Markia Hughes & Bottom Heavy , a favorite act in New York City’s top jazz clubs – The Blue Note and Joe’s Pub – comes to Concord City Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, for the second concert in the 83rd season of the Concord Community Concert Association.
This is a rare treat for New Hampshire jazz buffs, with free improv, funky instrumentals, killer songs, and the “fiercely authentic” jazz cellist herself, said CCCA President Paul Matthews. The theatre will open at 6:30 p.m. for fall refreshments and special events in the Reception Lobby, including a “Trick or Treat” Silent Auction, with general seating opening at 7 p.m.
Growing up in NYC with parents who owned a jazz club on the Upper West Side, Hughes was a regular on Sesame Street, a member of the New York Youth Symphony, and a student at international music festivals.
“The Simplest Thing” (DD Records) celebrates her debut leading Bottom Heavy, her own band, and singing her own songs.
Produced by Kyle Sanna, the CD features special guests Charlie Burnham, Jenny Scheinman, and Vienna Teng.
The band appears with her at the Concord Community Concert.
Concord Community Concert Association, founded in 1930 by three local music teachers, has presented top-flight professional musicians for New Hampshire audiences for 83 years. The 2013-14 series opened in September with a full house at City Auditorium dancing in the aisles to the music of the Klezmer Conservatory Band. The season will continue in January, as the Dartmouth Gospel Choir performs a Sunday matinee concert on the Martin Luther King holiday, in March with Pavel Nersessian, the acclaimed Russian pianist, and end in April with the New England Brass Quintet.
Tickets are $18, available at Gibson’s Bookstore and The UPS Store on S. Main Street in Concord, and at the door.
Season tickets are $58 and include the four upcoming Concord concerts, five Nashua Community Concert performances, the ACT Now BOGO vouchers, and children admitted free — a feature of the CCCA for 83 years.
Information is available at info@concordcityauditorium.org.
