TURNmusic guests DíJazz Collective jazz fusion enchants at The Phoenix

April 24, 2025  |  By Eliza Walsh  |  Community News Service 

Anabel Gil Díaz, on flute, and her DíJazz Collective perform at The Phoenix Gallery & Music Hall on April 12. Photo by Annalisa Madonia

The house lights dimmed inside The Phoenix Gallery & Music Hall, leaving the small space illuminated by just a fluorescent blue disco ball and a spotlight funneling attention toward the drum kit, baby grand piano, upright bass, flute and microphone stand at the front. 

Soon, Cuban multi-instrumentalist and composer Anabel Gil Díaz and the rest of her DíJazz Collective quartet headed toward the mainstage, taking a minute to compose themselves and get on count before erupting into an ethereal tune led by a floating flute melody with supporting synthesizer. 

What followed that April 12 night in Waterbury was a 75-minute set of alternative jazz that moved viewers to applaud before the songs could conclude. Díaz talked to the crowd throughout the show, enlisting help titling a new song or asking the audience to add a layer of sound to the performance by mimicking a maraca with their mouths. 

Each song came with elaborate lore, with one inspired by the Alamo, and Díaz conveyed that passion both in prefaces to each composition and while playing. You could hear the intensity of her inhales as she navigated through difficult flute solos under the heat of the sweltering lights. 

The concert was the latest in a partnership between The Phoenix and performing arts nonprofit TURNmusic, founded by Waterbury resident Anne Decker. She was there that night to introduce Díaz.

Anne Decker is TURNmusic's founder and director. Photo by Annalisa Madonia

Decker started TURNmusic in 2014 as a way to introduce classical and jazz styles to the live music scene in central Vermont. Previously the music director for the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra and now a music teacher at U-32 Middle and High School, Decker has had a passion for music ensembles since college. 

She was thrilled to partner with The Phoenix owner Joseph Pensak to establish a residency in the space for her program, which had been holding inconsistently scheduled concerts around Waterbury and at Burlington’s ArtsRiot for the first nine years of its tenure. The program is now entering its second season with The Phoenix as its home base.

“It took me a long time to figure out what I was going to call the thing,” Decker said. “I’m just interested in new. I’m interested in learning. The turning — it’s continual.” 

When it comes to genre, Decker is not partial only to jazz. In programming for the venue, she said she experiments with different performers to see how the community reacts. 

“People that come to our programs will start to research a little what we’re doing, but people can be pretty surprised, program to program, what I’ll put in here,” Decker said. 

She’s always keeping an ear to the ground for an act with a cool story. She found Díaz through a friend, local jazz musician and Proud Flower florist shop owner Nina Towne, who is currently taking flute lessons from Díaz. The DíJazz Collective sold out the April 12 show. 

Díaz, a recent Berklee College of Music graduate now earning her master’s in jazz and contemporary music, has been studying the craft since she was 5 years old. Born in Havana, Cuba, she takes an approach that fuses classical and South American styles.

She has performed with the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra and participates as a session flautist with Harvard Composers’ Association. 

“[Performing] is like being naked. I’m anxious but excited,” Díaz said. She said she felt welcomed at The Phoenix. “I do better in small spaces,” she said, describing the venue as “so intimate and warm,” so “that helped me.” 

Jazz Jam at The Phoenix in January. Photo by Gordon Miller

In addition to the solo and group artists that Decker books on a regular basis now, TURNmusic also holds Jazz Jams monthly at The Phoenix, and tickets are a sliding-scale donation. Those 21 and under can get in for free. “I don’t want there to be a barrier,” Decker said.

TURNmusic's home base is The Phoenix Gallery & Music Hall in Waterbury. Photo by Annalisa Madonia

Waterbury Center resident Steve Soule was in the audience the night Díaz performed. He attends TURNmusic’s jazz concerts regularly and has nothing but appreciation for the program. 

“It’s the best place nobody’s ever heard of,” Soule declared during the intermission. 

TURNmusic’s programs position themselves as an appealing option if you’re looking to experience music in a relaxed and accepting setting. 

“It’s really an inviting place to come and zone out, watch some musicians, listen to the music or be social,” Decker said. “There’s a really great community vibe in here: You could come if you want to be social, and you could also come and rest your mind. I think that’s the biggest thing I get from seeing music live.”

Community News Service is a University of Vermont journalism internship producing stories for Vermont news outlets, including Waterbury Roundabout.