Arts on the Hill: Novel Jazz Septet

Coastal Mountains Land Trust’s Arts on the Hill program brings the Novel Jazz Septet to Beech Hill Preserve on Tuesday, September 9 at 6:00 p.m. as part of this popular summer concert series. 

The Novel Jazz Septet, led by trombonist Barney Balch, is seven hepcats from all over Maine who have been performing together for years. They are huge fans of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, two jazz composers who, between them, wrote more than 3,000 pieces.

 For the past few years, Novel Jazz Septet has been on a mission to transcribe some of the pair’s lesser-known tunes and shine a modern light on them. Balch is so committed to this project that he periodically visits the National Archives in Washington, D.C., to work with Ellington’s original manuscripts.

Fourteen of Novel Jazz’s reinterpretations are now available on the CD "The Novel Jazz Septet Live: Ellington and Strayhorn Rediscovered." I’ve been listening to it all week, and think that "Lotus Blossom" and "Mood Indigo," among several others, are sensational. It was Ellington himself who said, "The wise musicians are those who play what they can master." The Novel Jazz Septet can rest easy with this knowledge.

All Arts on the Hill performances are free and open to all ages but please leave your dogs at home.

Arts on the Hill is made by possible and presented by Camden National Bank, Cold Mountain Builders, Bangor Savings Bank, Camden Coast Real Estate, and Dirt Play.