THE BLACK BOX To Feature Jazz, Cabaret And Local Artist Series In May

THE BLACK BOX, downtown Franklin’s new theater, music, and event venue, presents a dynamic lineup of live music entertainment in May. Events are slated to feature the Ben Whiting Quintet, BLACK BOX Cabaret, and a Local Artist Series inaugural performance. THE BLACK BOX, the home of the Franklin Performing Arts Company (FPAC), is located at 15 West Central Street.

The Ben Whiting Quintet

BLACK BOX Jazz presents the Ben Whiting Quintet on Friday, May 15 at 8 p.m. Known for his sweet, robust sound, communicative phrasing and stylistic versatility, baritone sax player Ben Whiting is quickly making a name for himself on the Boston music scene, where he can be heard at premiere venues including Ryles, Scullers, Berklee Performance Center, The Beat Hotel, The Beehive, Top of the Hub, and Hard Rock Cafe. Ben regularly performs with the renowned Greg Hopkins' Big Band and Nonet, Omar Thomas Large Ensemble, Alex Lee-Clark 8tet, Kenny Hadley Big Band, Beantown Swing Orchestra, Eguie Castrillo and his Orchestra, and many more. The Berklee trained Whiting has also traveled internationally with The Artie Shaw Big Band. Presenting a swinging evening of original compositions and jazz standards, Ben will be joined at THE BLACK BOX by guitarist Carl Eisman, pianist Brian Friedland, bassist Rob Taylor and drummer Oscar Suchanek.

THE BLACK BOX launches a Local Artist Series on Thursday, May 21 at 7 p.m., shining a spotlight on this region's bright musical talent. Local singers and songwriters share the stage and tell the stories behind their music for this special evening hosted by WMRC's Ray Auger. The inaugural performance will feature acoustic sets by Ken Barney, Gay Barboza, Chris Ross and Kate Russo, all 2015 WMRC Local Music Award nominees honored among the best area musicians and recognized for their creativity and contribution to the Greater Milford music scene.

On Friday, May 29 at 8 p.m., BLACK BOX Cabaret spotlights the vocal stylings of talented FPAC alumni performers. Accompanied by the Acme Rhythm Section, entertainment is presented in an intimate night-club atmosphere. BLACK BOX Cabaret is sponsored by The Milford National Bank and Trust. 

Ticket prices are $18 (adult) and $15 (student/senior) for the Ben Whiting Quintet, $15 for the Local Artist Series, and $15 (adult) and $12 (student/senior) for BLACK BOX Cabaret. A cash bar is available for all music series events. For tickets and more information, visit www.THEBLACKBOXonline.com or call (508) 528-3370.

April Hall at THE BLACK BOX

THE BLACK BOX in downtown Franklin presents critically acclaimed jazz vocalist April Hall on Friday, April 24 at 8 p.m. The concert, rescheduled from February due to a Valentine’s Day snowstorm, is featured as part of BLACK BOX Jazz, one of four dynamic music series launched this year at the new theater, music and event venue. 

April Hall

April Hall takes audiences on a special journey through The Great American Songbook, showcasing the most enduring and influential Golden Age standards of the Broadway stage and Hollywood screen. With her swinging all-star band, Hall interprets our most treasured classics by legendary masters of song to deliver a deeply moving evening of sentiment, humor, heartbreak and romance. Her voice described as "glorious" by The Boston Globe, Hall combines her deep roots in southern gospel and blues with an urban soulfulness and jazz sophistication. 

A graduate of Berklee College of Music, where she received the prestigious Louis Armstrong Performance Award, Hall has done projects for Atlantic Records, under the direction of Arif Mardin, for the legendary Chaka Kahn, Melissa Manchester and Bette Midler and has performed with artists such as Rosemary Clooney, Al Jarreau, Jim Ed Brown, Helen Cornelius and Dinah Shore. Hall’s "Room for Two" was named one of Jazz Times top 50 Jazz Records of 2012. Hall will be joined at THE BLACK BOX by pianist Tim Ray, bassist Mark Poniatowski, saxophonist Tom Hall and drummer Kenny Hadley. 

THE BLACK BOX, the home of the Franklin Performing Arts Company (FPAC), is located at 15 West Central Street. Tickets for the BLACK BOX Jazz event are $20. For ticket purchase or more information, visit www.THEBLACKBOXonline.com or call (508) 528-3370.

Jazz time

The Franklin High School jazz musicians played their last performance in the Lecture Hall on Wednesday night. The three groups played well entertaining a devoted and appreciative group.

FHS jazz band

The program as presented last night:




Another way to capture the performance was with one of my "sherku" called FHS Jazz

lecture hallsetting forjive combotelling theirown high schoolexperience

You can find this and other poetry at 
http://www.quietpoet.com/2014/04/sherku-fhs-jazz.html

Franklin High School - Jazz Band - 7:00 PM

My thanks to a loyal reader for sending this along:

I'm not sure if you've received something already from the FHS Jazz band, but the band will host its spring concert tomorrow night (Wednesday) at 7 p.m. at the high school lecture hall. The program will feature jazz standards AND new works and includes improv solos from both the Jazz Band and the Jazz Workshop. The Franklin High School Jazz Bands recently won several state-level awards for its performances and musicianship under the direction of Band Director Leighann Rudsit.

new Franklin High School

Franklin Public Schools: School Events

A message from FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT

Hello Please join the School Committee and administration on a tour of Davis Thayer Elementary on February 7 at 6:00 p.m in the lobby. Our tour will be led by Principal Evemarie McNeil and School Committee members, Roberta Trahan and Sue Rohrbach. Stop by the Jazz Cafe at Franklin HS featuring the HS Jazz Ensembles along with performances by all three middle school jazz bands. Concert will be held at Remington Middle School on February 6 at 7:00 p.m. Have a a great weekend This e-mail has been sent to you by FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT. To maximize their communication with you, you may be receiving this e-mail in addition to a phone call with the same message. If you wish to discontinue this service, please inform FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT IN PERSON, by US MAIL, or by TELEPHONE at (508) 613-1777.

Jazz mistakes for Monday (video)

Monday morning. New week. New beginnings.

Music can be a metaphor for so much.

Orchestra, band = a form of organization

Conductor, band leader = leader

What is a mistake? By talking through examples with his improvisational Jazz quartet, Stefon Harris walks us to a profound truth: many actions are perceived as mistakes only because we don't react to them appropriately.

Spend about 13 minutes with this video from TEDSalon




Enjoy!