Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Early Spring Banjo Fling Brings Hot Jazz and Cool Nostalgia to Mansfield
MANSFIELD, Ma. USA. – If you love a banjo – or the sounds of old time jazz music from Fats Waller to Hoagie Carmichael – you’ll find the beat to your liking at the 15th Annual Early Spring Banjo Fling March 22-25 at the Mansfield Holiday Inn.
The festival of traditional and Dixieland jazz annually attracts hundreds of music devotees from around New England and top professional talent from throughout the U.S. But this year the Stone Street Strummers banjo band, hosts of the jazzfest, are bumping up the tempo by expanding to three full public concerts starring celebrity musicians. All concerts, to be held March 22-24, will be free to the public.
Topping this year’s line-up will be Cynthia Sayer, internationally known jazz banjo player, singer and pianist who has toured with Woody Allen’s jazz band and worked with Hollywood and music stars ranging from Bill Cosby to Wynton Marsalis. Sayer will help kick off the festival Thursday, March 22 as special guest of the Strummers at their opening concert “A Stroll Down Memory Lane.” The concert will begin at 7 p.m.
Sayer will also host her own concert 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 24 at the Holiday Inn’s Buckingham Ballroom.
On Friday, March 23, the Early Spring Banjo Fling will present a concert featuring some of the nation’s top banjo wizards including Jeff Grosser, Mike Hashem, Rob Wright and Seekonk’s Steve Caddick.. The concert, which will begin at 7 p.m., will be capped off by the duo of Kurt Abell and Dave Frey.
Besides affording the public a musical buffet of syncopated treats, the Early Spring Banjo Fling fulfills an educational purpose by hosting a wide range of workshops aimed at amateur and professional musicians. The jazz extravaganza also permits players to participate in nearly continuous jams and to talk shop with celebrities and music and equipment vendors.
On Sunday, the Early Spring Banjo Fling will conclude with a Gospel Hymn A Long and a farewell jam in the hotel’s Mayfair Ballroom.
Stone Street Strummers President Paul Poirier says this year’s Spring Fling promises to be the best-attended event in the series’ 15-year history. The Mansfield Holiday Inn is located at 31 Hampshire St., Mansfield, Ma.
Additional information is available by visiting www.stonestreetstrummers.org or by calling Poirier at 508-399-6808.
The festival of traditional and Dixieland jazz annually attracts hundreds of music devotees from around New England and top professional talent from throughout the U.S. But this year the Stone Street Strummers banjo band, hosts of the jazzfest, are bumping up the tempo by expanding to three full public concerts starring celebrity musicians. All concerts, to be held March 22-24, will be free to the public.
Topping this year’s line-up will be Cynthia Sayer, internationally known jazz banjo player, singer and pianist who has toured with Woody Allen’s jazz band and worked with Hollywood and music stars ranging from Bill Cosby to Wynton Marsalis. Sayer will help kick off the festival Thursday, March 22 as special guest of the Strummers at their opening concert “A Stroll Down Memory Lane.” The concert will begin at 7 p.m.
Sayer will also host her own concert 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 24 at the Holiday Inn’s Buckingham Ballroom.
On Friday, March 23, the Early Spring Banjo Fling will present a concert featuring some of the nation’s top banjo wizards including Jeff Grosser, Mike Hashem, Rob Wright and Seekonk’s Steve Caddick.. The concert, which will begin at 7 p.m., will be capped off by the duo of Kurt Abell and Dave Frey.
Besides affording the public a musical buffet of syncopated treats, the Early Spring Banjo Fling fulfills an educational purpose by hosting a wide range of workshops aimed at amateur and professional musicians. The jazz extravaganza also permits players to participate in nearly continuous jams and to talk shop with celebrities and music and equipment vendors.
On Sunday, the Early Spring Banjo Fling will conclude with a Gospel Hymn A Long and a farewell jam in the hotel’s Mayfair Ballroom.
Stone Street Strummers President Paul Poirier says this year’s Spring Fling promises to be the best-attended event in the series’ 15-year history. The Mansfield Holiday Inn is located at 31 Hampshire St., Mansfield, Ma.
Additional information is available by visiting www.stonestreetstrummers.org or by calling Poirier at 508-399-6808.
