Area musicians perform during the "My Big, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras Party," an after-hours multimedia celebration of the music and spirit of New Orleans. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Festival begins at 7.
While commonly associated with Lent and Easter, Mardi Gras dates back thousands of years to pagan celebrations of spring and fertility. In this spirit of celebration and carnivale, the library hosts an evening that will blend multiple styles of music with dollops of jazz, funk, Dixieland, blues, ragtime, and world music.
Musical acts include Ragtime Relics, Mink Ogata, The Skip Livingston Sometimes Dixieland Band, Alejandro Ataucsi and Stay Tuned. Full details below.
"Laissez les bons temps rouler" as they say in NOLA or, as we say up north, "Let the good times roll!"
THE RAGTIME RELICS perform vintage American music that spans genres and generations, including ragtime, pre-war blues, jazz, country, swing, and early rock & roll. The trio is led by its founder, Karl Dentino on finger style guitar, harmonica and vocals; and features Bo Child on mandolin, and Jennifer Jang on upright bass.
MINEKO OGATA received classical piano and vocal training from an early age in her native Japan. Fascinated by Keith Jarrett, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and others, Mineko began playing jazz in college, where she crafted a unique style as a performer and composer. She has toured and recorded with professional bands in Japan and the US, playing her own compositions along with popular jazz standards. Mineko has released 3 CD albums which you can hear on Spotify, iTunes and other platforms.
SKIP LIVINGSTON’S OCCASIONAL DIXIELAND BAND plays New Orleans music – the kind you’d hear in a Mardi Gras parade, in a bar on Bourbon Street, or from sidewalk buskers. They improvise, with a spontaneity and spirit that keeps the music fresh for both the musicians and the audience. Performing tonight are Skip Livingston on clarinet, Chuck Allen on trumpet, Rod Anderson on tenor sax, Bob Ebert on banjo, and Mike Giles on tuba, with special guest, Olive Joseph, on vocals. A
LEJANDRO ATAUCUSI is a gifted multi instrumentalist and composer who channels the Andean, Spanish and African roots of his native Peru. Alejandro is also a music instructor, researcher, world traveler, and an ambassador for Godin Guitars and Aquila strings. Alejandro is the leader of Forbidden Tropics, an Afro-Peruvian Jazz band whose debut CD album, “Peruvian Rhapsody,” can be heard on Spotify, iTunes and other platforms.
STAY TUNED is the Garden State's leading practitioners of Garage Pop, a swirling alchemy of R&B, Soul, Psychedelia & Americana sprinkled with Jazz, World Music and Electronica. The versatile quintet embraces a rich and diverse songbook. Stay Tuned are: Scott Glazer on guitar and vocals, Jay Greenfield on drums, Dan Damon on bass and vocals, Dennis Nobile on guitars, harmonica and vocals and Abena Ofori-Atta on vocals and percussion.
Special guests appearances by Kathy Haynie on keyboards and Olive Joseph on vocals.
Sound and AV by Lake Smithfield Studios