Easton Banjo Society Among Groups Being Featured At JazzFest This Year

GUILFORD — Newtown resident Bob Chamberlain, founding member of The Easton Banjo Society, is scheduled to perform on tenor and plectrum banjo with the society during this year’s Great Connecticut JazzFest. The event will be held July 26-28 at Guilford Fairgrounds.

 Formed in 1957 by several local banjo players who were asked to play vintage music for an event in Easton, the group now consists of 11 players, primarily from Fairfield County. In the band, many types of banjos – including tenor, plectrum, 5-string, mandolin-banjo and guitar-banjo – are backed by some great ragtime-style piano, innovative tuba, drums and washboard.

At the JazzFest, The Easton Banjo Society will showcase its repertoire from the traditional jazz and ragtime era, including the music of Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, and George M. Cohan. The musicians will pick, strum and sing such favorites as “Baby Face,” “Bill Bailey,” “Bye, Bye, Blackbird, “If You Knew Susie,” “Margie,” “Grand Ol’ Flag,” and others in the same idiom.

The festival this year will feature groups from as far as France (Paris Washboard), Sydney, Australia (The New Wolverines Jazz Orchestra), and Buenos Aries (Fenix Jazz Band) traveling to Goshen to perform. United States bands will include Titan Hot Seven (Largo, Fla.), Igor’s Jazz Cowboys (Tempe, Ariz.), The Midiro Brothers (Mays Landing, N.J.), Stan Mark’s Sin City Jazz Band (Las Vegas), Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band (Orlando), and Connecticut Festival All-Stars, featuring musicians from along the East Coast.

Connecticut-based bands will include Eight To The Bar, The Bearcats Jazz Band, Galvanized Jazz Band, Ross Tucker’s Hot Cats, and The Hartford Jazz Orchestra.

Now in its 16th year, The Great Connecticut JazzFest unites international bands in continuous performances of traditional jazz and swing music during a three-day weekend. Money raised at the JazzFest goes to Horns for Kids and supports the development of jazz musicians and school band programs by providing financial and artistic support.

Tickets for the JazzFest are $25 (single session), $45 (all-day Saturday), $85 (three days) and are available at the gate, by telephone at 800-HOT-EVENT (800-468-3836), or visit www.CTJazz.org.