Author: mattlang

Truly! This was a absolutely ROCKIN’ summer and it positively flew by. I’ve got a lot of great memories AND a lot of great pictures. Yup, slide show time! But, this isn’t one you have to sit through to be polite. I don’t know you from Adam, as they say, or, there’s no real way for me to know who you are. I may know you, I may not. Soooo, it’ll be easy for you to excuse yourself right now and not even take a gander at a single pic. But you’ll miss out on my kids paying a visit in the middle of the summer. Roger’s sculpture being installed. Our new niece. You know, important stuff that you should really check out and enjoy. But, I understand. Whatever you wanna do is cool with me. How ’bout some tunes?! There’s some great stuff coming up…check it:
Friday, September 2 – Grupo Mofungo – Empire Dine & Dance, Portland ME 8PM – My Eliot neighbor, Andres Espinosa, happens to have a great salsa band that plays some kicking latin dance music. We’ll be heating it up at Empire Dine & Dance one of Portland Maine’s premier live music rooms friday night. Admission is $8 and INCLUDES a group dance lesson before the show. C’mon in and GET DOWN!
Saturday, September 3 – Mark Tipton Quintet – Mayo Street Arts, Portland ME 8PM – Trumpeter and bandleader Mark Tipton plays the music of Bird & Diz from the early years on this show with a great band featuring Jesse Feinberg on Piano, Hayes Porterfield on Drums and Chris Sprague on Bass. This is going to be a blast!
Thursday, September 8 – David Tonkin Quartet – NH Jazz Center, Laconia, NH 8PM – Tonky takes the show on the road to NH’s greatest new venue; the NH Jazz Center. Laconia has a wonderful new listening room for jazz thanks to Jon Lorentz and we’ll be having a great time on this evening playing some of David’s originals along with some other eclectic selections from the extensive Tonky Songbook. Please join us!
Friday, September 9th – Combo Sabroso – The Dance Hall, Kittery, ME 8PM – Matt Jenson’s Kickin’ latin group rattles Kittery’s cage at the dance hall. The PERFECT place to DANCE on the beautifully refinished dance floor. Special guests Kalani Trinidad and Fernando Huergo join regulars Matt Jesson, Manolo Mairena and Pablo Bencid for a smoking hot latin band. Come DANCE, DANCE, DANCE!
Sunday, September 11th – Mike Walsh Quintet – The Barley Pub, Dover, NH 8PM – Drummer Mike Walsh’s band takes on a little different sound tonight with Jared Sims joining the front line. We’ll play all kinds of great music from Thelonious Monk to Dave Binney, Chris Potter and Brian Blade. This will be a great night of music.
Monday, September 12th – David Tonkin Quartet – The Barley House, Concord, NH 6PM – Tonky’s band comes back to the comfort of their second monday of the month home; The Barley House in Concord. This is a wonderful place to hear the band. Comfortable with great food and excellent service. Come join us and have one of the best burgers in New Hampshire while you hear some of the best music ANYWHERE! OK, I might be a tad biased. That’s it for now. Come back often or, better yet, put away your computer and go hear a live show or checkout a play, or go to an art exhibit. You’ll be glad you did and so will we!

This is really summer! The heat is oppressive right now but I’m sure it will pass in a couple days. We’re currently enjoying a visit from Taylor and Erin will join us early next week. What a blast, both kids, back home, together! Gonna be a good time had by all. Here’s a look at some of the music coming up in the next few weeks.
Saturday, July 22nd – Rudi’s Portsmouth, NH 6PM – Come on out to Rudi’s for some great food and drink while Tommy Robinson and I play some jazz for ya.
Sunday, July 23rd – Prescott Park, Portsmouth, NH 2PM – A original production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” presented on the stage at Prescott Park featuring the original music of Jonny Peiffer. Jonny and I will be the pit orchestra for this great production of the Shakespeare classic.
Sunday, July 23rd – Stratham Fair, Stratham, NH 8PM – Carri Coltrane’s Bonny Raitt show on the big stage at the Fair. This will be a fun show featuring some of the area’s best musicians including Woody Allen on Guitar, Kent Allyn on Keys, Gary Gemitti on Drums, Peter Black on Bass, Ben Baldwin on Saxes and Carri’s “peeps” on backup vocals.
Monday, July 24th – Donkilo! – Barley House, Concord, NH 8PM – Dine and dance to the afro beat of Donkilo! This group is led by multi instrumentalist Dave Kobrenski and features his Fula flute, the 10-string kamale ngoni, and djembe along with Scott Solsky on guitar, Jared Steer on Drums and Mike Rossi on bass. Always a good time!
Friday, July 29th – Aporkalypse Now – Buoy, Kittery, ME 8PM – A rare Aporkalypse sighting at the Buoy. This is going to be a fun night with Chris Klaxton’s band opening the night and, rumor has it, a duet with Chris Klaxton and Roger Goldenberg on black and white painting as well. Featuring Jonny Peiffer, Nate Therrien, Nick Mainella, Chris Klaxton, Mike Effenberger, Zach Lange and more.
Monday, August 1 – Matt Langley/Tim O’Dell Quartet – The Press Room, Portsmouth, NH 8PM – Come on out to the Press Room for another rare appearance on this Quartet featuring Tim O’Dell on saxophones, Luther Gray on Drums, Jim Lyden on Bass and Myself on saxes. We’ll play a night of original music that features all members of the group in different combinations.
Thursday, August 4 – Matt Langley/Tim O’Dell Quartet – Pitman’s Freight Room, Laconia, NH 7PM – Pitman’s is a new venue under the direction of Jonathan Lorentz that features Jazz in a listening environment…what a concept! This will be the second leg of the MLTO quartet “tour” so we should be burnin’. Come out and support live jazz music in Laconia!
Thanks for stopping by. Try to stay cool and be sure to get out and support some live music when you get a chance!