Arts & Entertainment

Bluegrass And Jazz Coming Soon To A Lawn Near You

Durham's Jon Swift plays upright bass in the Gordon Swift and The Lost Acres String Band.

The talented Gordon Swift and The Lost Acres String Band will perform their unique blend of Bluegrass and Jazz music at the Clinton Historical Society (CHS) on Saturday, August 20th, from 6pm to 8pm.

Gordon Swift's band performs throughout New England, engaging audiences with traditional fiddle tunes, romantic contemporary compositions and Irish Jigs. 

The outdoor concert will take place, weather permitting, on the CHS lawn surrounded by beautiful gardens maintained by the society's garden committee.

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The Elisha White House (Old Brick), Buell Tool Museum and Flynn Library will be open for tours during intermission. Refreshments will be served.

As this is a fundraising event for CHS, a suggested $10.00 donation is encouraged. The Clinton Historical Society is located at 103 East Main Street, Clinton, CT. For additional information, please contact Claudia at (860) 669-7814.

About the Gordon Swift and The Lost Acres String Band

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They are a three-person vocal and instrumental band featuring a unique program of music in many moods and from various traditions.  

A typical set might include traditional fiddle tunes like Whiskey Before Breakfast and Beaumont Rag, the romantic contemporary tune The Lovers' Waltz by Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, a medley of Irish jigs, and an arrangement of the haunting Mexican ballad La Llorona.  On the jazz side they play Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt's Minor Swing and the American string-band tune Cumberland Blues, which dates from 1927 and in their version features swing guitar.  Originals include a Spanish-flavored ballad in a minor key (Alhambra), a jazzy 12-bar blues (Collins Street Blues), and a foray into rock 'n' roll (Constitutional).  They cover instrumentals by The Mississippi Sheiks (That's It) and Bill Monroe (Watson Blues) and present a first string-band version of Ray Charles' Rockhouse.  They offer a few vocal numbers as well, including the classic Blues With a Feeling by Little Walter and the folk favorite Across the Great Divide by Kate Wolf.  

The members of the trio, all Connecticut residents, are: Gordon Swift (Suffield) on violin, his brother Jon Swift (Durham) on upright bass, and Thom Sayers (Hadlyme) on guitar.  Each of these seasoned musicians has decades of performing experience with various groups.

Gordon has played in fusion, rock, folk, reggae, and country bands, and led a quartet in New York City for several years.  He studied South Indian classical violin in India, and holds a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University.  Melding the technical skill of a classical player with the creative power of a seasoned improviser, Gordon blends musical influences from around the world into a distinctly American violin/fiddle style.

Jon, a veteran of the New England folk and bluegrass scene, was a founding member on bass and vocals of the popular bluegrass band Traver Hollow.  Jon has also played, sung, and recorded with numerous other groups as well as performing solo on guitar and vocals, always dedicated to keeping alive the spirit of acoustic folk music and the power of the blues.  Appearing here on upright bass, Jon lays down a rock-steady foundation for the band.

Thom loves to play bluegrass and jazz guitar and is equally at home in both styles.  He has performed with several Connecticut groups including Stoney Creek Bluegrass, and he continues to play in the jazz duo 60 Bullet Clifton with Ed Stern on keyboard.  Thom has won guitar flat-picking and band contest prizes, and also leads guitar workshops around New England.

The band has garnered praise for their first CD.  Grammy-winning musician Stacy Phillips wrote inFiddler magazine that the trio “ranges confidently through an all-instrumental repertoire in several different styles, all handled with aplomb.”  The Middletown Eye called the album “an instrumental delight.  From reels to waltzes, acoustic blues to ‘swing’ tunes…impeccably played.”

A few of the venues where the band has performed:

-- Wadsworth Mansion at Long Hill Estate, Middletown

-- 25th annual Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, Framingham, MA

-- Oliver Wolcott Library, Litchfield

-- The Buttonwood Tree, Middletown

-- The Windsor (CT) Art Center

For further information and booking, contact Gordon Swift at gnswift@msn.com or (860) 668-7472 or via the trio’s website: www.gswift.com/LASB.htm.

Information and photo courtesy of the Lost Acres String Band.


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