Huntington Local

By Dianne Matus

The Huntington Summer Arts Festival begins its eighth week this week, with a performance by Christian McBride on Friday evening. McBride, at left, whose performance credits include working with Sting and Chick Corea, is a Grammy Award-winning bassist.

Tuesday: Janice Buckner, “Ecology Show”
Janice Buckner has toured nationally and internationally since 1977. “Songs of the Earth’s Community” celebrates our planet and renews our commitment to creating a better world. It’s about things that grow—people, plants and animals. The show teaches the importance of taking an active part in protecting and nurturing our environment. It’s ideal for Earth Day and year-round environmental awareness.

Wednesday: Nassau Pops Symphony Orchestra
Maestro Louis Panacciulli directs the orchestra in favorites from Broadway, television and the movies as well as light classical music.

Thursday: “Phantom of the Opera” Alloy Orchestra
Alloy Orchestra is a three-man musical ensemble, writing and performing live accompaniment to classic silent films. Working with an outrageous assemblage of peculiar objects, they thrash and grind soulful music from unlikely sources. Performing at prestigious film festivals and cultural centers in the US and abroad (The Telluride Film Festival, The Louvre, Lincoln Center, The Academy of Motion Pictures, the National Gallery of Art and others), Alloy has helped revive some of the great masterpieces of the silent era, including “Phantom”: see the original!
This is co-presented with Cinema Arts Centre

Friday: Christian McBride
Christian McBride is widely considered to be one of the best jazz bassists of his generation. McBride has performed and recorded with a huge number of jazz legends and ensembles, including Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Diana Krall, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis and Joshua Redman, as well as with pop, soul, and classical musicians like Kathleen Battle, Carly Simon, Sting, and James Brown. Since 2000, McBride has fronted his own acoustic, jazz, fusion and funk ensemble, "The Christian McBride Band." As writer Alan Leeds stated, it is "one of the most intoxicating, least predictable bands on the scene today."

Saturday: Mose Allison
There are few Jazz/Blues artists who have had a greater impact on musicians of the last 50 years than pianist, singer and composer Mose Allison. Allison has been touring and recording for at least that long and his songs have been recorded by many artists, among them, The Who, Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, The Clash and Diana Krall. His singular style, a unique blending of jazz and blues, and his profound lyrical wit, mark him as a true American original.

Opening Act: Amy Allison
Amy Allison, a singer-songwriter based in NYC, is the daughter of jazz great, Mose Allison. She has been a fixture on the New York scene for over 20 years, while her timeless songcraft and unique sound have won her press kudos and a loyal following in the US and abroad.

Sunday: Long Island Dance Company
The best of Regional Dance; the evening promises great variety and dance excitement.

The Huntington Summer Arts Festival is presented by the Town of Huntington, produced by the Huntington Arts Council and sponsored in part by the New York State Council on the Arts and the Suffolk County Office of Cultural Affairs. The festival runs June 20 through August 17.
Performances are free and open to the public at the Chapin Rainbow Stage in Huntington’s Heckscher Park. Bring a blanket or beach chair. All performances begin at 8:30PM, except the Tuesday Night Arrow Electronics “It’s Showtime” Family Series performances which start at 7:30PM. For directions or more information, call the Festival Hotline at 631-271-8423 ext. 5, visit huntingtonarts.org, or stop by the Huntington Arts Council, located at 213 Main Street in Huntington Village, for a free copy of the Summer 2008 Arts Cultural News. Bring an umbrella: no rain dates except Tuesday Family nights; call Severe Weather Extension 631-271-8423 ext. 4 if in doubt about Tuesday performances only.

Dianne Matus handles press and public relations for the arts council.