Arts There & Here This Week

Wednesday June 23:

The 3rd Annual Riverwood Poetry Festival takes place from Wednesday through Sunday June 27 in venues throughout central Connecticut. 

Opening night takes place at 6:30 p.m. in the Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Avenue in Hartford.  "Traprock", a Noh play written by Middletown resident Jean-Ann Wertz (pictured left), will be presented as a staged reading with a cast of John Basinger, Tony Palmieri, Matthew Pollack and me with some fascinating original music and sounds by Michael Pestel.  The evening will also feature excerpts from "A Lesson Before Dying" written by Romulus Linney with a cast of Juming Delmas and Thomas Cornell. An Open Mike follows the staged readings.  To find out more, call 860-249-1207.


Subsequent readings and performances will take place in South Windsor (Thursday), West Hartford and Berlin (Friday), Middletown (Saturday) and Hartford (Sunday).  You can view the entire schedule (and it's an impressive one) by going to www.riverwoodpoetry.org. 


Thursday June 24:

The Middletown Symphonic Band, Marco Gaylord, music director, presents a free concert at 7 p.m  outdoors at the Village at South Farms, 645 Saybrook Road in Middletown. The event is open to the public - in the instance of rain, the concert will take place on Thursday July 8.  For more information, call 860-344-8788.  To learn more about the MSB, go to http://middletownsymphonicband.org.

The Middletown Teen Theater presents "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday in the Performing Arts Center at Middletown High School, LaRosa Lane.  The musical comedy, written by William Finn (music and lyrics) and Rachel Scheinkin (book), won 2 TONY Awards - the show features audience participation and some particularly funny songs.  For ticket information, go to www.middletownteentheater.com.

Friday June 24:
Thus begins a busy Summer weekend.  You can start in New Haven on the Green when ARTFARM's "Circus for a Fragile Planet" is presented at 1:45 p.m.  It's one of the free events at this year's International Festival of Arts & Ideas.  For more information, go to www.artidea.org. 

The Greater Middletown Chorale presents "Summer Serenade", its 5th Annual Benefit Event, at 6 p.m. in the Wadsworth Mansion at the Long Hill Estate, 421 Wadsworth Street.  The evening will feature food, drink, music, a live auction, a special Lantern Lighting on the Lawn and more.  For ticket information, go to www.gmchorale.org or call 860-633-6198.  

Cold Stone Creamery, Riverview Center, hosts "Raise the Roof", a fundraiser created by Artists for World Peace and the Good Hope Foundation (in Tanzania) to help raise funds to construct a roof for a community health center in Moshi, Tanzania.  The event will feature live music, African crafts and, of course, ice cream. The good folks at Cold Stone will donate 25% of their proceeds to the cause. One never needs a reason to eat ice cream but this is a very good one.  The event takes place from 6 - 9 p.m. 


The Buttonwood Tree presents Shawn Taylor & Wandering Roots in concert at 8 p.m. Taylor and band play original music that blends folk, country blues, bluegrass and more. To find out more and get a taste of the music, go to www.shawntaylortunes.com. 

Summer is here and the time is right for the Hot Steamed Jazz Festival.  The 18th Annual Festival, which raises money for the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang Camp (started by Paul Newman) for children with life-threatening illnesses, has 4 sessions (Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon) and is loaded with great musicians.  This year features long-time favorites such as the Galvanized Jazz Band (pictured), the great boogie-woogie pianist Bob Seeley and saxophonist/clarinetist Dan Levinson plus a special appearance by composer/pianist William Bolcom and his wife Joan Morris.  To find out more, go to www.hotsteamedjazz.com or call 1-800-348-0003. 

Summer Season Starts (Tuesday - Thursday)

Summer Days, a series of lectures and performances sponsored by Wesleyan's Center for the Arts, begins its 4-Tuesday run this week (June 30.) Scheduled to speak at 12:10 p.m. in the CFA Cinema (the older one, not the Goldsmith Family Cinema) is Marilyn Nelson. Nelson, who was the CT State Poet Laureate from 2001-06, is the author or translator of twelve books and three chapbooks. Her latest, "The Freedom Business", is a poetic look at the life of Venture Smith, an 18th Century slave who purchased his own freedom (and that of his family) - in fact, her poetry sits on the opposite page from selections from Smith's memoirs. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, go to www.blueflowerarts.com/marilyn-nelson.


It's a busy week for the Middletown Symphonic Band. The ensemble, led by Marco Gaylord, plays the first of Middletown's Summer Sounds Series this Tuesday at 7 p.m. on the South Green. The following day (July 1), ,the MSB inaugurates Cromwell's Summer Sounds Series, the concert taking place at 7 p.m. in Pierson Park, West Street. The Band comes back to Middletown the very next day to perform at 8:30 p.m. on the lawn of the City Hall, right before the Fireworks Display.

The Music at the Mansion Series, held on the back lawn of the Wadsworth Mansion/ Long Hill Estate, begins its 4-week run this Wednesday. Perennial favorite Eight to the Bar plays its sweet sounds of swing at 6:30 p.m. The grounds open at 5:30 for those who wish to bring a picnic dinner. For more information, call 347-1064 or go to www.wadsworthmansion.com.

Speaking of the Fireworks Display, the Middletown Common Council put money back into the city's budget and the entertainment returned to the event. Musical guests include Kwaku Kwaakye Obeng & Band (5 p.m. at Riverview Plaza), the Middletown High Jazz Band at 6:30 at City Hall followed by the r'n'b/soul sounds of Mass-Conn-Fusion (7:30 p.m.at City Hall) and the afore-mentioned Middletown Symphonic Band. Food vendors and restaurants will be open and, who knows, maybe the weather will finally cooperate. In case of rain, the event will take place on July 9.

The opening concert of Wesleyan's CFA Summer Nights series is, sadly, scheduled for the same time as the events down by City Hall. Nevertheless, the free concert, to be held at 7 p.m. in the CFA Courtyard (off High Street) looks to be a winner. Nation Beat, a sextet that melds Brazilian rhythms with American "roots" music, will absolutely get you off the blanket and dancing around. In case of rain, the concert moves indoors to Crowell Concert Hall. To find out more about the band, go to www.nationbeat.com/.

Lucky and the Doctor Come To Town

This is a very busy week of music here in Middletown but, for this posting, I wish to focus on just 3 shows.

Friday April 24, Boney's Music Lounge, situated above Fishbone Cafe, lower Court Street, welcomes blues man Lucky Peterson for a 9 p.m. show. Peterson, who excels on guitar and keyboards (he also sings, plays bass, trumpet and is also a darned good drummer), has been performing since the age of 3. He recorded his first single (remember 45 rpm records?) when he was 5 and that was produced by the legendary Willie Dixon. As a novelty act, Peterson appeared on major television shows such as "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson."

He's been on the road as a solo act since the late 1980s and has released numerous CDs for Alligator Records and Verve. While there is a "jazzy" side to his music, Peterson is a hellacious guitar player, playing "stinging" solos behind his full-throated vocals.

To get a taste of Lucky's music, go to www.myspace.com/luckypetersonmusic. To find out more about Boney's Lounge and Friday's show, call 346-6000.

Friday and Saturday (4/24 & 25), Wesleyan celebrates its annual Jazz Weekend. On the first night, the Wesleyan Jazz Orchestra, Jay Hoggard, music director, and the Wesleyan Jazz Ensemble, Noah Baerman, music director, perform classic jazz compositions by composers such as Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Oliver Nelson and more. The concert, free and open to the public, takes place at 8 p.m. in Crowell Concert Hall.

Saturday evening at 8 p.m., Dr. Lonnie Smith (pictured above), one of the funkiest Hammond B-3 organ artists in the world, takes the stage at Crowell for an evening of jazz, r'n'b, soul music, and uplifting sounds. Like Lucky Peterson, Smith is a native of Buffalo, Nw York, and has been active on the jazz scene for nearly 5 decades. He learned to play organ listening to Jimmy Smith (no relation), Bill Doggett, and gospel music. Smith began gigging in Buffalo nightclubs and came to the attention of numerous musicians, including guitarist George Benson. His first recording date paired him with guitarist Grant Green and, with Benson's help, signed a contract with Columbia Records, who released his first Lp. Smith soon moved to Blue Note Records and his career took off.

Over the years, he's recorded several dozen CDs and Lps and has appeared on many more. In 2004, he signed with Palmetto and has seen a resurgence in his career. His new recording, "Rise Up!", features guitarist Peter Bernstein and 2 great New Orleans players, Donald Harrison (alto saxophone) and Herlin Riley (drums.) Most of the music are original Smith compositions and there's a "swampy"version of The Beatles' "Come Together" and a low-down bluesy take on Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams." You can listen to the disc by clicking here.

For Saturday's "hit", joining the Doctor will be 2 fine young musicians, guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Obed Calvaire. For ticket information, call 685-3355 or go to www.wesleyan.edu/cfa.