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07/04/2023 07:43 AMThe town’s tradition of free summer music continues with this year’s Summer Concert Series at the library. The Guilford Free Library (GFL) is again sponsoring its concerts through July and August, featuring an eclectic variety of performers playing everything from rock to jazz.
GFL Director Robert McCoole said the series is a great way to cool off on a summer evening.
“The outdoor summer concert series continues to be among the most popular library programs. We expanded the series after our renovation in 2008, and in 2018 we did landscaping work to our beautiful courtyard area, which was originally funded by the Girioni family, in order to allow more space for folks to sit on the grass and enjoy the show. The series continues to be a mix of jazz, rock, and folk music. About half the performers are locals who return almost every year, and half are bands from out of town which we rotate to mix up the offerings,” said McCoole.
This year’s acts include a tribute to Pat Metheny by The Shoreline Jazz Quintet and The Subliminals, who perform the best of Herbie Hancock and other jazz and fusion favs.
The summer concerts are held on the GFL Library patio fronting Park Street at 7 p.m. on Thursday evenings. If weather issues arise, the concerts will be held indoors in the library meeting room.
Concerts begin on Thursday, July 13, with The Modernistics Trio performing “Celebrating George and Ira Gershwin.” According to a press release, The Modernistics Trio performs a swinging show of songs, tap-dance numbers, and jazz instrumentals by George and Ira Gershwin. The Modernistics Trio are known for their entertaining concerts celebrating the Great American Songbook across the 1920s, ‘30s, and ‘40s.
On Thursday, July 20, GFL welcomes The Shoreline Jazz Quintet with “Celebrating the Music of Pat Metheny.” The Shoreline Jazz Quintet performs an electric mix of jazz all around the Connecticut shoreline. Their repertoire ranges from early New Orleans-style jazz to blues, swing, bebop, modern jazz, and jazz renditions of popular music.
The Laura Clapp Trio performs on Thursday, July 27. This will be the second show for this exciting new trio, featuring local musicians who have toured extensively and shared the stage with legendary artists such as Sting and Howard Jones.
On Thursday, Aug. 3, GFL hosts Take Two and Call Me in the Morning, a band of doctors who play a mix of cover tunes from the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s featuring eclectic rock ‘n’ roll and acoustic overtones.
The Subliminals, an instrumental jazz/groove project from southeastern Connecticut, perform on Thursday, Aug. 10. The group is a collective of diverse musicians that perform who can be called “party jazz” by taking on compositions from Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Roy Hargrove, John Schofield, among others.
Phil Rosenthal and Naomi Sommer perform original and traditional folk songs on Thursday, Aug. 24. Father and daughter, Phil and Naomi have been performing together for over 30 years. Naomi has released several acclaimed albums of original songs, and Phil was lead singer and guitarist in the seminal bluegrass band The Seldom Scene, and his compositions have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Bill Monroe, and Nick Cave.
The series wraps up on Thursday, Aug. 31, with a performance by The Elderly Brothers.
Long-time popular solo artists, T-Bone Stankus and Brian Gillie have teamed up as the Elderly Brothers, serving up mint-condition “oldies” rock ‘n’ roll with a little lip curl and snake-bite, pushing the envelope of sweet surprise with pitch-perfect harmonies and soulful improvisations as fresh as the originals. No sleepwalk down memory lane with these guys.