"Music At The Mansion" Kicks Off Wed. Evening

The hugely popular "Music at the Mansion" concert series returns this Wednesday, July 2nd.

The outdoor shows at the Wadsworth Mansion begin with Goza, a Connecticut-based Latin jazz band (www.GozaBand.com). New performers take the stage each Wednesday in July.

The concerts are free and open to the public (but if you like them, throw what you can in the bucket when it comes around).

Picnicking begins at 5:30, music at 6:30.

If you can, budget a little time to explore the unique trails and grounds of the historic Long Hill Estate. 

You can find info about parking, performers, and future events here:
http://wadsworthmansion.com/events.php

Wadsworth Mansion: 5 in July!

Summer is upon and it's time to party with Mother Nature.  Over the course of the next 9-11 weeks, there will be a slew of outdoors concerts in the Middletown area and one knows how fickle the Goddess of Weather can be.

Nevertheless, the Wadsworth Mansion at Long Hill Estate, Wadsworth Street in Middletown, will presents its annual July Concert series aka Music at the Mansion.  And, this year, the Music Committee (note: I am a member of that august group) has chosen to present 5 concerts, one on each Wednesday of the month.  In case of rain, there will be 1 make-up concert on August 7.  As has been the tradition over the years, the concerts are free, the grounds are open for picnics 60 minutes before each 6:30 show, and the line-up is a creative blend of styles and sounds.

The fun starts of Wednesday July 3 when the Hartford Jazz Orchestra, Donn Trenner, Music Director, makes a return visit. The HJO has been in existence since 1965 when Bill Stanley (at that time, band director at Hall High School in West Hartford) convened the musicians for its first of its Monday night rehearsals.  The ensemble went through a number of music directors and venues until Chic Chicetti took over in the early 1980s and settled the HJO into the famous but now defunct 880 Club in Hartford.  Over the years, the ensemble built quite a following for its Monday night shows plus the occasional gigs away from the venue, often with vocalist Bobbi Rogers as a guest (then becoming a permanent member.) Saxophonist/flutist Seb Giacco, a fixture on the local music and former co-owner of National Paint & Wallpaper, has been in the group since its inception. On the night of this concert, Mr. Giacco will be honored by the Wadsworth Mansion, not only for his long career as a great musician but also as the "father" of the Music at the Mansion series.

The following week (7/10) marks the Mansion debut of guitarist Jeff Pitchell & Texas Flood. Pitchell, a fixture on the Connecticut and New England blues scene, has been playing guitar since he was 15 and is considered one of the best blues players around.  Joining his 5-piece band will be the Jeffettes, 4 singers with a background in gospel music.  Should be a rocking night on the back lawn.

On July 17, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem returns to the Mansion playing their joyful program of "agnostic gospel music", folk, swing, and blues.  Ms. Arbo, who sings and plays fiddle, lives in Middletown with her husband and percussionist Scott Kessel (who plays the home-made "Drumship Enterprise).  Guitarist/vocalist Anand Nayak and bassist/vocalist Andrew Kinsey (who also plays a "mean" ukulele and banjo) round out the quartet.

The Quartet has released 3 CDs, including 2012's "Some Bright Morning" and 2010's "Ranky Tanky", the latter a rollicking collection of songs for the younger set (but everyone can sing along.)
Their live shows are certainly fun for the whole family and this show, like the others, will draw quite a crowd of fans from all over the region.

On July 24, the series continues in the "folk" mode when Gail Wade & Turning Point makes its Mansion debut.  Singer/songwriter/ guitarist/banjo picker Wade has been making music for 3 decades throughout the Northeast. Turning Point is 4 fine musicians - Peggy Ann Harvey (fiddle, saxophone, harmonica, vocals), Dan Manzone (banjo), Rob Rainwater (acoustic bass) and Tim St. Jean (mandolin) -  all of whom pour their hearts and souls into this music.

The concerts come to a close on July 31 when Quartetto Vivo becomes the first string quartet to play in the series. Based in the Hartford area, the chamber ensemble plays a repertoire that spans centuries, from Bach to The Beatles and beyond.

As stated above, all concerts start at 6:30 p.m. Limited parking is available on the Estate's grounds, at Wilbur Snow School, 299 Wadsworth Street and at Mercy High School, 1740 Randolph Road. Concerts will go on even in light rain but, if there is more electricity in the sky than on the bandstand, the show will be cancelled.  If there is a threat of bad weather, check the Mansion's website - www.wadsworthmansion.com - or call 860-347-1064.  You can check the EYE as well.

Dancing Spotlight

Last month you may have seen the first dancing spotlight winner, 83 year-old Antonia Velez doing her thing at an outdoor concert. If you missed it, it's available here.

This time around, the dancing spotlight goes to this happy couple spotted at the Michael Cleary Band performance Wednesday night at Music at the Mansion at Wadsworth Long Hill Estate.

The dancing spotlight runner-up goes to retired litigation attorney Bob Dutcher who was seen enjoying himself to the enchanting sounds of Occidental Gypsy at The Buttonwood Tree.

Sometimes, there's nothing more fun and cathartic than getting out there and shakin' your booty. I'll be looking for the next dancing spotlight winner, so get out and get down and enjoy what Middletown has to offer.

Planet Zydeco at the Mansion

The biggest crowd of the season so far turned out for Music at the Mansion on Wednesday evening, when Planet Zydeco brought Western Louisiana dance music to Wadsworth.  Rose Sinclair provided a magnificent accordion core to the music, and Peter Petengill and Nick Keil sang tunes that had everybody tapping and got at least a few New Englanders dancing on the grass.

The last concert of this wonderful series will be on Wednesday, July 29th, when Eight to the Bar brings a mix of swing, boogie woogie, rhythm & blues, soul, and Motown to the Mansion.  

Souled Out at Wadsworth Mansion

The Wadsworth Mansion lawn came alive last night with the sounds of Motown classics, as Souled Out took the stage and rocked the 2008 Music at the Mansion Series. The ensemble’s harmonic singers, funky sounds and fun choreography made this performance an interactive experience, as many couples and kids were up on their feet, shakin’ their groove-thangs. The band also, at one point, instructed those sitting up front to begin what was a very successful mambo line (love train)! Upbeat dance songs like The Temptations’ “Can’t Get Next to You” interspersed with the slower “My Girl,” and “Gimme All You’re Lovin’” made the night a truly enjoyable one for concertgoers of all ages. And, as always, the lawn was filled with picnic blankets and lawn chairs, wine glasses and pizza boxes, kids with soccer balls, dancing babies (and their parents), dogs (on leashes) and bicycles (not on leashes), and residents from age 0 to 99 (also not on leashes...mostly).

Though Souled Out will be, literally, a hard act to follow, next Wednesday’s performance sounds just as enticing… Prelude, a New England band specializing in 80s and 90s pop music, will surely have us on our feet once again! The final show in the 2008 Music at the Mansion Series will bring us back to present day, a perfect completion of this year’s “Music Through the Decades” theme. Can’t wait!

Ladies of the Twilight, on the Silver Screen, and at the Podium

It's amazing how the middle of the week can get cluttered with arts events in July. Once upon a time, a group representing the town's arts presenters would get together monthly and talk about their respective schedules. "Arts for All" (as the group was dubbed) morphed into the Middletown Arts Stakeholders Group and there's still plenty of give-and-take but, occasionally, 2 very good shows happen on the same night.

That happened on Wednesday July 2 when Elite Syncopation performed at The Wadsworth Mansion and the Kwaku Kwaakye Obeng Band played in the CFA Courtyard at approximately the same time.

This week, The Mansion Concert series features Village District-ers Rani Arbo, her husband Scott Kessel, Andrew Kinsey and Anand Nayak (collectively known as Daisy Mayhem) at 6:30 p.m. In a previous Middletown EYE post, you can read more about the show and watch a video. In the instance of bad weather (especially storms with lightning), the concert will be canceled.

The same evening at 8 p.m., the 2nd Annual Wesleyan Film Series begins its 4-Wednesday run in the Goldsmith Family Cinema on Washington Terrace. This year's offerings, collectively known as "Ingrid Bergman and her Hollywood Men", will not only feature great movies but also an introduction and a post-screening Q&A with members of the Wesleyan Film Studies Program. First up is "Notorious", the 1946 Alfred Hitchcock production that pairs Bergman with Cary Grant and also stars Claude Rains as the villain. The post WWII thriller is one of Hitchcock's best (and he made many great movies throughout his long career) and certainly worth seeing again on the big screen.

The series also features Bergman with Humphrey Bogart in "Casablanca" (July 16), with Charles Boyer in "Gaslight" (July 23) and with Bing Crosby in "The Bells of St. Mary" (July 30.) All screenings are free and open to the public.

On Tuesday July 15 at 12:10 p.m. in Wesleyan's CFA Cinema, Kate Rushin will read her poetry and talk to the audience about her craft. A graduate of Brown University, Rushin has taught at Wesleyan and other schools around the state. Her collection, "The Black Back-ups" (Firebrand Books), was published in 1993 and is a wonderfully evocative series of scenes from the poet's life. She reads at a graceful pace, letting each word sink in the listener's mind. The pieces have sass and fire, soul and wit, beauty and honest emotions. This talk is free and open to all who enjoy word paintings. Best of all, there is no other event going on at the same time.