It's Time to Play Favorites! Scout’s Honored 2016 - Nominate notloB Now!

Over the past nine years, notloB Music has presented concerts in many venues in Boston, Cambridge, Watertown and Arlington, but we have found a welcoming and pleasant home at Arts at the Armory in Somerville. By the end of June we will have presented eighteen concerts in its intimate cafe:

September 23, 2015	Dick Hensold
October 1, 2015	Mari Black World Band
October 24, 2015	Roy Williams, Eddie Barbash and Sam Reider play The Human Hands Songbook
October 28, 2015	Elizabeth and Ben Anderson
November 3, 2015	Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons w/very special guests Elijah Wald and Sandrine Sheon
November 25, 2015	Julian Pinelli, Ethan Setiawan, and Noah Harrington
December 7, 2015	The Freewheel Trio & Bronwyn Keith-Hynes and Matt Witler
December 9, 2015	Wrong is Right and Morgan Weidinger and friends
March 23, 2016	OctoPladd
March 26, 2016	Floyds Row
April 23, 2016	The Gather Rounders
April 27, 2016	Unauthorized Personnel
May 25, 2016	Emily Haviland Baker and Friends
May 28, 2016	Fódhla
June 11, 2016	The Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki Trio
June 13, 2016	Mari Black and the World Fiddle Ensemble
June 22, 2016	Caroline Cotter supported by Wendy Cody
June 29, 2016	Kathleen Parks and Brad Bensko

Until June 5, the Somerville Scout is collecting nominations for your Somerville favorites.
notloB Music would be honored if you were to give us your nomination. 

Please enter "notloB Music" in the "Best Music Venue" category.

Thank you in advance!

Scout’s Honored 2016—Nominate Now!

Heather Schmidt of Union Square Donuts, 2015 winner for “Best Sweet Tooth Satisfier.” Photo by Emily Cassel.

Now through June 5, we’re asking you to shout out the best of the best in Somerville.

The barber who makes sure you never have a bad hair day, the gym that keeps you fit, your go-to restaurant in each neighborhood—we know you know the coolest people and top places in the city. This is your chance to give them the credit they deserve.

Make your voice heard with the 2016 Scout’s Honored Awards.

Fine print: You can cast your vote once each week (and yes, we’ll check) through June 5. Finalists will be announced in our July/August print edition.

Berklee String Quartet "Unauthorized Personnel" at the Somerville Armory, 4/27/16

notloB Music and Darol Anger have a long history of progressive string quartet collaboration, the tradition continues! Unauthorized Personnel is a Berklee contemporary string quartet, coached by a pioneer of contemporary fiddle, Darol Anger. Bringing together some of the greatest players in Berklee’s string department, Unauthorized Personnel specializes in the music of the great Turtle Island String Quartet. The group started in January of this year, and have been sawing the strings ever since. This concert will mark the ensemble's public debut!


ABOUT THE MEMBERS

Avery Merritt (Violin) is a Boston based multi-style fiddle player. He has played fiddle since the age of four and plays bluegrass, jazz, and alternative styles. He has won a number of awards, including first place in both advanced fiddle and band categories at the Topanga Banjo-Fiddle Competition, and was named an official California Arts Scholar at The CSSSA program at CalArts.There, he received a Governor's Medallion for The Arts, the highest distinction in California an arts student can receive. Avery has studied with musicians such as Jeremy Kittel, Darol Anger, Casey Driessen, Alex Hargreaves, and Mark O’Connor to name a few. He also works with NS Design as a demonstrating artist at various locations such as The NAMM Shows, IBMA, and has also performed at festivals such as Grey Fox and Freshgrass. Avery is a 3rd semester student at Berklee, currently studying under Jason Anick.
Avery’s Website - http://www.averymerritt.com/

Kailey Zercher (Violin) from Santa Fe, NM, started studying classical music at the age of nine, and had classes with many accomplished violinists such as members of the Santa Fe chamber orchestra Promusica, the Santa Fe Opera, grammy nominees and world-touring performers. She has been selected for many orchestras such as All-State New Mexico, a Switzerland-based, internationally touring orchestra called Crescendo and others. Kailey is now a seventh-semester student at Berklee College of Music, where she studies everything from jazz to rock. So far, she has studied privately with Mimi Rabson, Jason Anick, Rob Thomas, and Matt Glaser, and Darol Anger. She also plays and sings in a local folk-rock/jam band called The Womps, that is to release their EP by the end of the month.
Kailey’s music: The Womps - Eating Up My Soul https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KudbF8nTgnI

Parker Ousley (Cello) grew up on the desolate frozen tundra in Minnesota and began playing cello at age 5. Before coming to Boston, he studied classical cello with David Carter, Peter Howard, and Anna Clift. In high school he began venturing from the comforts of his classical home and joined the amateur folk band, Flute Platoon as a singer and cellist. After breaking from the Platoon, Parker began singing and playing as a solo act in the Twin Cities. When not performing with Unauthorized Personnel, he and his cello, Jeremy, can be found performing on their own, with American Housewife, or in the Twin Cities-based duo The Triplets. Parker is currently finishing his sophomore year at Berklee College of Music where he studies with Mike Block, Eugene Friesen, and Rob Thomas.

Jennifer Frantz (Viola) is from Beaver, PA. She started studying classical violin at the age of 5, and switched to viola at the age of 16. She is in her fourth semester at Berklee where she has been studying jazz and contemporary music as well as composition with David Wallace and Rob Thomas. In 2014, Jennifer was the winner of a concerto competition where she performed the Stamitz viola concerto, with the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Orchestra. She also had toured all over U.S. with the jazz group From the Four, and Extreme Strings Orchestra. She has participated in multiple international music festivals and is the assistant to the director of the CLAZZ music festival. Jennifer is known for her ability to hula-hoop while playing viola.

Admission to the Wednesday concert series is by free-will offering (45-10 suggested). Make your reservation at http://tinyurl.com/notlobtickets.

ABOUT THE CAFE
You can arrive as early as 6pm to enjoy the cafe's offerings, which include sandwiches/wraps, salads, coffee, teas and pastries as well as beer and wine.
Free parking in the back lot, on street (mind the signage) and two satellite lots.
MBTA: Arts at the Armory is approximately a 15 minute walk from Davis Square which is on the MBTA Red Line, or take either the 88 or 90 bus from Lechmere (Green Line) or Davis Square (Red Line). Get off at the Highland Avenue and Lowell Street stop. You can also get there from Sullivan Square (Orange Line) via the 90 bus. Get off at the Highland Avenue and Benton Road stop.
Bicycle: The Armory is four blocks from the Somerville Community Path.
Handicap accessible.

ABOUT NOTLOB MUSIC
Since 2007, notloB Music has presented close to 200 folk, old-time, bluegrass, progressive string band, world and Celtic concerts in unique venues throughout the greater Boston area.
mail list - http://tinyurl.com/notlobmail
website - https://sites.google.com/site/notlobmusic/
facebook - https://www.facebook.com/notloBParlourConcerts/
eventbrite (tickets) - http://www.eventbrite.com/o/notlob-music-6730833315

notloB Music presents Floyds Row, 3/26, Somerville

Floyds Row in concert
Saturday, March 26, 7:30pm
Arts at the Armory Cafe
191 Highland Ave, Somerville

Floyds Row "fuses contemporary classical, Northumbrian traditional, and early music..." 

Emily Noël - soprano & autoharp 
Asako Takeuchi - fiddle 
Andrew Arceci - viola da gamba, double bass & cittern 
George Lykogiannis - accordion 
George Lernis - percussion

http://www.floydsrow.com/ 

Somerville Armory Café serves light fare (soups, salads, sandwiches and deserts), coffee, teas, wine and beer. You can arrive as early as 6pm to enjoy the cafe's offerings. 

Logistical info here. 

$10-20 - Purchase tickets here.

Developing a varied career as performer, composer/arranger, and scholar, Andrew Arceci performs regularly on the viola da gamba (viol), violone, and double bass throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. In the United Kingdom, he has appeared with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Cöthen Baroque, and Oxford Baroque. In the United States, he has collaborated with the Boston Camerata, Handel & Haydn Society, the Arcadia Players, Tempesta di Mare - Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra, Harmonious Blacksmith, The Folger Consort, the Washington Bach Consort, and the Washington National Cathedral; he currently serves as principal bassist with Boston’s L'Académie Baroque Orchestra and Chicago’s Baroque Band. He has given workshops at the University of Oxford (UK), the University of Cambridge (UK), the University of Edinburgh (UK), the Narnia Arts Academy (Narni; Italy), the Taipei National University of the Arts (Taiwan), Burapha University (Thailand), and Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania (USA). Currently, he directs the Collegium Musicum at Wellesley College, serves on the Winchendon Cultural Council, and works as a freelance artist throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

George Lernis (drummer, world percussionist) specializes in a number of world percussion instruments such as: Darbuka, Bendir, Daire, Riq, just to name a few. George holds a bachelor’s degree from Berklee College of Music in Jazz Performance and a master’s degree from Longy Conservatory in Modern American Music. Currently George resides in Boston where he regularly performs and teaches music. Over the last few years, George has recorded and collaborated with prominent figures such as: Dave Liebman, Anat Cohen, Antonio Sanchez, Tiger Okoshi, Jerry Leake, Bertram Lehmann, Mehmet Ali Salnikol, and Robert Labaree. After his master’s degree, George released his first album as a bandleader, “Shapes of Nature” featuring the George Lernis Jazz Quartet. George performs regularly around the New England area, New York, as well as touring around the United States and Europe.

Accordionist, George Lykogiannis, works on both accordion and piano. He has performed with Make Music New York's accordion "Mass Appeal", and has played shows with artists throughout the United States. As a pianist, Mr. Lykogiannis performed with the IU Concert Orchestra under the baton of David Effron in February of 2011 as winner of Indiana University’s “Totentanz” competition (Bloomington, IN). Mr. Lykogiannis made his orchestral debut with the Orchestra Sinfonica del Festival di Chioggia (Veneto, Italy) in 2000, and appeared in concert with them again in 2007 and 2009. In the fall of 2003, he made his United States orchestral debut with the Plainfield Symphony Orchestra (NJ). Mr. Lykogiannis attended Rowan University (Glassboro, NJ) where he studied under Raffi Besalyan, and graduated Summa Cum Laude in May of 2008 with a Bachelor Degree in Music Performance. In May of 2012, he received a Master of Music degree from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, having studied under Professor Emile Naoumoff. Mr. Lykogiannis is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts (DMA) in piano at Rutgers University.

Soprano Emily Noël has appeared as a soloist with The Gabrieli Consort, The Folger Consort, The Washington Bach Consort, 21stCentury Consort, Orchestra of the 17th Century, Bach Sinfonia, and Indiana University New Music Ensemble; and was featured as the soprano soloist in CPE Bach’s Magnificat at the 2014 American Bach Society Annual Meeting. In recent seasons, she has sung a wide range of operatic roles, notably Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto with Ente Concerti Città di Iglesias (Sardinia, Italy); Nora in Vaughn Williams’ Riders to the Sea at the Amsterdam Grachtenfestival (Netherlands); The Witch in Purcell’s The Witch of Endor at the Washington National Cathedral; and Debora in selections from Guglielmi’s Debora e Sisara with Modern Musick at the Italian Embassy as part of the 2013 Anno Della Cultura Italiana. Ms. Noël earned her Master of Music in voice from Peabody Conservatory and her Bachelor of Music from the University of Maryland; currently she serves as an Assistant Professor of Music at The Community College of Rhode Island.

Touring extensively as a solo, chamber, and orchestral player throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, violinist Asako Takeuchihas performed with ensembles such as the Wallfisch Band (UK), Collegium Musicum Den Haag (Netherlands), Den Haag Piano Quintet (Netherlands), The Bach Choir & Orchestra of the Netherlands, Arion Baroque Orchestra (Canada), and Handel & Haydn Society (USA). She has performed at numerous festivals, including Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht (Netherlands), Deutsches Mozartfest and Innsbruck Festival (Germany), Festival de Música Antigua de Barcelona (Spain), MUPA International Arts Festival (Thailand), Abbaye aux Dames (France), and Aston Magna Music Festival (USA). Discography includes recordings with The Wallfisch Band (soloist), Arion Baroque Orchestra, and The Bach Choir & Orchestra of the Netherlands. She has given workshops at Burapha University (Thailand), and holds degrees from the Royal Conservatory in the Hague (Netherlands), University of Southern California, and Berklee College of Music.

________________________________________

"Soprano Emily Noël gave sparkling performances of polished Claudio Monteverdi songs, as well as more homespun English ballads in a sort of entr’acte of groundling music." Washington Post

"In addition to the superb instrumentalists (a couple of bagpipes made a delicious appearance along the way), Peabody-trained soprano Emily Noël offered deftly sculpted singing. A classy enterprise all the way." Baltimore Sun

“The opening Grave, with subtle nuances in Andrew Arceci’s viola da gamba and overall intricate textures, conveyed the quiet and poised joy of daily thanksgiving." THE BOSTON MUSICAL INTELLIGENCER

"Andrew Arceci was heroic in the wide-ranging solo part..." SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

"Andrew Arceci brought a lovely tone to the line and matched the dramatic impulses that propelled the superb ensemble playing." THE NEW YORK TIMES

“...his modernistic approach to drumming, Lernis expands upon the restrictive role of timekeeper, playing a naturally flowing amalgamation of shifting rhythms that distinguishes his work from more typical mainstream jazz while maintaining an appealing sound.” Drumhead Magazine.

notloB Music Presents...

Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons 

w/ Elijah Wald & Sandrine Sheon 

Tuesday, November 3, 7:30pm  (cafe opens at 6:00pm)
Arts at the Armory Cafe
191 Highland Ave, Somerville, Massachusetts 02143

Suggested donation $10-20

notloB Music's Fall music series continues at the intimate (50 seat) cafe at the Somerville Armory.

The history of American roots music in the early 20th century could never fit into an encyclopedia. it’s too ramshackle, too rambunctious, too radical. Fiddlers, guitarists, banjo players, and all kinds of folks rambled those early roads, learning from each other, inspiring each other, and pushing the music in new directions. Music constantly switched back and forth across the racial divide, beholden only to the beat and the dance. It’s this fevered period of musical exchange that inspires Northwest roots music duo Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons. The songs on their new album, Take Yo Time, tap into everything from the hokum jug bands of Gus Cannon and the Memphis Sheiks, to country blues masters Reverend Gary Davis, Robert Johnson, and Blind Willie McTell. They also touch on ancient English ballads like House Carpenter, Appalachian murder ballads like the classic Tom Dooley, and the early jazz compositions of Shelton Brooks and Duke Ellington. All of these traditions are tied together in the swirling musical whirlpool of pre-war American music. With a well-rosined fiddle and an old banjo, Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons are tracing these backroads, bringing the songs back to life.

Ben and Joe have been playing together for almost 5 years, the last 3 of which sent them to the Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival, learning at the feet of the elders of the acoustic blues tradition. They found an affinity in the many branches that tied into the blues and created this duo as a way to explore these branches. Their musical kinship and sense of joy in interpreting this music is evident and was the basis of an invitation Dom Flemons (formerly of the Carolina Chocolate Drops) to form his band when he went solo. Ben and Joe joined Dom on his recent album, Prospect Hill, and toured the US with him, furthering their knowledge of Anglo and African American music traditions. Rather than thinking of their music as blues, it’s best to situate Ben and Joe (and Dom) as American songsters. A songster traditionally refers to an African-American artist whose repertoire is much broader than the old blues, and spans many of the genres that Ben and Joe Inhabit. Big Bill Broonzy and Mississippi John Hurt are classic examples of songsters. Whatever you want to call it, Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons make American music. They make music that hews to the rough-and-tumble collisions of musical inspirations from the early 20th century; music that paved the way for everything we enjoy today.

Elijah Wald & Sandrine Sheon 
Elijah Wald is a guitarist and singer whose repertoire ranges from old blues and folk songs to ragtime, swing, and classic Swahili pop. After an apprenticeship studying guitar and drinking till dawn with Dave Van Ronk, he has played all over the US, as well as Europe, India, and the Congo. He worked as an accompanist to Eric Von Schmidt, played for five years with the legendary African-American fiddler and mandolinist Howard Armstrong, studied with the Congolese masters Jean-Bosco Mwenda and Edward Masengo, and has recorded an instructional DVD on the music of the Bahamian virtuoso Joseph Spence. He has also written a dozen books on blues, folk, pop, and Mexican music, and there's plenty more info about all of this at http://www.elijahwald.com/ In recent years he has been performing with Sandrine Sheon on clarinet, combining their repertoires and underlining the close links between blues, country, ragtime, folk, and jazz.

As we did at our Loring-Greenough concert series, admission is by free-will donation, $10-20 suggested.

Reservations 

are strongly suggested, our cafe artists have been performing to full houses.