Mike Mitchell, Elaine Jones photo
NOVEL JAZZ RETURNS TO SKIDOMPHA LIBRARY-
Novel Jazz will be performing classic jazz at Skidompha Public Library, 184 Main St., Damariscotta, ME, on Thursday 19 May, 2016, 7PM to 9:30PM. Michael Mitchell (pictured right) of Novel Jazz plays on a jazz riff. The performance will also feature Barney Balch (trombone), Bryan Jones (alto saxophone), Herb Maine (acoustic bass), David Clarke (guitar), Mickey Felder (piano) and special guest, Chris Rogers (drums) This evening will be the third Skidompha Novel Jazz evening of their 2016 season, their 12th year at Skidompha. If you have never attended, come check them out to see why the Novel Jazz evenings at Skidompha have been so popular for so long! Admission is $14 for adults, $12 for seniors, $6 for young adults 12-18, under 12 accompanied by a parent go free. For more info, call 207-563-5513 or point your web browser to http://www.skidompha.org/ or the band’s web site www.mainejazz.net.
Novel Jazz will be back at the Skidompha Public Library atrium on Thursday, 19 May 2016, from 7-9:30 PM, Damariscotta, for an evening of music from the Great American Songbook. The musicians of this group have been playing straight-ahead jazz for audiences throughout Maine (and beyond) for several decades. Collectively, they share over two centuries of experience in the jazz idiom.
This month includes the birthday of legendary jazz trumpeter, Miles Davis, so Novel will do some extra featuring of their own trumpeter-extraordinaire, Michael Mitchell. Michael is a great practitioner of Miles’s style; he has been playing jazz trumpet in Maine for over thirty years with a number of groups. Mike studied at the University of Maine at Augusta jazz program as well as the University of Miami jazz studies program. He brings his love of jazz, together with his soulful trumpet style and many jazz compositions that he contributes to the group.
The band will also be welcoming guest drummer, Chris Rogers. Chris Rogers has been performing in Maine for more than 40 years. He is a versatile drummer, playing a myriad of different styles; he has toured throughout New England, Canada and overseas to England. Chris’s music is his vocation and he strives for simplicity, purity, and precision in his playing. He has two major label recordings to his credit, and is a requested studio player. The rest of the group performing on 19 May will be Herb Maine (bass), Mickey Felder (piano), David Clark (Guitar), Bryan Jones (alto), and Barney Balch (trombone).
Novel Jazz events at Skidompha began with the observation that lovers of books often are lovers of jazz. The superb acoustics of Skidompha’s atrium, plus the seating “in the round”, make it a superior place to see and hear jazz, all in a relaxed, informal atmosphere. It was while performing at Skidompha that the band decided to forge deeper into the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Trombonist Barney Balch began regular visits to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. to work in the Duke Ellington collection, digging out gems by both Ellington and Strayhorn, bringing them back to life in summer time concerts.
Admission is $14 for adults, $12 for seniors, $6 for young adults 12-18, under 12 accompanied by a parent go free. We encourage parents to bring their children, the future of this art form. The library is located at 184 Main Street in downtown Damariscotta. Call207-563-5513 during business hours for more information. For more info, point your web browser to http://www.skidompha.org/ or the band’s web site www.mainejazz.net .
This promises to be a special night of jazz as the band continues their twelfth year of performances at Skidompha. If you have never attended a Novel Jazz event at Skidompha, check them out on 19 May and see why the Novel Jazz evenings at the library have been so popular for so long. Join Novel Jazz and let them warm-up your toes (indeed your soul), this cool Maine spring!