Firehouse Finale + Strings On Tour + Thomas Chapin

The Firehouse 12 Fall Concerts Series comes to a close this Friday (December 14) with a familiar sound, the cello of Daniel Levin.  This will be Vermont native's 8th appearance in the Elm City performance space, his 5th as a leader and the 2nd time he has closed a season.

This time around, Mr. Levin brings a quartet that features Nate Wooley (trumpet), Matt Moran (vibraphone) and Peter Bitenc (bass). This is the group that appears on the 2011 Clean Feed release "Organic Modernism" as well as 2010's "Bacalhau" (also on Clean Feed).  The ensemble's sense of adventure, textural experiments and interactions are quite impressive and, while all are fine technicians, their music often has more of a conversational quality.

The Daniel Levin Quartet will play 2 sets - 8:30 and 10 p.m. - for ticket information and reservations, call 203-785-0468 or go online to firehouse12.com. It's been a quite a season for the Nick Lloyd, Carl Testa and the rest of the Firehouse crew and there are many people already curious for Spring 2013.

 On Thursday December 20, the Toronto Canada-based Sultans of String will bring its exciting blend of folk, Gypsy Swing Middle-Eastern, Flamenco, and Latin American music to Infinity Hall, Route 44 in Norfolk CT.  Group founders Chris McKhool (6-string violin) and Kevin Laliberté (guitar) recently appeared at the Hall opening for Livingston Taylor (10/05/12) and were invited back to celebrate their 3rd CD, "Move" (self-released).  The full ensemble features bassist Drew Birston, Eddie Paton (acoustic guitar) and Rosendo "Chendy" Leon (percussion); in November, SOS won World Music Group of the Year at the 2012 Canadian Folk Music Awards.  In 2013, they'll be opening for The Chieftains as that group enters its 51st year (!) with a 6-week tour of the United States (they'll play the Palace Theater in Stamford, CT, on 3/12/13.)

Sultans of String play music that will excite, impress and move you.  To find out more about the band and its origins, go to www.sultansofstring.com - for ticket information and more from Infinity Hall, call 1-866-666-6306 or go to www.infinityhall.com. 

Received a Press Release from bassist/composer Mario Pavone and knew that I had to pass it on:  On Tuesday December 11, the public and fans of Connecticut jazz artist Thomas Chapin, who passed away at age 40 in 1998, are invited to a free reception to celebrate the release of "NEVER LET ME GO", a new 3-CD set of Chapin live-quartet performances from '95 and '96. The gathering will be hosted in person by Chapin’s widow Terri Castillo-Chapin from New York City and EMMY-winning filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo from Hawaii at Hartford's Real Art Ways on Dec. 11 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. A 7-minute trailer about Castillo's new documentary film-in-the-making, "Night Bird Song: The Thomas Chapin Story", about the Manchester, CT, native's life and music, will also be shown. 

Real Art Ways is located at 56 Arbor Street in Hartford - for more information, go to www.realartways.org or call 860-232-1006.  The morning of the event, Chuck Obuchowski will interview Thomas's widow Terri and her sister Stephanie Castillo (the filmmaker) at 10 a.m. on WWUH-91.3 FM (you can listen online at www.wwuh.org.)