Yellow sweaters, my friends, yellow sweaters galore!
I read a quote recently comparing history to items that float by on the surface of a river and civilization as the stuff that takes place on the river’s banks. My recent experience finding a thriving ecosystem of trad jazz in my own (metaphorical) backyard leads me to conclude that “culture” is the small but interesting rocks and shells embedded in the mud of that riverbank. As any rockhound knows, finding the really good stuff requires a keen eye and a bit of digging, but the rewards for that little bit of effort can be quite astounding. Such has been the case in my search for jazz happenings here in “Downeast” Maine.
Belfast (ME) Summer Nights, a free, weekly concert series by the waterfront, which had previously introduced me to the hot brass band sounds of Undertow Jazz Band, was to feature the Mondaynite Jazz Orchestra—a new-to-me, 18-piece big band out of Camden, ME which plays trad jazz, Latin, swing, and blues—on July 24th, but alas, the band’s appearance was nixed by the seemingly never-ending rain we’ve been having. A subsequent appearance a week later in Rockport at a free concert at the Arts on the Hill at Beech Hill Preserve in Rockport, ME was also scrapped due to rain. The band doesn’t have a website (just a Facebook page), but the few YouTube videos I’ve been able to find of their playing has
