TURNmusic, Blackback Pub announce Music in the Alley lineup
June 12, 2024 | By Waterbury Roundabout 
Helen Gillet performs at the first Music in the Alley show on Friday, June 21. Photo by Olivia Perillo
Outdoor music is a staple of summertime around Vermont and Waterbury has multiple opportunities including the Music the Alley series sponsored by TURNmusic and Blackback Pub.
Three free concerts are planned for the alley on Stowe Street shared by Blackback Pub and The Phoenix Gallery and Music Hall, home to TURNmusic. Rain location is inside The Phoenix. The shows are scheduled for Friday nights – one each in June, July and August – from 6 to 9 p.m., and are appropriate for all ages.
“This is an opportunity to hear innovative music in an unusual setting,” said TURNmusic Director Anne Decker. “Join your friends and neighbors on a summer Friday evening for new music, great food by the Blackback Pub, and a deep sense of community. Music in the Alley is one of those unique experiences that make Waterbury great.”
Friday, June 21: Helen Gillet
Helen Gillet is a musician, composer, cellist, bilingual singer (Belgian French and English), improviser and looping artist who calles New Orleans home. Her prolific career has won her awards of Offbeat Best of the Beat, Gambit Big Easy Awards, featured artist at New Orleans Jazz Museum and has been nominated three times, most recently in 2023, as a rising star in Downbeat Magazine's Critics Poll.
A singer-songwriter and surrealist-archeologist, Gillet explores synthesized sounds, texture, and rhythm using an acoustic cello. She has played and recorded with many musicians over the past 20 years, including members of the Sun Ra Arkestra, AACM (Chicago), ICP (Holland), Members of Morphine, Kidd Jordan, Marianne Faithful, Cassandra Wilson, Delfeayo and Jason Marsalis, Steve Earle, Iron & Wine. She opened as a solo artist for Les Claypool and Jeff Tweedy, and performed at the Copenhagen Jazz Fest, New Orleans Jazz Fest, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center and more.
Friday, July 19: Lovecraft
Lovecraft features the original works of its membership as well as fresh takes on classic tunes. The quintet of performers, composers, and educators fuses classic jazz traditions with contemporary approaches, exploring the musical realm between order and chaos.
Lovecraft is Brian Boyes (Harwood music teacher) on trumpet, Evan Crandell on saxophone, Tom Cleary on keys, bass player Kyle Saulnier and drummer Andy Gagnon.
Friday, August 23: Slim Pikins
Slim Pickins performs at Music in the Alley on Friday, Aug. 23. Photo by Lauren Stagnitti
Slim Pikins hails from the Northeast Kingdom bringing a multi-genre menu of music from baroque to Gypsy Jazz and lots in between. This insouciant quartet is Don Schabner on guitar, Mary Rowell on violin and uke, Fran Rowell on cello, and Annie Rowell on barnyard bass playing everything they like from toe-tapping “chuck-chuck” cello to the Brazilian Chorinho to some favorite pops tunes. They remind audiences that Passacaglia is indeed a relevant musical form.