Outdoor Summer Concert Series Continues August 7

The Shepaug Friends of Music, in conjunction with the towns of Bridgewater, Roxbury and Washington, is presenting Saturday evenings of free music during the summer months.

The concerts are Saturday evenings beginning at 6, and each will be presented in a different location.

The next concert (the second of three scheduled this summer) will be Saturday, August 7, at Hurlburt Park Pavilion, Apple Lane in Roxbury. The concert will feature The Albert Rivera Quintet with members of the Litchfield Jazz Festival faculty.

Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Albert Rivera began his career as a classical musician at age ten with the Bronx Borough-Wide Concert Band and by age 12 he and his bandmates were invited to appear at Carnegie Hall. He made three appearances there, the last of which was with the New York Pops.

Bitten by the bug of ensemble music, he auditioned for the selective LaGuardia High School program and was accepted. At LaGuardia, he discovered jazz and switched his performance on the saxophone.

He and classmates played at the United Nations, Lincoln Center, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and any and every street festival in New York. At 15, he received a scholarship to Litchfield Jazz Camp in Connecticut. There he had the good fortune to be under the guidance of the outstanding saxophonist Don Braden and have mentors like saxophonist Jimmy Greene and bassist Dave Santoro take an interest in him.

Mr Rivera attended the New School University Jazz and Contemporary Music Program, from which he graduated in 2005. Since then he has played at venues like New York’s Sweet Rhythm, Zinc Bar, Cleopatra’s Needle, 55 Bar, and Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Lincoln Center. His love of working with vocalists has paired him with Sheila Jordan and Renee Marie.

In 2005, he was invited by his mentor and teacher at New School, the renowned pianist Junior Mance, to join him on the mainstage for a performance at The Litchfield Jazz Festival. He toured Canada later that year with his Quartet and New England and Southern States with his Trio. He appears often in Connecticut, at venues like Firehouse 12 in New Haven and The Mezzanine and La Paloma in Hartford.

The Shepaug concert season finale will be on Saturday, August 26, at the pavilion in River Walk Park, 11 School Street in Washington. The concert will feature The Jerry Gerst Band, back by popular demand.

Attendees are invited to bring a picnic dinner and sit on the lawn to enjoy the music.

All questions should be directed to Mark Kaufman at 203-788-4716.