Essex Winter Series presents Hot Jazz with Jeff Barnhart's Essex Eight on 2/23/2025
On February 23, Essex Winter Series Jazz Advisor Jeff Barnhart will present his Essex Eight! Hot music of the 1920s and 1930s will be dished up by internationally celebrated jazz musicians who he's also proud to call friends. You'll be amazed at the virtuosity and versatility of: Jeff Barnhart (piano, vocals); Andy Schumm (cornet, clarinet, piano); Dan Levinson (reeds); Billy Novick (reeds); Jim Fryer (trombone, euphonium, vocal); Vince Giordano (string bass, tuba, bass sax, vocal); Arnt Arntzen (banjo/guitar, vocal); Bill Reynolds (drums). While this octet has never appeared anywhere prior to gracing the stage at Old Saybrook High School, you'll marvel at the synergy that makes the group sound as if they've been performing together for decades! Jeff Barnhart's Essex Eight has been carefully curated to bring out the best in each of these world-class musicians. You'll be talking about this concert for years to come.
This toe-tapping, hand-clapping – maybe even up-and-dancing – event will be followed by the award-winning Terra String Quartet on March 9 at Congregation Beth Shalom (Chester) and flutist Tara Helen O’Connor with Eight Emerging Artist Alumni on April 6 at Valley Regional High School (Deep River).
Concerts begin at 3 pm and are general admission. For tickets visit www.essexwinterseries.com or call 860-272-4572. For all our venues, parking, entry and seating accessibility is available.
This year's jazz concert is dedicated to the memory of Sharon D. Clark, generously funded by long-time EWS concert sponsors: Her loving husband, Herb Clark, the Clark Family, and good friends, Jacqueline Hubbard and Norman Needleman. Our 2025 season is sponsored by ASP Trust and this jazz concert is sponsored by the Clark Group and Tower Laboratories.