Gypsy Jazz by the Rhythm Future Quartet

The acoustic jazz ensemble Rhythm Future Quartet has a straightforward agenda: to keep the spirit of Gypsy jazz alive and expanding in today’s musical universe. The virtuosic foursome, named for a Django Reinhardt tune, offers up a newly minted sound, influenced by the classic Hot Club of France, yet wholly contemporary. Led by violinist Jason Anick and guitarist Olli Soikkeli, the quartet performs dynamic and lyrical arrangements of both Gypsy jazz standards and original compositions that draw upon diverse international rhythms and musical idioms. With Max O’Rourke on second guitar and Greg Loughman on bass, Rhythm Future is dedicated to expanding the boundaries of a vital musical genre.Tickets are $15 adults, ages 13-18 are $8 and children under 12, $5. Tickets available at Fiddleheads, 110 Main St. in Colebrook and at the door.
More info: Bette Guerin at (603) 237-9302.

Annual TubaChristmas Concert

The Great North Woods Committee for the Arts (GNWCA) presents the annual TubaChristmas at Trinity United Methodist Church on Bridge Street in Colebrook.  This free public concert has become a beloved tradition in the Colebrook community. The Methodist church is the perfect setting for the glorious sounds of tubas, euphoniums and baritone horns.

Each year, participants come to Colebrook from all around New England and beyond. Several of them play in other TubaChristmas events, but claim Colebrook’s as their favorite. The setting, the hospitality and the spirited audience are all part of their fun. Douglas Nelson of Keene and Colebrook will return to conduct the family friendly program, hosted along with his daughter, Sharon Pearson. It will include many favorite Christmas carols, with several designed for the audience to sing along with. As in recent years, Nelson has also arranged a special feature for a quartet.

While the concert is free, donations of any size are requested to help offset the other costs of this very special event.

Concert with Tracy Grammer & Jim Henry

The Tracy Grammer/Jim Henry duo is synonymous with impeccable musicianship, tight harmonies, a diverse repertoire, and the kind of musical chemistry and humorous banter you’d expect from musicians who have been touring together for more than a decade.

Tracy Grammer rose to acclaim as half of the “postmodern, mythic American folk” duo, Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer. From 1998-2001, the duo released three internationally celebrated, folk chart-topping albums featuring Carter’s mytho-poetic Americana songcraft and, in 2002, toured with Joan Baez, both as featured artists and Baez’s band members. Called “the new voice of modern folk music,” the duo was clearly in its ascendancy when in July 2002, Carter suffered a fatal heart attack while the duo was on tour. He was 49; Grammer, 34.

Determined to honor the duo’s journey and bring Carter’s songs, and those of other favorite writers, to broader audiences, Grammer has kept to the road, releasing solo albums as well as selections from the Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer archives.

Grammer has become one of folk music’s most beloved artists. Renowned for her springwater-clear alto, perfectly intoned violin, and guitar playing that is by turns percussive and delicate, Grammer is also a masterful storyteller with an ease and charisma on stage — not to mention a riotous sense of humor — that hardly belie her modest beginnings as Carter’s reclusive accompanist. As one fan put it, “With Tracy, it’s never just about the music. It’s a soul journey.”

Tracy’s musician partner this night, Jim Henry, is an accomplished songwriter and one of folk and Americana’s go-to instrumentalists, just off the road from a three-year stint as a member of multiple Grammy-winner Mary Chapin Carpenter’s band. With an arsenal that includes acoustic/electric guitars, Dobro, and mandolin, Henry adds whatever the songs require.

Tickets are $15 each and available at Fiddleheads, 110 Main St., Colebrook, online at www.gnwca.org or at the door. Please call 603-237-9302 or 603-246-8998 for additional information.

 

Michael Jerome Browne Concert

Get ready for an evening of Delta Blues, Old Time Cajun, Soul and Swing Music as Michael Jerome Browne takes the stage at the Colebrook Country Club.

Presented by Great North Woods Committee for the Arts. Tickets cost $15 and can be purchased in advance at Fiddleheads, 110 Main St., Colebrook or at the door.

The Sultans of String in Colebrook

Three time JUNO Award nominees and Billboard Charting band Sultans of String creates “Energetic and exciting music from a band with talent to burn!” according to Maverick Magazine.

Thrilling their audiences with their genre-hopping passport of Celtic reels, flamenco, Gypsy-jazz, Arabic, Cuban and South Asian rhythms, the group celebrates musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar, while bass and percussion lay down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, while world rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance.

Presented by the Great North Woods Committee for the Arts. Please call 603-237-9302 or 603-246-8998 for any additional information.

Irish Band Goitse at The Rialton

The red-hot Irish band Goitse will be appearing at the Rialto Theatre on Lancaster’s Main Street for an evening of traditional Irish music.
Named after an informal Gaelic Irish greeting meaning “come here,” Goitse (pronounced “Go-wit-cha”) is one of the most in-demand young groups to come out of the Emerald Isle today. The popular and multi-award-winning quintet Goitse was forged in the vastly creative crucible of Limerick’s Irish World Academy and was recently named Live Ireland’s “Traditional Group of the Year.”
Goitse has released four critically acclaimed recordings and maintains a year round touring schedule that includes performances throughout Ireland and the UK, Germany, France and the United States. The group’s distinctive sound lies in the quality of their own compositions interspersed with traditional tunes from the countryside of Ireland and abroad, which make each performance unique. Laying the foundations for the music are World and All-Ireland Bodhrán champion Colm Phelan and Conal O’Kane, who is fast making a name for himself as one of the finest guitarists of his generation. The gripping rhythm section sets a powerful drive for the music, while the sweet, charismatic voice of Áine McGeeney draws audiences into a song the way few performers can. Together, the quintet Goitse makes what Irish Music Magazine calls “Music that’s brimming with energy and creative zeal.”
Tickets for Goitse are $15 and can be purchased in advance at the Rialto box office on Main Street in Lancaster and at Fiddleheads on Main Street in Colebrook. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.gnwca.org or at the door.