Weekend at The Buttonwood

This looks to be a good weekend to get outdoors, breath fresh air and, in the evenings, take a stroll downtown.  Every month, there's seems to be a new place to dine; however, after your repast, head over to 605 Main Street, the location for The Buttonwood Tree, and take in some fine live music.

Tonight (June 3), it's vocalist Don Minott and the High Voltage Reggae Band. Minott, born in Kingston, Jamaica, moved to Hartford in the mid-1980s and, within a few years, was singing in area Reggae bands.   Among the groups he has fronted are Rough Neck Massive, Lightning Reggae, and Positive Vibrations.  For the past decade, he's been touring the country and world with the High Voltage Band, playing a heady mix of original tunes, cover songs and poetry.For the Buttonwood "hit', Minott will have a number of special guests including Don C., Barney Rebel & Sista, Linford "Brown Eyes" Nugent and more.  The music starts at 8 p.m. 

Saturday evening at the same time, it's the return of the John Funkhouser Trio. Pianist/composer Funkhouser, a native of Boston, MA, is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and now teaches at the Berklee School of Music (in his hometown.)  He has worked with such artists as Wesleyan graduate Tierney Sutton, the MIT Wind Ensemble, and jazz legend Herb Pomeroy.  Joining him will be bassist Greg Loughman and drummer Mike Connors, both musicians with great talent and impressive resumes.  When all 3 get together, musical sparks fly, poly-rhythmic adventures are the "norm" and handsome melodies pave the way for exciting solos.  And, they do like to play, weaving influences from blues, folk music, Broadway, the Great American Songbook, contemporary Classical music and whatever else enters their collective consciousness.  In November 2009, I wrote in The Hartford Courant " the Funkhouser 3 blends many different styles into its repertoire, moving easily and, often, gracefully, from richly melodic pieces to Latin flavored romps to more abstract moments to funky rumpshakers". They played The Buttonwood last year and absolutely (and musically) tore the house down. To find out more about the Funkhouser Trio, go to johnfunkhouser.com. 

To reserve seats for either or both shows, call 860-347-4957. To check out the Buttonwood offerings, go to www.buttonwood.org.