Events

THIS SUNDAY!! September 12, 4-8:30
(picnic outside 4-6, concert indoors, 6-8:30)

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Concert in the historic barn! Come early and picnic on the grounds and then enjoy an early, Sunday eveening concert.

MARK EARLEY – baritone & tenor saxophone – Roomful of Blues – “Born in Ross County, Ohio in 1961, raised in Cuyahoga Falls, Mark started on alto at age of ten, and first worked professionally at the age of nineteen traveling with the Guy Lombardo Orchestra under the direction of Teddy Phillips. After working around Cleveland with the Easy Street Band, he moved to Denton, Texas and earned his Bachelors in Music at the University of North Texas.

While in the Lone Star state he played with Dallas Brass and Electric, the Emerald City Band, and the great R&B pianist Karl Berkebile. In 1993 he moved back to Cleveland, mainly working high society with Timmy Prida and His Fabulous Tuxedos. Mark moved to Boston in 1995, spent two years honking and walking the bar nightly at Jake Ivory’s on Lansdowne St. and then spent five years entertaining Boston’s North Shore with John Keegan and Madhouse. As a longtime fan of Roomful of Blues, and their like respect of the tradition, he has finally arrived home. Mark names Sonny Stitt as his main man, with more than a nod to Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon leading him to Lester Young and an appreciation for the depth and history of the music. His tone, ideas, deep bottom and charismatic stage presence further burnish what is already a legendary horn section.” Bob Bell – Mgr. Roomful of Blues

TOM PALANCE is a renowned trumpet performer and educator known for his versatility and innovative teaching style. He’s toured Europe as principal trumpet with the American Chamber Wind Ensemble. Palance is a veteran of the United States Navy Concert Band in Washington, DC assistantprincipal trumpet and soloist where he performed often at the White House and other prestigious functions in Washington, DC, including performing for five US presidents.

Palance has performed with the Glenn Miller Band, Joe Williams, Jim
Snidero, Arturo Sandoval, Clark Terry and many others as a freelance trumpet player. He premiered “Trio for Trumpet, Piano and Percussion” by Matthew Rinker at George Mason University and continues to compose and premier classical solo trumpet works, his latest work being “Three Episodes for Trumpet, Piano and Percussion”.

Founder of The Greater Washington Jazz Septet and The Crawdads. Palance now leads the Salem State Jazz Band.

Pianist and composer BERT SEAGER has been a leading player on the jazz scene in Boston Massachusetts since 1981. His thirteen compact discs have won him unanimous critical acclaim from the New York Times, Keyboard Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe and many other publications.

He has toured extensively in the United States and internationally, including twelve tours to Japan. He has performed and recorded with Joe Lovano, Tim Hagans, George Garzone, Bob Moses, Joe Hunt, Richie Barshay, John Lockwood and Kazumi Ikenaga. He has performed in ensembles on stage with George Mraz, Miroslav Vitous, Mick Goodrick, Tom Harrell, Ben Street, Chris Speed, Billy Drewes and Jorge Roeder.

He earned a masters degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1984 where he is presently on the faculty.For the past two years Bert has been selected for a residency in music composition at the prestigious MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Bert has been a recipient of a National Endowment of the Arts grant for jazz.

Bert’s compositions, improvisations and teaching reflect both an inward and outward-looking view of life and music. His trio plays a varied program of original music: always striving for transparency – framing each song’s improvised narrative in a playful three-way conversation.

Joe Hunt

Joe Hunt is a jazz drummer, educator, author, and historian.

In the early 1960s, Joe Hunt performed and recorded alongside the late NEC Distinguished Artist-in-Residence Emeritus George Russell, with releases on Decca and Riverside. Hunt joined The Stan Getz Quartet in 1964, recording several releases on Verve, then was a member of the Bill Evans Trio from 1966-1967. The remainder of the 1960s found Hunt performing or recording with several other jazz luminaries including Chet Baker, Eric Dolphy, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Charles Mingus,Bob Brookmeyer, and the late Herb Pomeroy.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Hunt was a member of The National Jazz Ensemble, led jazz groups with John Scofield, Mike Stern, and Santi Debriano, and toured with quartets of Red Rodney and Hal McKusick.

The 1990s, and beyond, have included membership in The Smithsonian Jazz Masters Orchestra, with former NEC president Gunther Schuller, performances with Kenny Burrell, Joe Lavano, Joanne Brackeen, and Tal Farlow, as well as recordings with theBert Seager Quintet, and also, Trio.

Hunt is the author of the 1994 book 52nd Street Beat, which is a historical look at jazz drummer greats from 1945 to 1965.

Undergraduate studies, Indiana University. Recordings on Decca, Riverside, Verve, Can Am, Milestone, RCA, Atlantic, Cotillion, and Antilles. Former faculty of Berklee College of Music.

John Lockwood

“I basically learned on the bandstand. I got called for these gigs that I shouldn’t have taken, I suppose, looking back. People just proceeded to shout and scream at me, and that’s how I learned. Piecing things together. So when I teach it’s the same thing. A student walks in, I teach them the tune, and—bang—we’re off. It’s pretty much playing all the time. Once we get into it there’s sheets and things like that, but it’s mainly playing and then talking about concepts. To me, it’s the best kind of learning. You learn fast.

“I want them out there working and playing actively, the sooner the better. If they have problems, they can always come back to me with them. But my goal, more than showing them a lot of different stuff, is to get there out there so they can experience performing in a professional setting. I never think it’s too soon to do that. You’re never really ready. You’ve just got to dive in and hope for the best. You’re going to sweat; you’re going to get scared, but you don’t learn if you’re playing with people who are less than you. I’ve been thrust into situations—I don’t even know how I got into them—that were way above me. But that kind of pulls you up. You sink or swim.

“When I’m on the road, a lot of my students come to my gigs. We hang out; it’s kind of loose. The great thing is that they’re pretty flexible, so I can make up lessons at any time. Even twelve o’clock at night sometimes. It’s crazy, but it works. Some want more structure, but some like the off-the-wall stuff.”

ORVILLE GIDDINGS opens!
In 1992 Orville recieved a Bachelor of Music Degree in music production & engineering from Berklee College of Music. Initially entering Berklee for jazz trombone in 1981, Orville took time off to play rock & roll and blues, In between stints at college, he taught music & theatre at an American school in Cyprus- 1984-85; did solo work and lead bands in Dillon Colorado-1988-89; and in the Virgin Islands
1994-95.
When in the Boston area, Orville has played guitar, bass and sung in a number of bands of varying styles; The Rakes, Future Panic, Brave New World, The Belch Boys and The British Norberts. He has also filled in on guitar and bass with Boston rocker Ken Chambers, Little Malcom and the Malfunctions and others. Since 1995 Orville has been leading his own band, you guessed it, The Orville Giddings Band.

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