FAIRFIELD, CT – Jazz Fridays at the Fairfield Museum are back! Every Friday in August from 6:30pm to 8:00pm, music lovers from the area are invited to kick off their weekends at these free concerts held on the Museum Commons behind the Fairfield Museum, 370 Beach Road, Fairfield. This year’s lineup features an exciting group of artists who are delighted to share their jazz music with the public.
“Our Jazz Fridays concert series features some of the best talented regional jazz artists and ensembles,” said Fairfield Museum Executive Director Mike Jehle. Here’s who is playing this summer:
Aug 6 – Brian Torff
Aug 13 – Coppola Jazz with Amanda Bellitto
Aug 20 – Vinny and Ray, Afro-Cuban Jazz
Aug 27 – Chris Coogan
The summer series starts on Friday, August 6 with the Brian Torff Quartet. Torff is the Music Program Director at Fairfield University, and helped curate the Jazz Fridays series. Torff will be performing with Matt DeChamplain, keyboard, Atla DeChamplain, vocals and Arti Dixon drums. "We will be performing standards, a solo bass tribute to Errol Garner, who's last band I played in, and a few originals. I am excited to be working with these great musicians,” said Torff!"
On August 13 the Fairfield Museum will host Amanda Bellitto, a singer-songwriter with a flair for jazz. She began her career in performance at the age of 13 and tours internationally, most recently returning from Australia. She will be playing with Michael Coppola who plays jazz on a one of a kind 9-string guitar. He has performed at venues such as the Montreal Jazz Festival and The Blue Note. Morris Trent, upright bassist, has been part of New Haven’s jazz history for decades.
On August 20th, the Fairfield Museum will host Vinny and Ray—an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz group consisting of eight members. The group perform Afro-Cuban, Salsa, Timba, Cha Cha, Funk, Samba and Latin Jazz. Vinny and Ray are one of the hottest Latin bands in Connecticut, and their CD is sold throughout the US and Europe.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chairs or blankets and a picnic to enjoy during the event. In the case of inclement weather, concerts will be cancelled and the Fairfield Museum will make every effort to reschedule the performance. Please check the Fairfield Museum website www.fairfieldhistory.org for weather-related updates. Jazz Fridays is generously sponsored by Alan and Sylvia Neigher and the Connecticut Office of the Arts.
The Fairfield Museum is located at 370 Beach Road, Fairfield, CT and is open every day from 10am to 4pm. Admission for Museum Members is free, non-member adults are $5, students and seniors $3, and kids under 5 are free. Become a Fairfield Museum member for only $30 and enjoy free admission plus many other benefits. Visit: www.fairfieldhistory.org to learn more.
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About the Fairfield Museum and History Center:
Fairfield Museum and History Center is a vibrant nexus of community life offering dynamic family programs and exhibitions, sparking dialogue and deliberating the challenges of the future. Central to our community-focused mission is a desire to provide important historical context to pressing issues of our time, and to offer a safe, trustworthy environment where multiple perspectives can be heard, and collective solutions explored.