Submitted by The Buttonwood Tree
(August 27, 2024) — The following programs and concerts will take place during the month of September, 2024 at The Buttonwood Tree, 605 Main Street in Middletown, 860-347-4957.
Friday, September 6, 2024: Story City Troupe. Program begins at 7:30 p.m. This night features a variety of themes from “Digging a Hole to China” to “Gifts From In-Laws.” The lineup includes Wendy Marans, John Melmed, Jezrie Marcano-Courtney, Saul Fussiner, Nurşen Öğütveren, and Mike Isko. Admission is $10.
Friday, September 13, 2024: Deni Bonet and Chris Flynn. Show begins at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $18 in advance, $20 at the door.
Deni Bonet and Chris Flynn are a New York-based Americana, folk-rock duo whose blend of voices, virtuoso violin, guitar, and humor have entertained and captivated audiences from Carnegie Hall to Mountain Stage to the White House. They have shared stages with REM, Cyndi Lauper, Warren Zevon, Sarah McLachlan, and many others. For the past five years, they have melded their skill, experience and musicality on stages across Europe and America. Their lively and humorous shows are full of self-penned songs and instrumentals, and the warm banter of two people completely at one on the stage.
Admission Link: https://buttonwood.networkforgood.com/events/70299-deni-bonet-chris-flynn
Saturday, September 14, 2024: Middletown-Based Folk Group Merganser, with Pennsylvania-Based Bluegrass Group Five Cent Fireballs. Show begins at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $20.
Merganser is a modern folk project founded by Derrik Bosse, Taylor Warinsky and Matt Belliveau in the summer of 2021. The group plays a modern style of traditional inspired tunes that border on post-punk and Irish Trad, yet traces of Andean and Ukrainian folk music can also be heard. Derrik Bosse (winds, bass, vox) is always looking for music off the beaten path. He has studied the folk styles of Greece, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba, South America, and more. He incorporates these influences into his everyday playing. Taylor Warinsky (various, vox) is a public school music teacher with a background in classical bassoon. He and Derrik met on a jazz gig several years ago and have been working together ever since, in projects like Klezmer Fusion Collective. 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.
Saturday, September 21, 2024: Klezmer Collective The Nu Haven Kapelye. Show begins at 7:00 p.m. General admission is $20 and students are $10. The venue is wheelchair accessible.
The Nu Haven Kapelye is Southern New England’s largest Klezmer ensemble, numbering anywhere from 12-30 musicians. A cross between a big band and a Klezmer orchestra, the Nu Haven Kapelye is known for its innovative arrangements of Klezmer and Yiddish music from Romania, Hungary, Bessarabia, and other Eastern European locales. It isn’t just the size of this group that makes it so exciting it’s the energy of their performances and the commitment of the musicians that comes across in their music. The group is intergenerational with players ranging in age from 12-86. The group recorded and released their first CD, What’s Nu, in 2016 and released their second album, Nu Haven Style, in December of 2023.
Admission Link: https://buttonwood.networkforgood.com/events/74728-the-nu-haven-kapelye
Friday, September 27, 2024: Jazz, R&B, and New Orleans-Style Group TJ Thompson & Friends. Show begins at 8:00 p.m. General admission is $20 and students are $10. The venue is handicap accessible.
A student of Henry Butler and George Cables, Thompson has opened for and worked with such artists as Henry Butler, Mel Torme, Ed Thigpen, Nate Davis, Dave Liebman, and Koko Taylor as well as being a featured soloist on the Morgan Powell Jazz Album. His original music is connected to the traditions of New Orleans, Straight Ahead Jazz, and Rhythm and Blues. In 2000, he performed at Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., and as a result was a featured artist on Branford Marsalis’s NPR show, Jazz Set. In 1998, he recorded and produced Thompson Trio Take One, receiving good reviews from Goldmine and Cadence Magazines.
Admission Link: https://buttonwood.networkforgood.com/events/74727-tj-thompson-friends
Saturday, September 28, 2024: Undercover Cameo, a folk duo consisting of Olivia Charlotte and Lucas Neil. The night will also feature a set by local favorite Riley Cotton. Show begins at 7:00 p.m. General admission is $20, and $10 for students. Our performance space is wheelchair accessible.
