Submitted by The Buttonwood Tree
(March 21, 2024) — The following programs and events will take place at The Buttonwood Tree, 605 Main Street in Middletown during the month of April, 2024. For further information, visit www.buttonwood.org or call 860-347-4957.
Saturday, April 6, 2024: The Shane Allessio Jazz Trio. Show begins at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20. Admission link: https://bit.ly/3w6vQnr
Shane Allessio plays hard-hitting, heavy swinging, modern original jazz. Drawing from Mingus, George Russell, Stan Kenton, etc., boundaries are pushed while a respect for swing and the jazz tradition is upheld. Screaming, crashing dissonances, virtuosic bowed bass solos and foot stomping grooves are to be expected at every show.
Coming off of a bold and unique new quartet album release, Everything and Nothing, Shane seeks to challenge the listener to explore a wide range of emotions, characters and personal stories. Shane is a disciple of renowned educator Jim Stinnett. He traveled the country helping to present Mr. Stinnett’s Secret Chambers project, a book and presentation featuring and analyzing the walking and solo lines of the great Paul Chambers. Shane was also a faculty member of Mr. Stinnett’s long running New Hampshire Bass Fest, featuring artists such as Eddie Gomez, Rufus Reid, Gary Karr and more of the best bassists around the world.
Friday, April 12, 2024: Jazz Trio Mars on Saturday. Show begins at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $15. Admission link: https://bit.ly/4brjVkt
Mars on Saturday is an instrumental jazz trio that takes inspiration from the past to make music for the present. Playing original tunes as well as standards old and new, the group was started by Mark Weaver on drums and Steve Nivison on guitar. Mark and Steve have been making music together since they were students at Tolland High School. They bring their background with a variety of styles including rock, Irish, classical, and musical theater to this band. After their previous group met its end due to the Covid pandemic, Mark and Steve began getting together regularly to play jazz tunes. In early 2023, Rich Lacoss joined them on bass and brought original tunes and additional jazz experience into the group. The band emphasizes tight grooves, creativity, and an eclectic set list that will catch the ear of all music lovers!
Saturday, April 13, 2024: Folk Songwriter Mike Agranoff, with an opening set by Terri Lachance, Denise Jones, and Thomas Sekscenski. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20.
If you’ve been around the folk scene, you couldn’t miss seeing Mike. Tall, with a ginger beard, and always around where the music is, he has been on the scene for many many years, listening to the fine details of what makes this genre of music so special to the soul, so able to make us laugh and cry and think. And lucky for us all, he got serious about having fun at it.
Less a singer-songwriter than a singer-songfinder, Mike takes great delight in discovering the little-known hidden gems, polishing them with his own distinctive style, and bringing them to the light of day where they sparkle. He will shift from beautifully contemplative, to uproariously funny, to instrumentally brilliant, to powerfully emotional in the space of a few minutes. Equally at home in the contemporary and traditional camps of the Folk world, he is a fine musician and storyteller. His prime instrument is the guitar, upon which he shines with intricate fingerstyle arrangements of anything from Tin Pan Alley tunes of the ’20s to fiddle tunes to his own music. He also plays concertina, piano, banjo, or sings a capella. Admission link: https://buttonwood.networkforgood.com/events/64869-mike-agranoff-terri-lachance-denise-jones-thomas-sekscenski
Thursday, April 18, 2024: Tribute Concert to The Grateful Dead, featuring Halley Neal. Show starts at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $25. Admission link: https://bit.ly/42DZjS7
For the second time ever, join New England’s premiere Grateful Dead Tribute guitarist, Shakedown’s Dave Frankel, along with Nashville based folk singer-songwriters Halley Neal and Sam Robbins and Connecticut’s own John Neal and John Kelly.The group, whose ages span five decades, will cover classic Dead songs in ways you have never heard before. Together in this form they will perform “A Grateful Gathering: A Grateful Dead Tribute.”
Friday, April 19, 2024: Folk Songwriter Mark Bishop Evans. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. General admission is $15; $10 for students.
With a heritage deeply rooted in folk and rock, Arizona-based Mark Bishop Evans has been putting out uplifting folk hits that sink in like a home cooked meal. Feel-good vibes are rife in Mark’s music, and his signature sound encapsulates the heart and soul of the breadth of his influences. He cites Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Kingston Trio and The Beach Boys as influences that helped shape him into the artist that he is today.
He has recently finished two projects titled The Seeds of Today, in 2023 and No Guarantee, in 2022. These go along with his 2019 release, ‘Somethin’ Bout Tomorrow,’ which premiered in June 2019. All of these are an intriguing blend of folk, folk rock, and ballads. Lyrically it’s rich in emotional content and melodically comfortable in Mark’s signature style.Admission link: https://bit.ly/49u8WVw
Saturday, April 20, 2024: Folk Duo Ordinary Elephant. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20. Admission link: https://bit.ly/487N2X5
International Folk Music Awards 2017 Artist of the Year Ordinary Elephant captivates audiences with their emotionally powerful and vulnerable songs, letting their listeners know that they are not alone in this world. The collaboration of husband and wife Pete and Crystal Damore, their connection, and their influences (such as Gillian Welch, Guy Clark, Anais Mitchell) all meet on stage. “Two become one, in song…hand-in-glove harmonies surprise the listener with focused intensity and musical mastery,” says Mary Gauthier. The Associated Press calls their latest album, Honest, “one of the best Americana albums of the year.”
Friday, April 26, 2024: Singer-Songwriters Xavier Serrano and Erin Rocc. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20.
Influenced by artists like The Pentangle, Bert Jansch and Nick Drake, Xavier Serrano fuses traditional melodic styles with forward-thinking and unconventional forms. His songwriting spins stories of reawakening, self-growth, and the contemplations of life utilizing on the discordant chords of jazz, folk, and alternative rock.
Erin Rocc, like a majority of Connecticut musicians, has developed a music career performing primarily cover songs. However, the avenue of original music is one she still takes and considers highly undervalued. Erin’s music is a direct reflection of her emotions and personal experiences, something that clearly shows through to a set of alert ears. Her songs show passion and soul, and are bound to be relatable to others who have been single for an extended period of time. Erin considers songwriting a challenge, a gift, and vital form of self-expression. Her soothing voice and raw emotional honesty is what defines her original music.
Admission link: https://bit.ly/3Tjd5Xb
Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. The Studio Blue Guitar Student Showcase, hosted by teacher and performer Susan Peak. Admission is $10.
Susan Peak has been joyfully teaching music for the past fifteen years. She is a Berklee College of Music-educated teacher, singer/songwriter, instrumentalist, and performer who has taught guitar, bass guitar, and ukulele to students of all ages. More recently she has focused on teaching mainly guitar and ukulele although she still teaches beginning bass guitar as well. She calls her business Studio Blue Guitar because she loves the color blue and a favorite guitar of hers is a blue-green American Standard Fender Stratocaster.
There will be ten students performing one or two songs each. Some will play solo and others will play with Susan’s support. Music will range from classical to popular styles, from music with vocals to instrumental songs. Student performers are elementary school age to young adult. The goal is always to have fun and share musical talent and skill and the vibe is always one of full support for the performers! Come out and cheer on these brave student performers!
Since music is aural, it is important for the student to have a well-trained ear. Developing the ability to identify different intervals, chords and chord progressions by ear is an invaluable skill. In addition to ear training, Susan focuses on her students having a basic knowledge of music theory, knowing how to use electric instruments and sound equipment (amps, effects, etc.), and sharing information to help students learn how to perform live shows. Susan also enjoys teaching songwriting to those interested in writing their own songs.
Admission link: https://bit.ly/49ONhHI
Saturday, April 27, 2024: Jazz Rules, a quintet featuring members of the well-known Secondary Messengers. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20.
Don Anderson (trumpet, flugelhorn, EVI) hails from Virginia and moved to Massachusetts to embrace the icy winters. He enjoys playing a variety of styles and has played with numerous groups including Right Time (World Beat), Dr. Burma (R&B), Hip Socket, New England Transcendental Brass Band, Moonlight Davis (soul), Vermont Jazz Center Big Band, Four N More (jazz), O-Tones (swing), Paule Kelley (pop), A Team (rock), Casual Sextet (jazz/funk), Jim’s Big Ego (pop), JP Tropicale (afro/caribbean).
Bill Matthews, a native of Massachusetts, has studied jazz drumming intensely over the past forty years. He studied at the University of Massachusetts, at the Drummer’s Collective in New York City, clinics with Dave Weckel and Dennis Chambers, among others, and for twenty years with the late master teacher and drummer Bob Gullotti from Berklee. Bill has played in the Greenfield Community College big band, DBRAZZ trio, EJQ quartet and the Secondary Messengers.Ken Forfia has participated in all aspects of music making in both the Boston and Western Massachusetts areas for more than fifty years. Performing professionally in classical, pop, and jazz styles he has also toured nationally. He is an experienced church musician and, as an educator, has taught both privately and at many institutions at the college level for thirty years. He is currently affiliated with a number of different jazz and pop groups.Mark Dunlop has studied double bass with accomplished New York City Bassists Santi DeBriano and Joe Fonda, and Composition and Linear Jazz Improvisation with long-time music mentor, Dr. Ed Byrne. Mark co-leads The Interplay Jazz Band and performs or has performed with numerous bands including Pamela Means Jazz Project, Secondary Messengers, The Hip To The Jive, Berkshire Jazz Underground, Inner Action, and Jazz On The Rocks, among others. Mark Weissman is a professional saxophone player who has been playing in the New England area for more than thirty years. He has performed with Gary Smulyan, Billy Pierce, Greg Hopkins, Bucky Pizzarelli, the Mingus Band, and many others. As a member of the Air Force, Mark has toured all over the world and played in festivals, including the Monterey Jazz Festival. Mark holds jazz degrees from Westfield State University, University of Massachusetts, and New England Conservatory. He currently teaches saxophone and woodwinds at Assumption College.
Admission link: https://bit.ly/3uGPUwA
This concert and other TBT events listed above are brought to you by our generous donors and patrons, as well as the following organizations: Middletown Commission on the Arts, Community Foundation of Middlesex County, Department of Community and Economic Development.
