Music Out of Doors This Week

Looks like tonight (Tuesday, August 6) will be a glorious night on Middletown's South Green and the City of Middletown Summer Sounds series.  The Phil Rosenthal 4 will perform at 7 p.m.  Phil Rosenthal, a native of Guilford, has been a fixture on the New England Folk (and international) scene since the 1970s when he worked The Seldom Scene.  For the past quarter-century, he has dedicated himself to running the American Melody recording label, writing songs and performing (most often) with his family. In fact, for tonight's 7 p.m. concert on the Green, he'll be joined by his son Daniel, a trumpeter who lives and works in Boston, performing with his own Quartet and in the horn section of the Either/Orchestra.  Also onstage tonight will be Phil Zimmerman (mandolin, banjo, autoharp) and Pete Kelly (acoustic bass).  For more information go to arts2go.org.

The final concert in the Music at The Mansion series, held on the spacious back lawn of the Long Hill Estate, features the blues-rock sounds of Jeff Pitchell & Texas Flood with The Jeffettes.  Pitchell, a Connecticut native, has played in venues around the US, gigging with B.B King, Bo Diddley, J Geils, NRBQ, James Cotton and many more.  His guitar playing blends the fire of Otis Rush and Stevie Ray Vaughan with the rhythmic subtleties of Steve Cropper.  His top-notch band also plays with great fire and style and, when you add the soulful sounds of the 4 Jeffettes, the Mansion grounds will rock!  The music is set to start at 6:30 p.m. - for more information, go to www.wadsworthmansion.com.  To get a taste of Jeff Pitchell's music, go to www.jeffpitchell.com.

That's the front of the Middlesex County Historical Society, 151 Main Street in Middletown, looking all proper and upstanding. Saturday evening (August 10), the lovely backyard garden will resound with music, thanks to Middletown native and drummer Mike Augeri. He's presenting the Mike Augeri Jazz Project at 6 p.m. as a fundraiser for the MCHS - he's bringing quite a group, including Sinan Bakir (guitar), Paul Fuller (bass), Orice Jenkins (keyboards), Rich Tortorigi (percussion), Jim Bosco (saxophone) plus special guests Paul Brown (bass) and vocalist Kitty Kathryn.  Mr. Brown has been a fixture on the Hartford jazz scene as both a musician and educator - he created the Monday Night Jazz in Bushnell Park series in 1967 and helped to found the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz in 1992.  Ms. Kathryn, a native of North Carolina, has been performing for over 5 decades, working with Count Basie, Lena Horne, Paul Brown, Jay Hoggard and was a founding member of the Hartford Jazz Society.

For more information, go to www.middlesexhistory.org or call 860-346-0746.