Wednesday, August 7, 2013

The art of George Lawrence Nelson in Kent


Portrait of the Hirschberg/Nelson family by George Laurence Nelson, Kent Historical Society

The Seven Hearths, the Kent Historical Society Museum, will re-open this summer after being closed for two years with a series of new art exhibits focusing on the life and work of George Laurence Nelson. The Seven Hearths Museum is located on Rte. 7 north of Kent center on the corner of Studio Hill Road in Kent in the historic Flanders area that was once the original center of Kent.

George Laurence Nelson, trained at the Art Students League and the National Academy, and began teaching at the Art Students League in his early 20s. Nelson was among the founders of the Litchfield Hills Art Colony, and later one of the nine founders of the Kent Art Association. 

The Litchfield Hills Art Colony played a meaningful role on a national scale in twentieth century American art. George Laurence Nelson's studio in Seven Hearths is the only remnant of the colony that is open to the public today.

Set within Nelson's beloved pre-Revolutionary Seven Hearths, which he donated to the Historical Society located on Rte. 7 in Kent Connecticut in the heart of the Litchfield Hills, the Historical Society is presenting three changing exhibits of Nelson’s work in August, September and October.

Floral Painting by Nelson

The August exhibit beginning on the 3rd and running through the 25th will feature large and interesting selection of Nelson portraits.  He made his money by doing portraits, and the subjects range from well-known celebrities such as Arturo Toscanini, to NYC society dames, to familiar local faces such as Frank Goodsell as a child.

In September from the 1st to the 29th Nelson’s floral paintings will be on display.  While he made money-painting portraits, his heart was devoted to stunning renditions of the lovely flowers that he and his wife Helen grew in their gardens at Seven Hearths. Some are exquisitely colored oil paintings and some are perfectly detailed pencil drawings. Some even are featured on the cover of matchboxes!

Toscanini by Nelson

A show that will fill the Seven Hearths Museum with works by Nelson that are borrowed from private collections will be the final exhibit of the season and will take place from October 5 – 27. 


The museum is open Saturdays and Sundays from10 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the month.


Call the Historical Society office, 860-927-4587 or visit the web site for more information www.kenthistoricalsociety.org.

For area information www.litchfieldhills.com

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Litchfield Jazz Festival in Litchfield Hills Aug. 9-11 2013




Litchfield Jazz Festival marks its 18h season August 9 – 11, 2013 at the Goshen Fairgrounds and is strategically timed so die –hard jazz lovers can attend both the Litchfield and Newport Festivals.  The Festival has tent and lawn seating and adjacent, free parking.

The Litchfield Jazz Festival opens Friday evening, August 9, with a Gala for “Friends” ($150) and “Best Friends” ($350 for the Gala and VIP all weekend).  Music at this gala event is provided by some of the most outstanding students of Litchfield Jazz Camp. Tickets to this gala help support the Jazz Camp’s scholarship program. The Gala will be followed by two sets on the Mainstage.  The first at 7:45 is the Emmet Cohen Trio and includes a pianist, who recently took 3rd place in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Piano competition. The second set includes the multi-Tony Award Winner Christine Ebersole, who teams up with virtuoso jazz violinist Aaron Weinstein and his Trio.  The Festival grounds open 5:00 PM and all festivities and music wrap up at 10:15.  

Ebersole and Weinstein
On Saturday, August 10 at Noon (grounds open at 11 a.m.) the remarkable Flamenco guitarist Val Ramos and his ensemble brings his Rhumba Flamenco - the Spanish jazz-equivalent-- to the Fest for the first time. Next up at 1:45 p.m., the Fest presents its first foray into Gospel with the iconic bassist Avery Sharpe presenting Gospel Explosion & Sacred Songs, a program featuring Sharpe’s Trio with Yoron Israel on drums and Onaje Allen Gumbs, piano, and members of his Extended Family Choir and the Williams College Gospel Choir which Sharpe directs.

The Gospel set will be followed by Gary Smulyan’s Baritone Summit, a six-time Grammy winner and Festival Artist-in-Residence joins forces with Claire Daly, Lauren Sevian and Andrew Hadro for a smashing Bari Quartet backed by a rhythm section with Helen Sung on piano, Matt Wilson on drums, and Jon Michel on bass. The next set stars college linebacker-turned Grammy-nominated vocalist, Gregory Porter who took the festival world by storm last season with his acclaimed performance at the Monterey Jazz Festival. The day ends on an upbeat with the 9-time Grammy Winner and newest NEA Jazz Master, the great Latin bandleader and pianist Eddie Palmieri and his Latin Jazz Band. Palmieri has been a giant on the jazz scene for more than 50 years, and his vigor is undiminished.

On Sunday, August 11, the Fest opens at Noon, with the exciting Orrin Evans Trio. Next up is, vocalist June Bisantz discovered early last year by the Festival’s Founder and Artistic Director, Vita Muir at Hartford’s hippest series, Music @ Japanalia.  June makes her Litchfield debut with Music Director Alex Nachimofsky on piano, Norman Johnson on guitar, Gabor Viragh on trumpet and Matt Dwonszyk on bass in a tribute to the late, great trumpeter/vocalist, Chet Baker.

It has been five years since Litchfield Jazz Camp Music Director, saxophonist Don Braden, has graced the Festival Mainstage as a leader.  So this year, he’s back again with an all-star band. His quartet features special guest Geri Allen on piano, Avery Sharpe on bass, and Alvin Atkinson. 

Eddie Palmieri
At 5:30 just back from a European tour, the Vincent Herring-Eric Alexander Quintet will delight the audience with a set titled “In the Spirit of Coltrane and Cannonball.” The band features Harold Mabern on piano, Joris Dudli on drums and Joris Teepe on bass.

In what seems to be becoming a tradition, Litchfield Jazz Festival 2013 closes with a rousing Latin Dance Party with the great Puerto Rican trombonist and Grammy nominated recording artist Papo Vázquez and the Mighty Pirate Troubadours.

In between Mainstage acts all weekend long, ticketholders can listen to talented Litchfield Jazz Camp students, enjoy and purchase art, craft and photography at an excellent show curated by Heron Gallery’s Ellen Corsell of Kent, CT.  Picnics are welcome and fine wines and excellent lagers from East Hartford’s Olde Burnside Brewing Company may be purchased.  A dozen food vendors provide excellent meals at reasonable prices. Activities designed for families with young children are scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday in the festival’s new Kids Zone. Artist-in- Residence Gary Smulyan will host interviews on both weekend days with Festival stars. On Saturday, August 10th, an after Party & Jam follows at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Southbury.

Visit www.litchfieldjazzfest.com or call 860-361-6285 for tickets and info. Tickets: Advance: $30 Lawn, $55 Tent, $150 - $500 premium tickets and passes; Multi-Day Discounted JazzPasses available. Handling fees apply. Children 12 and under free on the Lawn with an adult.


For accommodations and lodging information www.litchfieldhills.com

Friday, August 2, 2013

7th Annual Danbury Railway Day – Free Train Rides



The Danbury Railway Museum is pleased to host the 7th annual Danbury Railroad Day on Saturday, August 3. A day full of educational activities and FREE train rides for the whole family is planned.

The fun will begin at 10am and end at 4:00 PM, with train rides hourly from 10:25 to 2:25. Admission to the museum is $7.00 for ages 3 and up. The museum will be operating the Railyard Local a short FREE trip being pulled by the GE 44-Ton switch engine, built in 1947, with locomotive cab rides available.

Ride in vintage caboose or a 1920's coach. The train will stop at the old New Haven RR turntable, built circa 1914, where visitors can detrain and take a ride on the only power-operated turntable in Connecticut. Leaving the turntable, take a tour of the Tonawanda Valley, a 20th Century Limited observation car a restoration in progress. This car recently took part in the Parade of Trains display for the Grand Central Terminal centennial celebration.
As a special visual treat, periodically during the day a vintage freight train will be running. At 11:25 and 1:25, visitors can ride in a special caboose train.

In the Danbury museum building, visitors can explore railroad history exhibits, operating electric train layouts, static model displays of the station and railyard, many one-of-a-kind artifacts of railroading history, a wonderful gift shop, and many other items of interest.



Outside in the historic railyard, guests will find walk-through exhibits, an operating New Haven RR forge with a blacksmith on duty and a vast assortment of train cars and locomotives, many that ran in Danbury during its railroading heyday.

A recent restoration project, the old water tank pump house and water pump originally situated near the Danbury Fair Mall, will be open for inspection.

About the Danbury Railway Museum

The Danbury Railway Museum is a non-profit organization, staffed solely by volunteers, and is dedicated to the preservation of, and education about, railroad history. The museum is located in the restored 1903 Danbury Station and rail yard at 120 White Street, Danbury, CT. For further information, visit the Web site at http://www.danburyrail.org, email info@danburyrail.org, or call the museum at 203-778-8337. For area information www.litchfieldhills.com