This Weekend: The Pittsfield CityJazz Festival!

Submitted by Megan Whilden, Cultural Pittsfield

The Legacy Banks Pittsfield CityJazz Festival! It all starts at lunchtime on Friday, October 14...

with a free jazz concert featuring the Andy Kelly Quartet (that's Andy on the left) in the Central Block Concourse at 75 North Street from 11am to 1pm. Bring or buy a lunch and come on down, the
swinging music is courtesy of Downtown Inc! And don't miss the free samples of pumpkin lattes outside courtesy of Starbucks, a CityJazz sponsor.

and continues with jazz at dinner all over town...

From 6 to 8:30 pm, Dave Winchester will be playing jazz piano at the House of India, 261 North Street; and Andy Kelly and Ben Kohn will play jazz guitar and piano at Trattoria Rustica on McKay Street
(pictured is chef-owner Davide with his famous rustic oven.) From 6:30 to 9:30pm, Matt Kelly Jazz will be performing at Asters, located at 1015 South Street; and from 7 to 10pm Gary Miller will be
playing jazz vibraphone at Bellissimo Dolce, located at 444 North Street.

. . . followed by the New Black Eagle Jazz Band live!

at Berkshire Music Hall (30 Union Street, just off North Street, and the new home of Barrington Stage Company) at 8:30pm. The Black Eagles cover a wide range of traditional jazz from the early New
Orleans style; Chicago of the 1920's; and 1930's small band jazz. Boston magazine praised thier music as "...joyful and free in spirit and conveys an ebullience that's hard to resist." Favorites of
the Tanglewood Jazz Festival and others around the world, this is their first appearance in Pittsfield.

Order tickets by calling 395-0105 between 8:30am and 5pm.

Saturday, get your coffee with jazz at Bellissimo

From 11 am to 1pm, you can read the paper, drink your cappucino, or have a cannoli or one of their great new sandwiches at Bellissimo Dolce while listening to the live sounds of "Pittsfield's Own"
Jazz Trio. Bellissimo Dolce cafe is located at 444 North Street, just a block or two away from...

... Saturday afternoon: An open rehearsal with the New England Jazz Ensemble!

Stroll back down to the Berkshire Music Hall for a Saturday afternoon open rehearsal with the incomparable New England Jazz Ensemble, a 16 member jazz big band in the grand tradition. It starts at
1:30pm, and admission is free for students and under-18s, and only $5 for everyone else. The band will be recording the rehearsal for a live album!

Saturday's lineup of dinner jazz around town...

Next it's tme to dress up! Start the evening out right with dinner and jazz at one of these fine Pittsfield restaurants: from 6 to 8:30 you'll hear the Charlie Tokarz Jazz Band performing at
Pittsfield Brew Works at 34 Depot Street; the Ted Murray Jazz Quartet live at Patrick's Pub on Park Square; and jazz guitarist Andy Kelly at the House of India, located at 261 North Street, just
around the corner from the Berkshire Music Hall. Aster's will keep the music going from 6:30 to 9:30 with Arslanian and Shepard at 1015 South Street.

And a swanky Saturday night with Joyce Breach & the Keith Ingham Duo and the New England Jazz Ensemble

It all starts at 8pm at the Berkshire Music Hall. The inimitable Joyce Breach is an acclaimed cabaret/jazz singer from New York City in the classic tradition. Wendell Echols of New Orleans' Jazz Beat,
wrote of her, "Joyce definitely belongs in the company of the best...Highly recommended to those who like their songs served up with class." Plus the afore-mentioned New England Jazz Ensemble for a
swinging evening of live music!

Order your tickets now by calling 395-0105 between 8:30am and 5pm.

..and maybe a nightcap afterwards at Brix Wine Bar

..one of the sponsors of the Jazz Festival, and open until 1am on Saturday nights for your evening adventures. Too small for live music, they will instead ply your ears with recorded jazz on their
sound system, as you squeeze in at their classic zinc-topped bar for a glass of wine. It's located at 40 West Street, between North & McKay.

Sunday relax with a jazz brunch or New Orleans-style dinner

Aster's restaurant will be enlivening their traditional brunch with jazz guitar by Andy Kelly from 11am-2pm. Asters is located at 1015 South Street, near Dan Fox Drive. And Sunday night there MIGHT
still be a very few tickets left if you call ahead NOW: 395-0105 for the New Orleans Beaux Arts Buffet Dinner with live music by the Steve Murray Quartet. $30 all inclusive, including Mardi Gras
beads!

Where can you get CityJazz tickets or more info?

Advance tickets to the Friday and Saturday evening concerts are available at the Pittsfield Visitors Center, located next to the Colonial Theatre on South Street. You can call them at 413-395-0105 to
order tickets by credit card, or drop by to pay with a check or cash. Their hours are Monday-Saturday, 8:30am-5pm, and Sunday from 10am to 5pm. (You might want to make some dinner reservations as
well, while you're at it.)

And thank you to our many sponsors, including our lead sponsor, Legacy Banks, as well as Brix Wine Bar, Berkshire Music School, Berkshire Bank, Joseph Toole, the Gables, Barrington Stage Company,
Starbucks, Downtown Inc., and the City of Pittsfield's Office of Cultural Development. See you downtown!