Author: mattlang

The Holidays. Time to hang a LOT extra with friends and family and to be thankful for being on this side of the grass. Yeah! A little time off here and there and a dash of holiday music and partying thrown in for good measure. Sounds like good recipe for EVERY month to me! We’re not getting a chance to see the kids this holiday season but there’s a rumor of a trip in the early spring of ’12. Can’t wait, but I’m gonna have to so I guess I’ll have to practice and play more ’til then, eh? Here’s some upcoming music to help you celebrate the season.
Monday November 28th – Russ Grazier Quintet – The Press Room 8PM – The PMAC Jazz Faculty makes a monday hang at the best jazz club in New England. Should be a good time so come on out for jazz, suds & good vibes!
Sunday December 4th – JOSA with Tiger Okoshi – Eastman, Grantham, NH 4-7PM – Bill WIghtman’s JOSA series kicks off with the dynamic Tiger Okoshi on Trumpet. This will be a great time with Roger Kimball on bass, Tim Gilmore on Drums and Bill Wightman on piano. Join us for a great meal and some wonderful music.
Thursday December 8th – Donkilo! – Penuche’s, Concord, NH 9:30PM – Dave Kobrenski’s Afro Funk Orchestra touches down at the ‘nuche with a funky storm of groovin’ good times. Y’otta be there boogie’n with yo baby, right?!
Monday December 12th – David Tonkin’s Rollicking Jazz Holiday Party – The Barley House, Concord, NH – Scratching your head? Rubbin’ your tired eyes? Yeah, you read that right. The rollickin’ holiday party of the season will take place on 12/12/11…OH SO CLOSE! But it’ll be fun just the same…even if we don’t destroy a single holiday classic. Will you be…PRESENT?!?!?! It’s all we want!
Okay, that’ll keep you busy for a while. Get out and take in a show or two of ANY NATURE! Happy, Happy!

My school year starts a little later than most. This week has been catch up time with all the students that I didn’t get a chance to work with over the summer. It has been great to see all of you and spend some time talking about the time that has passed since our last meeting. Some have played some music, some have heard a lot of music, some have gone out to shows. As long as music is a part of your life, I’m good. It would be wonderful to work with people that practiced 8 hours a day and then went out and played a 4 hour gig every night but I’m still looking for that person. It’s not me! There’s someone I know that could turn into that person. We’ll wait patiently and eagerly to see and hear what happens! Here are some upcoming shows that I’ll have two hands in…
Sunday, September 25th – Rudi’s, Portsmouth, NH – 12 Noon – 3PM – I’ll play the Rudi’s brunch with pal Jesse Feinberg. You may not know Jesse. You should! He’s an excellent pianist and we should have a great time playing tunes for your dining and listening pleasure. Bring a horn too. Rudi’s is a great place to get wonderful food and drink and they are dedicated to presenting music so stop in often!
Sunday, September 25th – The Press Room, Portsmouth, NH – 5-9PM – The Press Room’s 30th Anniversary Celebration kicks into high gear tonight! Three Tenors? How about FIVE!?!?  Fred Haas, Ted Casher, Ralph Norris, Charlie Jennison and yours truly! If you’ve played the room before (?!) you can get in without paying the cover. BRING A HORN! PREFERABLY A TENOR! We’re going to have a BLAST! There has been an extra hour added this evening strictly for extra TENOR CHORUSES!
Monday, September 26th – Donkilo! at The Barley House, Concord, NH – 6-10PM – Come on out and DANCE to Donkilo’s hypnotic groove. We’ll start levitating at 6PM and keep the room suspended until 10 PM or until you bump your head on the ceiling, whichever comes first, okay!?!?!
Friday, October 7th – Combo Sabroso at The Kittery Dance Hall, Kittery, ME 8-11PM – There’s more dancing in your near future. You didn’t know that! C’mon out to the Kittery Dance hall to experience one of Boston’s best latin dance groups on the best dance floor you’ll experience any time soon! Alex Alvear is back from Ecuador and we’ll have the regular crew. This will be a hot night so get your tix early!
Sunday, October 9th – Jim Dozet Group, The Barley Pub, Dover, NH 8-11PM – Guitarist Jim Dozet has put a group together to play some of his jazzy original tunes as well as some of his arrangements of “new standards”. Should be a great night of music, especially if YOU are there!
Monday, October 10th – David Tonkin Group, The Barley House, Concord, NH, 6-10PM – Good pal Tonky and the boyz in another night of deep space exploration at the barley! This is officially my second night in the “barley tour” and what a great way to do it; with two of the finest guitarists in New Hampshire! C’mon out and celebrate monday with us and let us know what you want to hear too! I know Brandon (via Seattle) wants to hear Chris Speed’s “Mexahata”…so we’ll play that request and yours too!
Enough for now. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to go hear some live music or catch an art show or take in a play or heck, put on a play!