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The Islip Arts Council presents:
Free
Concert Series
2008 Summer Concert Series
June
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| 6/1 at 2 pm (Sunday): New York’s Most Dangerous Big Band – (Bayard Cutting Arboretum) |
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From Gershwin to Sinatra and beyond, from “Georgia on my Mind” to “New York State of Mind”, New York’s Most Dangerous Big Band brings that distinctive Big Band sound to over 200 tunes in their formidable repertoire. Vocalist Vanessa Burns sings with an elegance and confidence that belies her youth, while founder Ed deCorsia leads the band and rouses the house. $ 6. per car parking fee
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| 6/8 at 2 pm (Sunday): Miller’s Crossing Bluegrass – (Bayard Cutting Arboretum) |
| Rapidly becoming one of the most highly-respected and roundly well-regarded bluegrass bands in the Northeast, Miller’s Crossing brings that high lonesome sound to Long Island in the form of Ron Feinberg on fiddle and vocals, Marjorie Kelting on guitar and vocals, Pat Falco on upright bass, Chris Maloy on guitar and vocals and Terry McGill on banjo. Unlike most bluegrass bands, the members of Miller’s Crossing compose the majority of their songs. $ 6. per car parking fee
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| 6/15 at 2 pm (Sunday): Pat Wictor – CD Release Celebration – (Bayard Cutting Arboretum) |
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Lapstyle guitar - Pat Wictor has a grace and thoughtful demeanor not often found in the traditional blues realm. He describes his style as “Zen blues” and is rapidly making a mark on the acoustic community, playing at prestigious festivals and venues throughout the US. Pat will be accompanied by percussionist Cheryl Prashker, and is celebrating the release of his brand new CD Sunset Waltz. $ 6. per car parking fee |
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6/22 at 2 pm (Sunday): Phil Minissale and Steve Adelson - (Bayard Cutting Arboretum)
Young Piedmont-style guitarist Phil Minissale says he has one foot in the blues and one foot in folk. Phil writes a lot of his own material while still keeping the historic integrity of the music. Born on Long Island, Phil grew up in Pennsylvania, and in 2006 moved to the Stony Brook area. In just a few short months, Phil has become a Long Island favorite. His fingerstyle guitar playing and instincts for finding new melodies are far beyond his years. |
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Steve Adelson is widely regarded as a master of the Chapman stick, a fascinating stringed instrument with a full, rich sound, blending the orchestral with the electronic. Steve got his first introduction to the Stick through a meeting with Emmett Chapman at a guitar expo in 1983. Recognizing the great potential of the instrument, he has focused his performance on it since then. Adelson has performed at clubs, festivals and conventions all over the US and in Italy. He is also a regular contributor and columnist for Twentieth Century Guitar Magazine $ 6. per car parking fee
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6/29 at 2 pm (Sunday): Bennett Harris Trio - (Bayard Cutting Arboretum)
Rollicking country blues and ragtime with Bennett Harris on acoustic guitars and harmonica, Richard Barbera on fiddle and Gary Brooks on bass. Expert traditional blues fingerpicking in the Piedmont style, as well as pre-WWII era Delta slide guitar, teamed with fiddling inspired by Stephane Grapelli’s Hot Club of Paris, anchored by a steady, soulful bass. $ 6. per car parking fee
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July |
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7/6 at 2 pm (Sunday): The Lone Sharks - (Bayard Cutting Arboretum)
Rockabilly and twang – The Lone Sharks are East End favorites, bringing good-time rockabilly classics and their own brand of fun. Founded by guitarist and lead singer Gene Casey in 1988, the Lone Sharks have earned a devoted following which keeps this band working all year long, and all over Long Island, contradicting the usual East End summer scene.$ 6. per car parking fee
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| 7/8 at 12:30 pm (Tuesday): Glen Roethel - (Bay Shore Band Shell) |
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New Folk with a positive message - singer/songwriter and guitarist Glen Roethel personifies the idea of the modern social troubadour, following in the footsteps of George Harrison and Paul Simon, appealing to one’s higher angels through his personal and poignant music. Deeply committed to the healing power of music, Glen cherishes both people and the natural world, and encourages a sense of peace and belonging through his gentle and uplifting songs.
There will be a special appearance by members of The American Dance Theater, who will be performing dances created specifically for Glen's music. |
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7/12 at 8 pm (Saturday): 31 st Annual NY Philharmonic Annual Free Concert at Heckscher State Park, East Islip - $8 per car parking fee |
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7/13 ~ No concert |
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7/15 at 12:30 pm (Tuesday): Tommy Keys - (Bay Shore Band Shell)
2006 Finalist at the 22nd International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN. Tommy has a winning combination: barrelhouse, boogie & blues piano with moody, soulful vocals, encompassing elements of the best of New Orleans. Tommy's new CD "Side Street Boogie" has been selected by The Long Island Blues Society to be entered in the "2008 Best Self-produced CD" competition at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. |
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7/20 at 2 pm (Sunday): Swingtime Big Band - (Bayard Cutting Arboretum)
Long Island-based 20-piece Big Band which specializes in original and authentic arrangements of Swing-Era music from the 1930s until the early 1950s. The members of Swingtime are veterans of regional Big Bands and orchestras, including Ira Alexander’s Swingtimers, the Tommy Dorsey Big Band, the Stardusters and Artie Shaw’s Big Band. Swingtime boasts two fine vocalists: Bobbie Ruth, who recreates the classic “gal vocal” style and Jerry Costanzo, who evokes the crooners of the age. $ 6. per car parking fee
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7/22 at 12:30 pm (Tuesday): Rebecca Hall & Ken Andersen w/ Suzanne Mueller - (Bay Shore Band Shell)
Vermont-based “Retro-folk” musicians Rebecca Hall, singer and guitarist, and Ken Andersen on guitar and harmonica, will be joined by Long Island cellist Suzanne Mueller. Hall and Andersen sing in the traditional folk style, very reminiscent of what you would have heard in a 1960’s college coffeehouse, and cellist Mueller adds a powerful dimension to the mix. |
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| 7/27 at 2 pm (Sunday): Shenole Latimer Band - (Bayard Cutting Arboretum) |
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Young Jazz saxophonist Shenole Latimer has numerous credentials as both a bandleader and as a much-sought-after sideman. His talent and performing style is equally matched by
his engaging stage presence. Shenole will take the role of bandleader for this performance. $ 6. per car parking fee
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7/29 at 12:30 pm (Tuesday): Terry Nova Little Big Band - (Bay Shore Band Shell)
The Terry Nova Little Big Band has been performing together for eleven years, and this is an extraordinary opportunity to see some of the finest musicians who were an elemental part of the American Big Band Era so beloved by audiences young and old.
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August |
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| August 2nd - Janine DiNatale & Friends - (Gardiner County Park - Music at Twilight - All concerts begin at 6 PM) The period from the 1920’s through the 1960’s was a prolific era for American composers. The songs of the South and of the West, combined with the great American Jazz standards of the age, form an important era in American musical development. This music has found its champion in Ms. DiNatale, a singer on the rise with the versatility to handle its wide range of song styles and the know-how to meld them seamlessly together. “Janine’s immense vocal talent is obvious from the ease with which she switches styles of music, from country to jazz to blues. Out of the blue comes this terrific voice with fine phrasing and unusually interesting song selection, not to mention a great band.” |
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8/3 at 2 pm (Sunday): Long Island Brass Guild - ( Bayard Cutting Arboretum)
Formed in 1975, this is a six-piece brass ensemble with trumpets, french horn, trombones and tuba. The Long Island Brass Guild has performed regularly on Long Island, and often for community-oriented organizations. Their repertoire spans eras from Renaissance to ragtime, ranging from brass classics to pieces which have been created especially for the Guild. $ 6. per car parking fee
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| 8/5 at 12:30 pm (Tuesday): Homegrown String Band - (Bay Shore Band Shell) |
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Americana and folk – This family string band showcases early American songs and instruments and demonstrates old-timey flatfoot dancing that brings the house down. They have composed songs in the American roots style and perform music typical of the kind that was familiar to Long Islanders a century ago. A real family band, featuring father Rick on guitar and vocals, multi-instrumentalist mother Georgianne, older daughter Erica’s powerhouse fiddling, and younger daughter Annalee who – at age 17 – is Long Island’s pre-eminent jaw-harpist. |
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August 9th - Band of Long Island - (Gardiner County Park - Music at Twilight - All concerts begin at 6 PM) The Band of Long Island was organized in the Fall of 1995 after more than two years of serious discussions among a group of Long Island's leading wind players. They wanted to organize a band unlike the other groups on Long Island, and believing that the best would attract the best, they invited only outstanding players to join. The players enlisted conductor Michael Flamhaft, whom they had known for many years. Members come from all walks of life; what they have in common is a love of band music and an ability to play at a high level. As the Band has evolved, it has taken up the causes of many other groups, using its talent to help raise money for these charitable organizations. To date, the Band of Long Island raised more than $150,000 for charity with its concerts and performances.
The band has 50 members, with the following instrumentation:
2 flutes • 1 piccolo • 2 oboes • 2 bassoons • 14 clarinets • 1 alto clarinet • 1 bass clarinet • 2 alto saxes • 1 tenor sax • 1 baritone sax • 4 horns • 6 trumpets • 3 trombones • 1 baritone horn • 3 tubas • 1 string bass • 1 timpani • 2 percussion
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8/10 at 2 pm (Sunday): Toby Walker– ( Bayard Cutting Arboretum)
Award-winning Delta blues guitarist. Toby is always a crowd-pleaser. Fresh from his ninth European tour, the IAC has brought him back due to popular demand. Without a doubt one of the very finest acoustic blues musicians alive today, this outstanding Brentwood native was the last musician to win the best performer in all categories at the prestigious International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN. From the opening bars of his high-energy Piedmont style, it is easy to see why: Toby is a true master of this American music idiom. $ 6. per car parking fee
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| 8/12 at 12:30 pm (Tuesday): Long Island Tuba Quartet - (Bay Shore Band Shell) |
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LI Tuba Quartet is comprised of three music educators and a computer consultant: Bill Trioano, Michael Canipe, Don Sherman and Jeff Furman. They blend humor with serious musical heritage, and have an impressive repertoire, which amazes audiences at the variety that four tubas can have, ranging from Bach to Bob Seger. |
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August 16th - Joel Sikowitz Dixieland Band - (Gardiner County Park - Music at Twilight - All concerts begin at 6 PM.) This favorite society band has been entertaining Long Island audiences for over thirty years. In addition to many community events, they have appeared at a large number of charity fund-raisers all over Long Island, including the Long Island Philharmonic Ball and the Babylon Beautification Society’s Annual Fair. Members of the Joel Sikowitz Orchestra have performed with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Joel Grey, among other luminaries of the music world. |
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8/17 at 2 pm (Sunday): The Wes Houston Band - (Bayard Cutting Arboretum)
The Wes Houston Band has been creating a uniquely American combination of blues, folk, rock, country, jazz and even gospel for more than four decades. Starting out in the 60's, Wes’ recordings became part of the Broadside albums, featuring Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Eric Andersen, and which were nominated for a Grammy Award. Wes is also the host of his own television show, Wes Houston Presents... broadcast weekly in Nassau, Suffolk and Queens Counties on Public Access networks. $ 6. per car parking fee
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| 8/28 at 12:30 pm (Tuesday): Terry Winchell & Suzanne Mueller – (Bay Shore) |
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This singer-songwriter’s original songs and beautiful voice complement her creative musicianship, taking her inspiration from the world around her, and infusing her ever-present positive attitude into her compositions. Her vocal style blends the elegance of k. d. laing with the soft honesty of Trisha Yearwood. As a participant in the Spirit Aid Festival in Glasgow, and the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, and the Roots 2 the Future tour in, Terry has cultivated a following in Europe, and her songs are heard on broadcast and internet radio stations both here and abroad. |
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8/24 at 2 pm (Sunday): The Defibrillators – (Bayard Cutting Arboretum)
Aging Baby Boomers now have a band whose music reflects their refusal to grow old gracefully. The Defibrillators poke good-natured fun at the foibles of aging in their contagious blues-based rock originals. Billing themselves as "the World's Oldest Boy Band", The Defibs show they can kick it as energetically as (if not as high as) any of the young whippersnapper bands making the scene. Sonny Meadows on lead vocals and harmonica, Sonny Speed on keyboards, "Pops" Westcott on guitar, Dr. "Max" Foreman on guitar, "Buddy Boy" Cattrano on bass and Robert Langley on drums. $ 6. per car parking fee
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| 8/26 at 12:30 pm (Tuesday): Gail Storm – (Bay Shore Band Shell) |
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A beloved favorite of good-time blues aficionados. This engaging and memorable blues and jazz pianist plays barrelhouse piano and sings women's blues with equal ease. Gail is an elegant vocalist specializing in boogie-woogie and swingin' blues with influences from early women's blues, New Orleans jazz, and jump blues. Her rootsy style reflects her love of early jazz greats such as Louis Jordan, Oscar Peterson and Bessie Smith. Gail is a native southerner, but she moved to Huntington in the 1990s because of its thriving music scene. |
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8/30 at 6:00 pm (Saturday): Tornado Alley - (Gardiner County Park - Music at Twilight - All concerts begin at 6 PM.)
Five piece acoustic band featuring multi-voice harmony. Tornado Alley enjoys blending many acoustic sounds from across America, writing fresh new songs that feel as if you already know them. The band features four of Long Island's acclaimed singer/songwriters and a respected session drummer who all have been playing the local scene for some time: Sonny Speed on mandolin, guitars, melodica and vocals, Vinny Crici on guitar, mandolin, bass and vocals, Tim Huss on guitar, bass and vocals, Lora Kendall on fiddle and vocals and Rob Langley on percussion and vocals.
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8/31 at 2 pm (Sunday): Lil’ Cliff & the Cliffhangers – (Bayard Cutting Arboretum) Harmonica-driven swinging blues: Lil' Cliff on vocals & harmonica, Rick Street on vocals and upright bass, Dennis Phelps on vocals and guitar and Frank Patterson on drums. After winning the regional 2006 International Blues Challenge competition, these four professionals then took their special brand of original jump blues down to Memphis, TN to compete in the annual International Blues Challenge, which is the world’s largest gathering of blues musicians. And wouldn’t you know it, out of literally hundreds of blues artists from all over the world, the boys placed in the final top ten!
$ 6. per car parking fee
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All concerts begin at 2 PM. Admission is free.
New this summer …
Saturday Afternoon Free Concerts-- Sayville Common Ground – Gillette Park -- 4 pm
June 21 at 2 pm: Buddy Merriam and Back Roads -
Founded in 1980, Buddy Merriam and Back Roads is the most well-known and popular of the bluegrass bands based on Long Island. The band has been featured at bluegrass festivals throughout the Northeast, has played at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on several occasions and toured Ireland several times. The current line-up includes banjoist Jerry Oland, fiddler Gary Oleyar, Bob Harris, and Grammy Award-nominee Ernie Sykes, Jr. on upright bass. Merriam’s devotion to traditional bluegrass and his band’s willingness to seek new influences and methods have earned them the respect of fans and critics alike. |
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June 28 at 4 pm: The Mary Lamont Band -
Can New Yorkers play country music? Yes, especially if you're talking about Canadian-born singer-songwriter Mary Lamont and her musical partner Jim Marchese. Mary Lamont presents a mix of songs inspired by the struggles and joys of her life. There's plenty of twang, teardrops, hope and heart to satisfy discriminating country fans. One of the very finest female vocalists in country music today accompanied by one of the most polished bands working in any genre. Always upbeat and fun!
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July 6 at 4 pm: Gathering Time -
Gathering Time is a new acoustic vocal trio with strong hints of Peter, Paul & Mary and CSNY, consisting of members Glen Roethel, Stuart Markus and Hillary Foxsong -- three emerging talents on the acoustic music scene. Their first recording together, a lively cover of Peter Yarrow's holiday classic, "Light One Candle" -- just released in December, 2007 -- within one week made rotation on numerous folk radio stations from New York to Israel. |
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July 20 at 4 pm: Swingtime Big Band -
This Long Island-based 20-piece Big Band specializes in original and authentic arrangements of Swing-Era music from the 1930s until the early 1950s. The members of Swingtime are veterans of regional Big Bands and orchestras, including Ira Alexander’s Swingtimers, the Tommy Dorsey Big Band, the Stardusters and Artie Shaw’s Big Band. Swingtime boasts two fine vocalists: Bobbie Ruth, who recreates the classic “gal vocal” style and Jerry Costanzo, who evokes the crooners of the age. Swingtime will be coming back for us in Sayville because we just can’t get enough of real Swing music!
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All these concerts are free and open to the public.
For further information, directions, or concert listings and locations, you can call the Islip Arts Council at (631) 224-5420 or e-mail info@islipartscouncil.org |
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