The Arts Council of Princeton, in partnership with the Princeton Shopping Center and Edens, will present the Summer Courtyard Concert Series every Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Princeton Shopping Center.
The concerts, which run through August 28, are free and open to the public. Concerts will be held rain or shine and attendees are urged to bring a lawn chair. In the case of rain, concerts will be held indoors at the ACP’s Pop-Up Studio in the shopping center. Parking is available at the Princeton Shopping Center. The schedule of July performers includes:
July 3: The Blawenberg Band, one of the oldest community bands in the state, brings back the golden age of concert band music with American patriotic tunes. The members of the band range in age from their teens to their nineties, and include teachers and students, research scientists, lawyers, computer specialists, homemakers and active retirees. Some players have years of training and professional experience, others learned to play as children and are dedicated amateurs.
July 10: The Dirk Quinn Quartet is a high-energy funk/jazz band with great melodic sensibilities, rhythmic experimentation and an accessible modern edge.
July 17: “Amazin’ Grace” Little has impressed audiences with her powerful R&B and gospel vocals since she won the adult category of the famous Apollo Theater talent competition at the age of 12. After that she joined the national touring companies of Dreamgirls, Oh Calcutta, and The Wiz. The Grace Little Band brings energy to classic hits and performs their own arrangements.
July 24: “Remembering Pete Seeger,” a tribute featuring the Spook Handy Band. Spook Handy is a nationally touring folk musician and New Jersey native who has performed over 50 concerts and festivals with Pete Seeger. With Seeger as his mentor, Spook learned many of his songs and the stories behind them. Spook was named “Best Folk Artist” by Upstage Magazine, Gannett New Jersey, The Courier News, The Home News and About.com.
July 31: Students perform from the Princeton School of Rock, a music school that teaches kids to excel on stage and in life. The school teaches in an interactive environment to bring out everything from the classics to modern hits.
August 7: Swingadelic plays an amalgam of jazz, blues and New Orleans styles and presents it in a vocal/instrumental pops format. The band maintains a weekly residency at the dinner/dance nightclub Swing 46 in NYC and has performed from Maine to Atlanta, including Lincoln Center and NJPAC.
August 14: Celtic Crossroad brings the music of Ireland, Scotland, and England to life through tight harmonies and powerful, intricate instrumentation on guitar, fiddle, banjo, whistle, mandolin, and bodhran. The band performs a variety of songs, from early 20th century Irish classics to seldom-heard gems that quickly become new audience favorites.
August 21: Swift Technique, Philly’s fiery funksters, are a horn infused, high energy, soulful band. The band has recently debuted in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, New Orleans, Nashville and Savannah.
August 28: Ray Rodriguez and Swing Sabroso bring a distinctive Salsa Dura style that is the result of the unique and extensive musical backgrounds of the band’s individual members. They have who have performed and recorded with some of the most recognizable names in Latin Music before joining together to integrate Swing Sabroso.
For more information on the concert series, call Princeton Shopping Center at (609) 921-6234, go to princetonshoppingcenter.com, contact Alyssa Gillon at agillon@artscouncilofprinceton.org or call (609) 924-8777 ext. 110.
The Arts Council of Princeton presents summer concerts every Thursday in July and August at the Princeton Shopping Center. Performers this year include Swingadelic.,
