Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Special Guest Artist Gray Sargent

Gray Sargent
Jazz Guitarist

The Concord Band is delighted that jazz guitarist Gray Sargent, who starred with legendary singer Tony Bennett for many years, will perform as a duo with Cindy Scott at our Spring Pops concerts on April 8 and 9. This performance is not to be missed!

By Mark Gorman in Newport this Week

When internationally renowned guitarist Gray Sargent was just 7-years-old in Attleboro, Massachusetts, his mom started him on the living room piano. By the time he was 11, the family had moved to New Jersey and Sargent took up the guitar. Like millions of young people in the 1960s, he was wowed by The Beatles and learned to play many of their tunes. “I played in a band at 12, and we played lots of Beatles’ tunes,” he said. “We loved The Beach Boys, The Beatles and the [surf rock sound of] The Ventures.”

When he moved to Weston, Massachusetts, and attended high school, his older brother started taking him to a small club to listen to music, and it was a turning point in the young guitarist’s life. Sargent moved away from rock-and-roll and found his niche in jazz and blues.

“We started seeing all the great jazz and blues guys in that tiny club,” he said. “We saw Muddy Waters, Dizzy Gillespie, B.B. King, Paul Butterfield, Buddy Rich and Thelonious Monk, among others.” In the 1970s and ’80s, Sargent played and toured extensively with the great jazz tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet. After that, he stayed close to home, playing local gigs with the likes of Herb Pomeroy, Dick Johnson and Dave McKenna, and was also called upon to play when some of the greats like Gillespie, Phil Woods, Chet Baker or Marshall Wood rolled into town.

“I was playing some gigs in New York and Boston with [pianist] Dave McKenna and the great singer Donna Byrne,” he said. “Tony Bennett was a big fan of both of them, so he showed up at three of our gigs within a six-month period. Then, two years later, Tony’s road manager called me and asked me to join Tony’s group. The manager said, ‘Tony’s been talking about you for two years.’” Sargent was a member of the Tony Bennett Quartet for 24 years including Bennett's final performances with Lady Gaga.

When’s he not traveling the world or recording with Bennett, Sargent enjoys playing local jazz gigs. Hearing Sargent play is a delightful treat as he weaves his tasteful solos and chord melodies. It’s pure heaven and you’ll be hearing the best of the best.

Friday, March 25, 2022

Spotlight: Jazz Vocalist Cindy Scott

Guest Artist Cindy Scott
jazz vocalist
Cindy Scott is a passionate, risk-taking heart-singer who isn’t afraid to reveal her emotions in song. Cindy has walked a different path from the average jazz singer. Born and raised in a house full of music and musicians, she chose flute as her first instrument and went to LSU on a music scholarship. Uncertain about life as a professional musician but positive she wanted to travel the world, Cindy got an MBA, learned to speak German and Spanish, and spent several years living and working abroad. During one of these stints she discovered jazz and began singing in the jazz cellars of Germany with local musicians.

Cindy eventually found herself in Houston climbing the corporate ladder by day and playing jazz clubs by night. In 2005, she traded a successful business career for a life devoted to music and moved to New Orleans just months before Hurricane Katrina hit. She decided to return and complete her Masters in Music (Jazz Studies) from the University of New Orleans, a program founded by famed educator Ellis Marsalis and now led by guitar icon Steve Masakowski. She is now firmly rooted in the rich and diverse music scene of the Crescent City.

Cindy has found a happy marriage between her straight-ahead roots and the musical gumbo that pervades New Orleans. She always sings music she connects with, whether jazz standards, unexpected genre-bending choices, or her own originals. Her last CD, Let the Devil Take Tomorrow, was voted New Orleans’ Best Contemporary Jazz Recording, a huge honor in a field that included projects by Christian Scott and Donald Harrison. The recording was also listed in Offbeat Magazine’s top 40 Louisiana releases in all genres.

Guest Artist Cindy Scott
jazz vocalist
March 2014 welcomed Cindy's latest studio recording entitled Historia. Her amazing band includes pianist Randy Porter, bassist Dan Loomis, drummer Jamison Ross, along with Brian Seeger on guitar, Evan Christopher on clarinet, and Shannon Powell on tambourine. Four-time GRAMMY nominee jazz vocalist Karrin Allyson makes a special appearance on two tracks, as well. The recording, which is a blend of jazz standards and Cindy's original songwriting, pays homage to her deep musical roots, the lessons she learned from her family, and the discoveries she's made along the way throughout her own life. In his review of Historia, C. Michael Bailey (All About Jazz) says Scott's new CD is "all that jazz is."

Cindy plays regularly in New Orleans and has had recent performances in Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Mexico, as well as in US cities including New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Kansas City. She has appeared at festivals around the world, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the North Sea Jazz Festival.

fmi: http://www.cindyscottmusic.com/

Friday, March 18, 2022

Live Premiere of The Diamond Baton

Roger Cichy
Composer and Guest Conductor
Editor's note: The Diamond Baton will at last receive its Live Premiere at our Spring Pops concerts, 8pm on Friday and Saturday, April 8 & 9, 2022, after a postponement of two years due to the pandemic. We offer a reprise of this feature article (originally posted December 7, 2020) to share some of our excitement for this composition, and we invite you to join us to hear it person.

The Concord Band would like to announce a special project the Band has been doing to help keep its spirits (and lips) up and that will provide a lasting memento of The Concord Band. We originally announced plans to commission a new march in honor of its longest serving member, Dan Diamond, which was to be premiered at the April Pops concerts in 2020. Roger Cichy, who over the past 10 years has composed two pieces for The Concord Band, provided The Diamond Baton for the Band’s March 9 rehearsal, just before the pandemic shutdown changed all our plans. Since we were unable to rehearse together as a large ensemble, we had to explore other creative options to perform this piece virtually. We look forward to playing it live whenever we can resume live performances.

Richard Given and Roger Cichy
during recording sessions.

Roger Cichy wrote The Diamond Baton in recognition of Dan Diamond’s 50 years of service to The Concord Band. In addition to being the percussion section leader, Dan has been a board member for more than 45 years, headed fundraising, managed the newsletter, and countless other voluntary contributions to The Concord Band. Roger regretted that the march had only one rehearsal and was never able to be performed. As fall 2020 approached, Roger reached out to Jim O’Dell and volunteered to bring his professional recording equipment to Concord to record each interested player. Using a computer-generated “click-track” recording of the march, 40 Concord Band members learned their parts and one at a time came to 51 Walden to play The Diamond Baton for a socially-distanced Roger Cichy. An additional 7 players made their own recordings which they provided to Cichy. Roger combined and edited the individual recordings into the premiere recording of The Diamond Baton. Roger Cichy and Jim O’Dell did the final editing in Roger’s Scituate, Rhode Island studio. The Concord Band is eternally grateful to Roger for his yeoman efforts and thrilled to honor their fellow bandsman Dan Diamond.

The resulting audio premiere of The Diamond Baton is at this link:

Jim O'Dell and Roger Cichy
crafting the final mix.

The Diamond Baton recording project at 51 Walden is extraordinary because it is the first time many of the Concord Band members experienced playing their part accompanied by a digital audio click track. Musicians typically spend the majority of their time in ensembles listening and adjusting to others, watching and receiving instructions from the conductor, marking the music, tuning and balancing across all instruments, and a multitude of other tasks including those that engage the ears, eyes, breath, and fingers. The challenge of playing a part "solo" in absence of many of the skills mentioned above is very foreign to most musicians, but the Concord Band musicians embraced the challenge with flying colors. Our final mix of the project truly trumpets (pun intended) our members' courage and commitment to bring a premiere of this new composition to fruition during uncertain times. Congratulations to all in making The Diamond Baton come to life!

Friday, March 11, 2022

Spring Pops 2022 Poster

Spring Pops 2022 Poster

The Concord Band’s Spring Pops concerts will be held at 8:00 pm on Friday and Saturday evenings, April 8 and 9, 2022, at the Center for Performing Arts at 51 Walden, Concord MA.

Jazz singer Cindy Scott, in her debut performance with the Concord Band, is a New Orleans style jazz singer who received a music degree from Louisiana State University and was the winner of the 2010 Best of the Beat Award for "Best Contemporary Jazz Record." In addition to being accompanied by the Band, Cindy will sing in a duo with Special Guest Artist, world-renowned guitarist Gray Sargent.

A new march by noted composer Roger Cichy, titled The Diamond Baton, will at last receive its premiere live performance with Mr. Cichy as Guest Conductor. The composition was commissioned in honor of longtime board member and percussionist, Dan Diamond, in recognition of 50 years of service to the Band.

The program will also feature the Concord Band Saxophone Quartet presenting for the first time delightful renditions of jazz standards by arranger Steve Piermarini, conductor of the Leominster Colonial Band.

Tickets for Friday's performance are available through the Rotary Club of Concord.

Admission to Saturday's concert is free and open to the public. Donations at the door and online are appreciated.


Watch Live Saturday April 9, 8:00 pm

Sunday, March 6, 2022

Spring Pops with a Premiere

Cindy Scott
jazz vocalist
The Concord Band’s Spring Pops concerts will be held at 8:00 pm on Friday and Saturday evenings, April 8 and 9, 2022, at the Center for Performing Arts at 51 Walden, Concord MA.

Jazz singer Cindy Scott, in her debut performance with the Concord Band, is a New Orleans style jazz singer who received a music degree from Louisiana State University and was the winner of the 2010 Best of the Beat Award for "Best Contemporary Jazz Record."

A new march by noted composer Roger Cichy, titled The Diamond Baton, will at last receive its premiere live performance with Mr. Cichy as Guest Conductor. The composition was commissioned in honor of longtime board member and Notes editor, Dan Diamond, in recognition of 50 years of service to the Band.

The program will also feature the Concord Band Saxophone Quartet presenting for the first time delightful renditions of jazz standards by arranger Steve Piermarini, conductor of the Leominster Colonial Band.

Tickets for Friday's performance are available through the Rotary Club of Concord.

Admission to Saturday's concert is free and open to the public. Donations at the door and online are appreciated.