and spanning generations.

“Every summer, the places I play, the teenagers are all lined up and it’s amazing because they are so sincere and they so understand what this is all about,” Havens said. “And then, I have people who stop me at the airport and they tell me, ‘I had hair down to here,’ and then they hand me a card and they’re a lawyer.”

Friday’s concert is a benefit for the Upper Valley Haven and the Woodstock Community Food Shelf. Tickets are $33 and $50 (director’s circle tickets benefit the Upper Valley Haven) and may be reserved by calling the Pentangle Arts Council box office at 457-3981 or online at www.pentanglearts.org.

Patrons are also encouraged to support The Woodstock Community Food Shelf with donations of nonperishable food items that will be collected at the door the night of the concert.

josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com

By GEORGE V. NOSTRAND – Published: November 5, 2009

While corporate radio has taken over many of the major radio stations and airways, the Internet has offered an opportunity for the rise of many new small online stations. One such station is WOOL.fm (www.wool.fm).

I’ve been to WOOL’s station in Bellows Falls, located in what looks like an old deserted building. With the tag line “Black Sheep Radio,” this station has that underground, almost college radio feel. It is one of the many LPFM (low-powered FM) stations that are struggling to survive in the era of media consolidation.

You can do you part to help by contributing and getting involved. (No, they are not holding any pledge drives.) They are seeking donated items for an auction that will be held Nov. 20.

The auction will be held at 33 Bridge St. where the WOOL.fm studio is located, from 4 to 7 p.m. It will be during the November Third Friday Art Walk.

Snacks and beverages will be available. Any items, large or small, are welcome and appreciated: art, gifts, crafts, services, furniture, clothing, household items, tickets to shows, etc. — anything clean and in good working order that you think someone might want to bid on.

If you have something you would like to donate, contact Dot Read at dot@wool.fm and make sure to check out their Web site.

While we’re taking a look at Bellows Falls, my friend Jess Peters sent out a reminder that the Open Mic at PK’s is still going strong every Tuesday.

He went on to say, “Bring a song or two to share and a friend or two to listen. Acoustic or electric instruments are fine, hand drums or a minimal (3 piece max) kit are also cool. The average set length is about 20 min. (unless you slip him $5 for one more song). Rehearse your small group in a live situation! Snacks often provided, and there is a great P.A. and a great sound.” So, swing by PK’s on Tuesdays and check it out.

Back in Rutland, the dynamic duo of Charlie and Jeremy Woods will be joined by former Will band member, Oien Noonan, on Friday at Center Street. I took the liberty of coming up with a name for this new trio, using their initials: NJ COW.

I’m not sure how they will feel about being compared to a cow from New Jersey, but maybe it will inspire them to write a new song … They will also be at Sidelines from 8 to 11 p.m. Nov. 11.

Speaking of Sidelines, Carnival Hill will slide down the alley Friday. (Their nickname, by the way, is CHill). I understand the best part of their show is actually before and after they play … the real show apparently is watching them (and their wives) load in and out and set-up the ever increasing amount of gear they tote to gigs.

Local “Monsters of Rock” Bogo Guppy will take a road trip down to Ludlow to play at Christopher’s at 9 p.m. Saturday.

It will be their first time playing “The Big C” in “The Big L” and they are hoping that some fans and friends will come out to support them.

Looking ahead a bit, mark your calendars for Nov. 20. I’m hoping this will be the kick-off show for a new music series at Café Terra that will feature singer/songwriter combinations from across the state.

Owner Jen Hogan has given me the liberty to setup a few shows and I think it could be a nice series to keep us in the music and warm with some great drinks and snacks at the Café this winter. Shamelessly kicking off the season will be Phil Henry and George Nostrand. Hope to see you there.

… and by George, keep supporting live, local music!

George Nostrand is a fan of WOOLfm, Open Mics, and Live, Local Music – even that band Carnival Hill.

Give me some Spin! What’s going on with your band, your venue, or your cousin’s uncle’s brother’s band? If it’s musical and it’s happening in the Rutland area I want to hear about it. Send me an e-mail at: localspin@gmail.com. The deadline for the coming week is Tuesday at noon.

By Brent Curtis STAFF WRITER – Published: November 5, 2009

For 15-year-old Natalie Brierre and 13-year-old Taylor Ampatiellos show business is all about the big stage, the big crowd and, in Rutland, “The Really Big Show.”

The two cousins are only at the start of following their dreams of bright lights and bright stars but the pair have already had a taste of greatness on the biggest stage in the city and they will be back for more Saturday when they compete with 20 other performers on the Paramount Theatre stage in the United Way’s annual fundraiser, “The Really Big Show.”

“I love to perform on stage,” Brierre said. “There’s nothing like the thrill of being on a big stage and it’s the biggest stage there is in the city.”

The two young performers were exercising their vocal cords Tuesday. On Saturday, when the curtain lifts at 7 p.m., Ampatiellos will be decked out in a tuxedo to sing the Broadway hit “Sunset Boulevard” while Brierre will sing “Out Here on My Own” from “Fame.”

“I sang ‘Sunset Boulevard’ last March for ‘Cabaret’ and it was a fun song,” said Ampatiellos, whose acting and singing chops include appearances in a Hallmark movie and appearances on a number of community theater stages.

While serving as a showcase and springboard for budding talent of all ages, The Really Big Show is also an important part of the United Way of Rutland County’s work to raise money to support nonprofit organizations throughout Rutland County.

United Way director Chuck Sharp said his organization is trying to raise $560,000 this year — roughly $8,500 of which could come from the one-night talent show.

“For a single night, it means a lot to us,” Sharp said.

Most of the 700 seats on sale have already been sold, Sharp said, but tickets, on sale for $15 each, can be purchased at the box office as late as the night of the show.

And while the majority of entertainers are young up-and-comers, eight of the acts feature entertainers with years of experience.

“We’ve got talent of all ages,” Sharp said.

The show also features an opening act presented by the Chittenden Bank Dancers and an interlude by the Rutland Area Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice’s “Trillium” singers.

The acts will be judged according to four categories with awards for each category and a grand prize of a 6-foot-tall trophy and $100 to the best act of the night.

But Sharp said the competition is secondary to most participants who are happy to perform for a good cause.

“Everything about the show is positive,” he said.

brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com

By Josh O’Gorman STAFF WRITER – Published: November 5, 2009

After spending more than half of his life on the road, slide-guitar master Derek Trucks is going to take a break, but before he does he and his band are tearing up venues up and down the East Coast.

“Knowing we’re going into some time off, we’re really making the most of these shows,” Trucks said following a show in Durham, N.C., the first night of a 17-date tour that will come to the Paramount Theatre on Friday night.

Trucks has certainly earned the time off. The 30-year-old first took the stage at the age of 9, by the time he was 15 had formed the core of the Derek Trucks Band, and since 1999 he’s divided his time between his group and the Allman Brothers Band.

Trucks was also 15 when he first sat in with Bob Dylan, author of “Down in the Flood,” the first track on Trucks’ newest album “Already Free.” While Dylan’s version, recorded with the Band, is a bouncy affair, Trucks’ take on the song is like a house on fire: a slow-smoldering start that builds to a blinding, burning inferno showcasing his staggering slide-guitar skills.

“Part of it is musically, we’re able to play this music we enjoy and believe in,” Trucks said of the title of the album, which he recorded in the studio he built on the Jacksonville, Fla., homestead he shares with his wife, singer-songwriter Susan Tedeschi. “I was able to step back, after 10 or 15 years, and realize things are good.”

Things have been good for Trucks, at least in terms of critical acclaim. Rolling Stone magazine called Trucks one of the top 100 guitarists of all time – the youngest person to make the list – and featured him on the cover of its 2007 “Young Guitar Gods” issue.

Ten years ago, he joined the Allman Brothers Band and breathed new life into a band that had been on the road – on and off – for 30 years, and this spring’s 40th anniversary run of 15 shows at the Beacon Theatre in New York City – collected in a 47-disk box set – showcased a band not wallowing in nostalgia but invigorated and innovative.

But with both the Allman Brothers and Trucks’ band taking a break next year, this tour will be the last chance – for a while anyway – to hear his hair-raising blend rock, blues and gospel and to see a musician whose fret work draws flattering comparisons to the Allman’s original guitarist, Duane Allman.

“We’ve been gigging for 250 shows a year, so it will be nice to spend some time with our families,” said Trucks, whose family plans include both quality time with his children and recording with Tedeschi. But for this ax-carrying slide-wielding road warrior, the siren’s call of the stage might prove to be too much.

“I doubt I’ll be able to stay home for long. Two or three weeks, I’ll be itching to get out there,” he said.

Friday’s show at the Paramount Theatre starts at 8 p.m. and tickets range from $27.50 to $42.50. For tickets or more information, call the Paramount box office at 775-0903 or visit www.paramountvt.org.

josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com

By GEORGE V. NOSTRAND – Published: October 29, 2009

Upon seeing the recent press release, I went to the Paramount’s Web site and was amazed to find that the upcoming Derek Trucks Band show had not already sold out.

I’ve had tickets for quite a while (Thanks Stephanie!) and wouldn’t miss this show for anything. Someone of Derek’s caliber in Rutland is certainly noteworthy.

Literally an offspring of the Allman Brothers (Derek’s uncle, “Butch” Trucks, is a founding member of the Allmans), Derek was born into music and has not only taken up with the Allman Brothers himself, but also toured recently with Eric Clapton.

This is all on top of playing with his own band and occasionally teaming in with his amazingly talented wife, Susan Tedeschi.

The show I’m talking about is at the Paramount Theatre in Rutland on Friday, Nov. 6. You can (and should) get tickets through the box office at 775-0903 or at www.paramountlive.org. Don’t miss out on seeing a living guitar legend.

Speaking of legends Steve Baldwin a.k.a. Mr. Blues is still looking for Mr. Right – the right guitar player that is – to round out the Sunnyland Blues band. If you are ready to play some blues give him a call at 775-3546.

Steve also updated me on some Open Mics in the area, including Back to Vermont Pub in Poultney, a great place that has its Open Mic on Thursdays around 10 p.m. The Barn in Pawlet has an Open Mic on Fridays. And the Church of the Wildwoods in Chittenden holds one on the first Friday of every month at 7 p.m.

From one Steve onto another, Mr. Steve Kyhill, one of Rutland’s most jovial musicians, will be doing the special Halloween edition of Farmers’ Market on Saturday. Whether he will be in costume, I do not know, but he will be entertaining. Steve will also open up the first indoor Farmers’ Market on Nov. 7 at the Co-op.

Also on Halloween, Thunder Road will deliver its usual tricks and perhaps a few unplanned treats at the Red Moon Saloon. They want to invite everyone to stop by and share a drink or two (of that special goblin juice) with them.

Also celebrating All Hallow’s Eve in style will be Bogo Guppy. The band will be in full costume performing at CJ’s and encourages you to come costumed, too. There will be prizes for the most original costume and the scariest costume.

Don’t forget to check out the parade – one of the biggest events annually in Rutland.

… and by George, keep supporting live, local music!

George Nostrand is a local musician rumored to have a little werewolf blood in him … he lays out the spin on the music scene every week.

Give me some Spin! What’s going on with your band, your venue, or your cousin’s uncle’s brother’s band? If it’s musical and it’s happening in the Rutland area I want to hear about it. Send me an e-mail at: localspin@gmail.com. The deadline for the coming week is Tuesday at noon.

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By Jim Lowe Times Argus Staff – Published: October 30, 2009

Classical music is big in central Vermont, for players as well as audiences. But, until recent years, the local ensembles have been community affairs, including three orchestras. Over the past three years, though, two chamber ensembles of local professional musicians have formed – and both are presenting concerts on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 7 and 8.

The Eleva Chamber Players, a three-year-old professional chamber orchestra, will present “Brilliant! An Inspiring Evening of English String Music” in Waterbury on Nov. 7 and in Barre on Nov. 8. The year-old Arioso, a group of instrumentalists and singers, will perform a diverse program including the Tchaikovsky Piano Trio, on Nov. 7 in Montpelier and Nov. 8 in Randolph.

Arioso follows the model of New York’s Chamber Music of Lincoln Center, where a group of top instrumentalists and singers mix and match to perform diverse works from the vast chamber music repertoire. The difference is that Arioso is made up of local players, not quite as famous as their New York brethren, but very good, as attested to by concerts last spring.

The group is unofficially led by Stowe violinist Raymond Karl Malone, who goes simply by Malone. He started his career as a New York freelance player before moving to Vermont. In addition to teaching and performing recitals in the area, Malone has been both concertmaster and soloist with the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra.

It was Malone’s idea to perform Tchaikovsky’s A Minor Trio, one of the most flamboyant and virtuosic works in the repertoire, full of Tchaikovsky’s glorious melodies and rich harmonic and rhythmic language. The pianist is Alison Cerutti, a Northfield native who became the protégée of the late Louis Moyse. The cellist is Robert Blais, a longtime Montpelier resident who is as well-known as a teacher as a performer. He also leads the Green Mountain Youth Symphony.

Brahms’ tender songs for alto, viola and piano will be performed by mezzo-soprano Linda Radtke, violist Elizabeth Reid and Cerutti. Radtke, who lives in Montpelier, is known not only as a soloist and a member of Counterpoint, but for her commentary on WCVT-FM. Reid, a Canadian now living in Northfield, plays both violin and viola with various professional ensembles and orchestras in Vermont.

Reid arranged several pieces for voices and strings, including “Herbstlied” by Mendelssohn, a lament for the end of fall and the beginning of winter, and the final duet from Monteverdi’s 1642 opera, “The Coronation of Poppea.” Also on the program is her transcription of Handel’s joyous and playful love duet from his opera “Rinaldo.”

Randolph soprano Marjorie Drysdale, a well-known soloist in the area, will perform an aria from Mozart’s “Il Rey Pastore,” featuring violin obbligato with Malone, and the sublimely comforting “Komm in Mein Henzenshaus (Come into my heart’s house)” from Bach’s Cantata No. 80.

Arioso features a Vermont contemporary composer in each concert. This program will include “Gosport Harbor,” a work for cello and viola, by Braintree composer Kathy Wonson Eddy.

The Eleva Chamber Players were founded in April of 2006 in Waterbury by two violinists, Willi Docto of Duxbury, and Malone, who later left the ensemble. The mission was to “elevate the human spirit through music.” The string orchestra, which performs without conductor, is composed of professionals from throughout the Northeast, all of whom perform regularly in Vermont.

John Lindsey, the concertmaster and once concertmaster of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, has performed in many chamber music ensembles in the region, as has cellist Linda Galvan of Hanover, N.H. Lou Kosma, music director of the Vermont Philharmonic, is assistant principal bass with New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Scott Woolweaver, a well-known Boston violist, leads the popular “Messiah” sing-along each year in Woodstock.

The program includes Edward Elgar’s Serenade, a piece that Elgar himself conducted and recorded in 1933, making him the first composer to leave a recorded interpretation of his own music. Gustav Holst’s “St. Paul’s Suite” was written in gratitude to the girls’ school in London that built him a soundproof studio with two pianos and central heating. Peter Warlock’s “Capriol Suite,” written in 1926 and one of Warlock’s most popular works, is a set of dances based on Renaissance tunes.

Also on the program is music by the Victorian Hubert Parry and John Rutter, better known for his choral music.

As each ensemble is performing their program twice, it is possible – even advisable – to enjoy both.

Published: October 30, 2009

Welcome to everyone’s favorite holiday. No awkward moments with dysfunctional family members, gift-buying stress or whatnot – just dressing up in costumes, giving out candy to kids and having fun. And on a weekend, no less … the last weekend Halloween I remember was one for the ages, and I suspect this one may be similarly epic. There is definitely some scary good music around the region – check it out.

Tonight is Devil’s Night, or Mischief Night, or Cabbage Night (never quite got that last one), and most venues are starting the Halloween party early to take advantage of the weekend holiday. I can think of no more appropriate music for the occasion than heavy metal, and Charlie-O’s on Main Street will deliver it in all its leather-bound glory when local metal gods Amadis make their debut at the local dive for nice people. These guys usually rock out in Burlington, where their classic sound (think Judas Priest or Motorhead) packs ‘em in at Higher Ground, but they’ll be rockin’ the capital this weekend to celebrate Samhain in style (FYI, Samhain, pronounced “Sow-en,” is the pagan name for the holiday). The fun starts at 10 p.m. and as the boys say, “We just show up and rock because we’re already wearing leather pants and somebody needs to pay the price” – awesome.

Saturday night, the ol’ world famous hosts “Skaraoke,” a Saturday night karaoke night that is sure to be interesting. Come dressed as your favorite rock star and take the back of the barroom microphone and go to town. This one also starts at 10 p.m., and entry both nights is the price of a drink at the bar (in other words, free) – rock on.

Another Halloween tradition takes place tonight down in Waitsfield at The Big Picture Theater, where the Barre Players will perform “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” The production features local naked-guy-around-town Nicolas Buckalew in the lead role of Dr. Frank N. Furter, a character that he was simply born to play. The band also features prominent local musicians Jay Ekis and Jen Wells. Audience participation is encouraged, so be sure and have your toast, toilet paper, rice and newspapers on hand. The fun starts at 10 p.m. and is a mere $5 at the door.

Back in Montpeculiar, a moniker the city will most certainly live up to this weekend; The Langdon Street Café has a killer lineup of music on tap. Tonight, those wacky scientists from upstate New York, Mathematicians, return to town. A wildly entertaining band that is just perfect for Halloween mayhem, their Devo-meets-The Beastie Boys style show, complete with special effects and interaction with the audience, is bound to be frighteningly awesome.

Saturday night, local electronica outfit MadDub returns to the site of their first gig for what is rumored to be their last show. Fred Wilbur, Jofus, Phil Carr and The Madtech (Bennet Shapiro) have given the region quite a run of dance parties over the past few years, and they’ll kick it down one more time as they come full circle. Expect a hoppin’ dance floor and a moderate cover for both 10 p.m. shows – costumes are encouraged, so come out in all your freaky finery!

The Black Door on Main Street in the city of the Golden Dome gets into the act this weekend with the return of local rockers Generous Thieves tonight. The band has been on extended hiatus for a bit, but they are back and will be cranking it up in the third floor lounge starting at 9:30 p.m.

Saturday night, Vermont banjo-master Gordon Stone brings his band to The Door for a Halloween party. Considering how crazy the other venues in town will be this weekend, this may be the place to escape to for a bit of sanity when you’re out and about. Then again, sanity is overrated, especially on Halloween … at any rate, it should be a bit mellower at The Black Door than most places around the capital this weekend, so take note. Both nights are for the usual honor cover.

Figuring it was a big weekend, I thought I would check out what’s going on over in scary Barre for the holiday weekend, but I couldn’t find much in the way of spooky fun going on in the Granite City. Barre’s number one party spot, Gusto’s (on Prospect Street across from city hall) has live music as they do most weekends. It seems the same crop of cover bands come through the place every few months, so they must be patron favorites. Tonight, the venue hosts a Halloween party with Complaints. Saturday night (ironically not listed as a Halloween party on their Web site), brings Cocktail to the stage. Perhaps there is more going on in Barre this weekend, but if it ain’t on the interweb, it’s kind of tough for me to find out for ya.

Later on in the week, local-gone-international singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell hosts another show in her Transcontinental Review series at Langdon Street Café. On Thursday, she’ll share the stage with Athens, Georgia-based performer Liz Durrett. Anaïs has a knack for picking exemplary talent to host for her T.R. shows, and this one will be no exception. Paste magazine noted Durrett’s “whispery vocals and effortless instrumentations will quickly captivate listeners,” and compared her to indie darling Cat Power. This should be a great show for under $10 at the door, if the usual cover scheme for the T.R. is in place, starting at 8 p.m.

In closing I’d like to wish everyone a fun and safe Halloween. Be careful out there, and if you’re drinking, don’t drive. Happy Samhain!

Ed DuFresne is the former talent coordinator for the Langdon Street Café and occasionally produces concerts. He lives in Montpelier with owners of vintage clothing stores, an annoying bird named Lucy and a clutter of submitted CDs that are steadily being replaced by Web links.

By ART EDELSTEIN Arts Correspondent – Published: October 30, 2009

Most states are lucky to have inspired one style of music, for example bluegrass from Kentucky and Tex-Mex from Texas. Louisiana’s musical heritage is exceptional. From this Deep South state we have New Orleans jazz, zydeco and its cultural cousin, Cajun music.

The Celebration Series at the Barre Opera House will present Beausoleil with Michael Doucet on Friday, Nov. 14, at 8 p.m. This is the nation’s premier Cajun band so hearing them should be truly memorable.

Beausoleil’s pedigree is unmatched. The band started in 1974 and has released 29 albums in the ensuing 35 years, an enormous output by any standard.

The band’s founder and musical leader is Michael Doucet. His fiddling and singing are the foundation around which Beausoleil is formed. His imprint on Cajun music is indelible and profound. He has also surrounded himself with five other musicians including his brother David on acoustic guitar. In all, there’s accordion, percussion, drums and bass as well as fiddle and guitar.

Since its inception, Beausoleil has been the guiding band in a cultural renaissance that took Cajun music from its roots in Louisiana around Lafayette and a very localized audience, to a broad audience that is now international.

Doucet is largely responsible on his own for popularizing Cajun music. He realized in the late 1960s, as a student, that the music he grew up with was dying out as the players aged. Through his efforts as a musicologist and bandleader he brought this regional music to a wide audience even while many who are now familiar with this sound have never traveled to the bayou country.

If you’ve never heard Cajun music then think of it as a lively dance sound sung primarily in French led by the fiddle and accordion and sometimes the guitar. It’s not complicated music, but it possesses an infectious beat and a lot of drive. Doucet’s fiddle style cannot be confused with the ornamented Irish style, or New England style. Rather, it’s somewhere between bluegrass and blues. There are a lot of double stops (two notes played simultaneously) and a heavy emphasis on rhythm in Doucet’s playing. The accordion here is a one-row instrument and it can only play music in a single key.

In early Cajun music there was just fiddle, accordion and triangle. This has changed over the years as the music became more universal, and instruments like percussion, drums and bass were added. Beausoleil also introduced the acoustic guitar to the Cajun ensemble, and on the band’s latest album “Alligator Purse,” David Doucet is given a fair amount of acoustic lead guitar space.

What you can expect to hear in a Beausoleil concert is traditional songs sung in French in a musical gumbo that includes zydeco, Tex-Mex, western swing, blues, New Orleans traditional jazz and Caribbean calypso. Cajun traditionalists might have some trouble with the band’s somewhat eclectic rendering of this Acadian-based music, but audiences won’t. Beausoleil’s music is certainly infectious.

I would bet there will not be an idle foot 30 seconds into the band’s lead-off number at the Opera House concert. If you need more encouragement, keep in mind that this band has appeared regularly on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and garnered 10 Grammy nominations. In 1998, it became the first Cajun band to win a Grammy for its “L’Amour ou La Folie” effort in the traditional folk category.

Perhaps the only thing missing from a Beausoleil concert that would lend this evening’s entertainment a truly authentic air would be a good helping of crawfish, jambalaya and filet gumbo. This food is as spicy and exciting as the music – so be prepared.

By ED DUFRESNE Arts Correspondent – Published: October 23, 2009

It never ceases to amaze me how many people have never heard of this column, which has run in this space for over two years now. When informed of this fact, they usually proceed to tell me that they “never read the paper,” so I guess that explains that.

It also amazes me how many people do read it, as judged by the ones who approach me on the street every weekend saying “I’m checking this out ’cause I read it in your column.” The way I look at it, it’s a win-win situation – the dedicated readers are getting the info they need, and the ones who “never read the paper” may have a reason to check it out (not that keeping up with what is happening in our community should not be enough – get informed people!). But, anyhow, on to the music:

Saturday night, The Black Door brings an excellent band from the San Francisco Bay area to town. The Industrial Jazz Group (see Art Edelstein’s story on Page D4) is not aptly named – the music is not industrial, and it is certainly only derivative of jazz. What it is, however, is much more suited to the Door on a Saturday night. The “avant-garde party music” the band purveys will surely get you shakin’ a tail feather up on the third floor. The sprawling, multi-instrumental unit mixes in everything from cartoon soundtracks to down ‘n’ dirty funk in their high-energy sets, and demonstrates music can be “complex, sophisticated, sexy, fun, funny, critical, smart, and groovy all at once. Sounds good to me, and it will to you too starting at 9:30 p.m. for the usual honor cover.

And speaking of a smattering of great adjectives, Langdon Street Café has it all covered this weekend with an outstanding lineup of musical offerings. First up is one of my personal favorites, Brooklyn’s Big Tree, a youthful and ultra-talented group of players who “combine sunshiny, hippie enthusiasm with epic post-rock breakdowns.” That’s as good a description of any of their excellent original music, but it does fail to highlight the exemplary twin female lead vocalists who really make the act stand out above the crowd. This highly recommended show for fans of great, original music kicks off at 9 p.m. for donations.

Saturday night, local favorite soul/folk/roots act Sara Grace and the Suits once again plays the venerable coffeehouse on the corner of Elm and Langdon, but this time it’s for a cause – their first CD! For those that do not know, producing a professional quality recording is quite an expense, but almost a necessity for any act that has aspirations beyond their local bar scene. This band has the talent, the drive, the tenacity, and the local fan base – they just need the scratch to complete the disc that could help take them to the next level. And, they are depending on you for support. Tickets for this one are $12 in advance, $15 at the door, and all proceeds will go to helping Sara and company get that recording completed and pressed to disc format. If any act around these parts has a fan base that will deliver, it’s this one. Her near-legendary performances at LSC should help as well. The party starts at 9 p.m., so come on out and lend your support to one of central Vermont’s finest musical products.

Finally, on Sunday, LSC stays open later than usual for a special event featuring local institution Dave Keller from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The occasion is a tribute to the late “queen of the blues” Koko Taylor, who passed away in June. A host of local female singers will warble the late great diva’s tunes along with Dave’s accomplished playing – no doubt he’ll do justice to one of his icons. The show follows a screening of a documentary on Ms. Taylor at the Savoy from 4 to 5 p.m., and admission to the LSC concert is free with a ticket stub from the showing. Otherwise, it’s for donations … cool!

Elsewhere in the city of the Golden Dome, there’s much more musical action to be had. Positive Pie II on State Street continues their re-entry into the local live music scene with another show this weekend presented by Halogen Records. Former Wu-Tang associate Killah Priest appears for a powerhouse hip hop show at Montpelier’s clubbiest venue on Saturday night. Fans of hard-hitting Wu-Tang-style East Coast hip hop will not want to miss this one. No word on the cover at press time, but there is bound to be one for such a high-profile act in our little town – don’t let it discourage you from catching a rare-to-appear-here hip hop standout starting at 10 p.m.

Bouncing over to the Granite City, the Barre Opera House has two nights of notable talent gracing its stage this weekend. Tonight, comedian Bob Marley, who’s becoming nearly as famous as his reggae legend namesake, takes the gorgeous opera house stage for a riotous night of stand-up shenanigans. His 15-year career has brought him from being an unknown to one of the most sought-after comedians in the country. Get your funny on at 8 p.m. Tickets are $24.50 and available at the BOH box office, by calling (802) 476-8188, or by visiting www.barreoperahouse.frontgatetickets.com.

Saturday night, local boy Jamie Lee Thurston returns from the bright lights of Nashville to appear on his hometown’s biggest stage. The baritone voiced crooner has found some significant success in the country music capital, having opened for the likes of The Dixie Chicks and Charlie Daniels, and getting signed by music-giant Warner Bros. Records. Catch his triumphant return at 7:30 p.m. for $15 (ticket info same as above).

On the outskirts of the Capital City, The Lamb Abbey tonight hosts a costume party for the debut of N.E.K. based alt-indie-goth outfit MOSS. Though it’s tough to tell from the four song demo on their MySpace how the band will deliver live, a dark, mystical vibe appropriate to their name is apparent. The band members, especially lead vocalist/flautist Margot Day, do appear to have some musical cred, at least according to their bios. Check out a fresh project starting at 8 p.m. Sidrak and Bokkus open the show.

Finally, Charlie-O’s World Famous on Main Street has acts tonight and Saturday, as always. You can catch local faves Abby Jenne and the Enablers at 10 p.m., rocking the back of the barroom tonight as only they can. Saturday night, progressive rock group, The Brothers McCann, return to our local dive for nice people with their classic sound in tow.

Until next week, stay informed, and go see live music!

Ed DuFresne is the former talent coordinator for the Langdon Street Café and occasionally produces concerts. He lives in Montpelier with an aspiring lawyer, a budding artist, an annoying bird named Lucy and a clutter of submitted CDs that are steadily being replaced by Web links.

By TOM HUNTINGTON Arts Correspondent – Published: October 23, 2009

Still riding high on widespread praise for his stunning, nearly year-old breakthrough album, “Noble Beast,” virtuoso multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter extraordinaire Andrew Bird brings his lauded one-man live show to Higher Ground on Monday.

Bird, 36, who has been touring heavily since the release of “Beast” – and for the better part of his grassroots decade-plus solo career — recently announced that he would be taking a hiatus from touring following a two-month world tour at the beginning of 2010.

“After this year, I’m going to take an unprecedented break, because I’ve been on tour for the past 11 years,” said Bird earlier this month in the Kalamazoo Gazette. “It’s time I just took a rest.”

While his recent albums have garnered increasing acclaim and attention – 2007 standout “Armchair Apocrypha” made many Top 10 lists while also breaking the Billboard Top 100 – Bird is especially known for his captivating live performances. After touring with a band for most of the year, the Chicago-based musician is currently flying solo, accompanied only by his violin and guitars, looping devices, giant Victrola-like speakers, gentle vocals and seriously impressive whistling – yes, whistling — skills.

“My M.O. has always been the live show,” said Bird in Pollstar. “That’s where I put all my energies.”

Opening act St. Vincent, a four-piece fronted by rising singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark, has been joining Bird onstage at the end of the shows for some well-received collaborations.

A true anomaly on the modern music scene, Bird has gradually carved out a singular sound that mesmerizes as much as it defies description. The New York Times called him an “operatic folkie,” a nod to Bird’s classical upbringing, while A.V. Club (The Onion) called his music “adventurously catchy.”

Added the Houston Chronicle, “His eight albums … are restlessly creative stops along a fascinating arc as he ditched a spot-the-influence approach to make sort of a genre-less music of his own.”

By ART EDELSTEIN Arts Correspondent – Published: October 23, 2009

Montpelier’s Black Door will host a rare appearance by a full-blown jazz band on Saturday night. The problem may be fitting both musicians and audience in the room.

San Francisco-based Industrial Jazz Group is a 16-piece band, so it’s going to be a tight squeeze at the Black Door, but one that might be worth the effort. This band, now in its eighth year, has developed a reputation for fun, high-energy, quirky, genre-bending shows, featuring what it calls “avant-garde party music.”

Its recent live CD, “LEEF,” recorded in Amsterdam, highlights a band that sounds like no other I’ve heard in this genre. It’s a horn-led, funky-rhythm ensemble, with some really good woman’s vocals, but a wacky presentation. It made me think that Miles Davis had crossed paths with Spike Jones and the Motown Records’ rhythm section.

Bandleader Andrew Durkin says that the band was frustrated by the limitations of “jazz, the institution,” but equally resistant to the confines of modern pop. The IJG, he notes, “has pioneered a hybrid sound: an idiosyncratic blend of rock, bebop, cartoon soundtracks, trad jazz, blues, funk, Balkan music, doo wop, and, well, a lot of other stuff.”

Perhaps the best description of this group’s music comes from Tom Bowden of Educational Digest who wrote, “IJG composer Andrew Durkin writes music that people who think they hate jazz would like.”

IJG is on an East Coast tour and lined up the Black Door, which has been a venue for some fine club music of late. It will be interesting to see how this large band manages the stage here. If you like adventurous music then this is a show not to be missed. But, a warning: Leave the kiddies at home, as some of the lyrics are off-color.

By ART EDELSTEIN Arts Correspondent – Published: October 23, 2009

One of the premier singer-songwriters of the past two decades, Shawn Colvin, makes her Barre Opera House debut on Friday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m., as part of the Celebration Series. For Colvin fans the show will be an opportunity to hear her in a solo performance. For those less familiar with this fine performer, there is the chance to catch a pure star in the “new folk movement.”

Colvin’s music fits with other insightful and contemplative songwriters; Joni Mitchell and Janice Ian come to mind. Her talent as a writer, guitarist and singer emerged in the late 1980s and put her in a group of musical cohorts that includes Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Patty Griffin and David Wilcox.

Her debut on the opera house stage comes as part of the Celebration Series’ dedication to bringing artists frequently requested by Opera House audiences, said director Dan Casey. Colvin is one of several artists in the singer-songwriter vein that fans want to hear.

Casey said he is pleased with the acceptance the Celebration Series and the Barre Opera House are receiving when he contacts acts to appear. The venue is causing a buzz in the performance community, he said, for the quality of the sound, the attractiveness of the room, and the enthusiasm of the audience, Performers like Colvin, who normally would play much larger concert halls with many more people in the audience, said Casey, have heard how well they are received at the Opera House.

Colvin, who for many years performed with backup musicians, made the decision several years ago to perform primarily solo because it helps her connect with her audience.

Colvin is one of the leading lights of the so-called “new folk movement” that began in the late 1980s. After debuting as a solo performer she went on to win acclaim in 1991 when “Steady On,” released in 1989, won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. Colvin’s 1992 sophomore effort, the more pop-oriented “Fat City,” earned her two more nominations — Best Contemporary Folk Recording and Best Female Pop Vocal for the single “I Don’t Know Why” — as well as considerable critical praise and a growing crossover audience. In addition, “I Don’t Know Why” became a big adult contemporary hit.

“Cover Girl,” an album of cover songs, met with mixed reviews and modest sales in 1994, but Colvin again earned a nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. In 1997 her single, “Sunny Came Home,” grabbed the spotlight and brought her music to a more mainstream audience. In 1998, “Sunny Came Home” won two Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and “A Few Small Repairs” became her first album to reach platinum status.

In the past decade Colvin has contributed vocals to songs by Béla Fleck, Edwin McCain, James Taylor, and Shawn Mullins. She also collaborated with Sting on “One Day She’ll Love Me,” the theme song for Disney’s “The Emperor’s New Groove.” She returned to the solo format with 2001’s “Whole New You” and, in 2004, summarized the first 15 years of her recording career with the compilation, “Polaroids: A Greatest Hits Collection.”

The most recent album, “Shawn Colvin Live,” contains many of her most requested songs including “Shotgun Down the Avalanche,” “Sunny Came Home” and “Tennessee.” On this live album, recorded just over a year ago in San Francisco, we hear a performer who sings with authority and ease. Her music was very familiar to the audience who warmly applauded each song. Colvin is also a fine guitarist whose playing adds emphasis and expression to her vocals.

The Barre Opera House seems a perfect venue for this fine artist. With just a guitar, simple lighting and excellent sound, Shawn Colvin’s music will get the spotlight it deserves.

Edward Markward sees conducting as teaching. “I think at heart I am really a teacher, as well as a performer,” he said. “The teaching never stops from the podium – I think that’s the way (Leonard) Bernstein thought, too.”

Markward, the third candidate for the position of music director of the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra, will conduct the community orchestra in music of Mozart, Beethoven and Prokofiev, at Vermont College of the Fine Arts’ College Hall Chapel in Montpelier on Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m.

The music director position opened up last season when Troy Peters unexpectedly stepped down after only one season. Paul Gambill, music director of the Nashville Chamber Orchestra who recently moved to Montpelier, and Victor Rosenbaum, a well-known Boston concert pianist who also conducts, have already conducted audition programs. As Andrew Massey has withdrawn from consideration, the MCO will make its choice after this weekend’s concerts.

“What I find incredible about this place, is the incredible amount of music that goes on around here,” Markward said. “I’m staying with a member of the board of directors. He plays in two orchestras, two string quartets, all amateur, but they’re all dedicated.”

It’s that dedication that inspires Markward.

“I look at my job as helping them reach their potential,” he said. “That outlook doesn’t change whether I’m working here or with a professional orchestra or a college orchestra. It’s to find a way to help them play to the best of their abilities.”

Markward, who resides in North Providence, R.I., is music director of the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra, a position he has held since 1987. On the faculty of Rhode Island College since 1973, he conducts the symphony orchestra, teaches conducting and serves as co-director of the opera workshop.

Before choosing repertoire for his MCO program, Markward listened to recordings of the orchestra.

“I thought that this was something that they could possibly do,” he said, referring to the Prokofiev. “And then I tried to find something that they could really latch onto and get their teeth into and feel satisfied about.”

The program is truly a challenging one: Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622 (featuring soloist Ian Greitzer); Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Opus 21; and Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D Major (“Classical”), Opus 25.

“We’re really working hard on the Prokofiev – and it’s really beginning to sound like Prokofiev – and I think, by the weekend, we’re going to have it,” Markward said. “The Beethoven, they ate up.”

Markward invited as soloist a friend who plays in the Boston Symphony and Pops, and is a colleague at Rhode Island College.

“The second movement of the Mozart concerto is among the most beautiful pieces ever written,” Markward said. “I think it’s just incredible. I’m biased, but I think no one plays it better that Ian Greitzer.”

Should he be chosen the MCO’s music director, Markward intends to “continue to make them know what it really takes to make them terrific.”

“I think they’re already very good,” he said. “They have to get over the fear of themselves, we all do. I think they’re a fearless group, but they can even be more so. My friends in the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra are what music ought to be about in this country.”

Markward began his musical life in Iowa as a trumpeter. As a music student at Drake University though, he discovered opera and changed his major to voice, going on to the University of Michigan for vocal performance. A cold, which left a vocal chord paralyzed, proved a life-changing event.

“I fought through that, so I thought I should find something to do, just in case,” he said. “So I got interested in conducting.”

It was at that point that he took his present positions at Rhode Island College, but he continued to sing. He was even a soloist at Vermont’s New England Bach Festival under Blanche Moyse.

“I finally decided that I wasn’t going to sing anymore, so I got serious about conducting,” Markward said. “I got hooked up with Gustav Meier.”

Markward studied privately with the famed conductor for a many years. For nearly a decade, Meier enabled him to audit conducting classes at Tanglewood, including those with Bernstein.

Guest conducting engagements have included the Vermont Symphony, Philadelphia Oratorio Choir, Newport Music Festival, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Brooklyn Heights Symphony, Festival Ballet Providence, and the Perrysburg (Ohio) Symphony.

“It’s been a really terrific life for the last 25 or 30 years,” Markward said.

By Jim Lowe Times Argus Staff – Published: October 26, 2009

BURLINGTON – Opening its 75th season, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Jaime Laredo, Saturday at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, returned to the “tried and true” – well, not entirely.

Last season, the VSO prepared for its 75th season by performing only works composed during the life of the orchestra. This included some well-known music, but also challenging works as well – which the capacity audiences seemed to take in their stride, and even enjoy.

The major work Saturday, indeed the major success of the evening, was a real “war horse,” Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Opus 97, known as the “Rhenish” (for the Rhine River). Laredo led the orchestra in a richly Romantic and lyrical performance. In true Laredo fashion, Schumann’s flowing lines sang. And, rather than getting caught up with the details, they achieved the grand sweep of the work.

Particularly affecting was the third movement, the slow movement marked “Nicht Schnell.” Laredo and the VSO achieved an intimacy that touched the heart. The lines were delivered with a quiet sensitivity, unusual for even a 52-member ensemble. That is a lot smaller number than some of the orchestras that perform this work, such as the Montreal Symphony which numbers more than 100. Still, the VSO delivered the beauty of this work with feeling.

Another “war horse” on the program was the Sibelius Violin Concerto in d minor, Opus 47. The soloist was local favorite Soovin Kim, who was once concertmaster of the Vermont Youth Orchestra and is now an up-and-coming world-traveling virtuoso.

Kim plays with a beautiful sound, deft technique and a natural lyricism, but in the first movement he overemphasized the already pronounced dotted rhythms, making the movement’s underlying drive seem choppy. Conversely, the slow movement, an adagio di molto, was rich, warm and lyrical – truly touching. And the rapid finale was delivered with flair.

Not “tried and true,” but a true pleasure, was David Ludwig’s “Radiance” for oboe and strings. Ludwig is the VSO’s new music advisor and this quietly beautiful work combines a superficial simplicity with more complex and sophisticated underpinnings. Nancy Dimock, the VSO’s principal oboist, delivered the songful solo with a flowing lyricism, while the strings sensitively created the fascinating and subtly changing atmosphere. In short, it was a pleasure.

Vermont Symphony Orchestra

The next Vermont Symphony Orchestra Masterworks concert, Saturday, Dec. 5, at 8 p.m., at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Principal Guest Conductor Anthony Princiotti will conduct: Brahms’ Symphony No. 3; Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2; and Respighi’s “Trittico Botticelliano.” Individual tickets start at $16; call (802) 864-5741, ext.10, or go online to www.vso.org.

Last autumn, in a rented room in an 1895 Victorian mansion on a hill in Bellows Falls, a young woman sat at a 1930s-era desk. She was waiting on a phone call, a knock, some sign of life.

The man she was romantically involved with — a musician and sound technician — had been working with a mildly eccentric character as of late, acting as a guitar tech in Celtic folk concerts put on across New England. She had heard little about the man for whom her boyfriend was working, just a few stories here and there of a terrifically eager, diligent, almost overwhelmingly enthusiastic personality. That was until this morning, when she had been called and asked to accompany the man and her boyfriend on a random road trip to Waterbury, two hours north, to help search for his missing wedding ring in the town green.

“He’s a wacky guy,” she’d been warned. “He talks lightning fast. He’ll talk your ear off about this project he’s working on, Music for Mankind. But

it’s because he’s so dedicated to it.”

During load-out at their Waterbury gig the previous night, the ring slipped off his finger as he removed the gloves he’d donned to handle heavy equipment. The glove flung the ring into the air, into the inky darkness, the expanse of lawn devouring it immediately. The matching wedding rings that he and his wife shared were particularly special because they’d had them engraved together in Sweden, where they were married. The crew pitched in, and the ring was found. A few minutes later, miraculously, it was lost again. Not wanting to burden his crew further, the man called it a night, asking his new recruit that he’d gotten friendly with if he wouldn’t mind coming back with him tomorrow — hours from home — to help look again. He offered to pick him up and take him out to dinner. Since the new recruit was supposed to be visiting Bellows Falls the following day, he figured that a three-way effort could be in order.

This is how I — the somewhat confused girl at the desk — and Kelly Moore of Manchester Center — the tall, thin, quirky and enigmatic Celtic guitar virtuoso and humanitarian — ended up in a van together cruising through the early foliage of the Northwest Kingdom, on a hunt for a Swedish wedding band.

I enjoyed Moore’s company that day. He did indeed talk immediately and at length about the project he started in 2007, Music for Mankind, as United Nations delegate for the World Food Program to Nicaragua and Peru. His passion was palpable; it nearly dripped from his eyes, and I could tell that he felt an inner light and sense of purpose the way that religious converts describe.

In the program, he plays a series of concerts in varied national venues to raise awareness of world hunger and donates nearly 100 percent of proceeds to the U.N. World Food Program.

It is an ongoing concert series, and it’s what Moore dedicates every working hour to when not in Washington lobbying for the cause.

He travels to Nicaragua and Peru regularly to observe the program’s field operations. So far, Music for Mankind has raised enough money to feed 33,000 people. To recognize his efforts, he was recently awarded the title of community delegate for the Friends of the World Food Program, a title held by only three people on the globe.

“I’m just so happy that I’ve got this talent, that I can sing and play guitar and express my own heritage through music, and it can actually help those suffering from hunger,” he said emphatically that day. “It’s such a simple concept.”

When I saw that he would be at Bellows Falls’ Rockingham Public Library next Wednesday at 7 p.m. to speak about his mission to end hunger through music, I nearly fell out of my chair. A return to the genesis, of sorts.

Moore and his band, Emerald Dreams, perform a flowing, dark tapestry of moody, thoughtful contemporary Celtic folk. Moore’s voice is perfect for balladry, the raspy baritone soaring over grand moral tales of life and love.

The music is not exclusive to traditional tastes, either, as many of his benefit shows are at colleges, where young people give him enthusiastic receptions. Dancing and revelry is not uncommon, as Moore’s meticulous finger-picking and constant guitar changes keep the music nuanced and lively. He performed for three decades before forming his organization, so naturally the honed sound is worthwhile even without the backing of altruism.

More information about Music for Mankind, ways to donate and a concert schedule can be found at musicformankind.net. Once visited, it’s hard to get the program or the man behind it out of one’s head.

Sadly, we never found his wedding ring that day, but we did find a shining soul and a unique understanding of the power of art to change.

Clara Rose Thornton is a freelance cultural critic and arts journalist originally hailing from Chicago who now lives in an artists’ colony in Bellows Falls. She can be reached at clara@inkblotcomplex.com, or through her Web site, clararosethornton.com.