GUILFORD-The Soubrettes, the Vermont Jazz Center’s lively 19-voice choir, will be celebrating their 20th anniversary and the release of their album Town with a 6:30 p.m. concert Wednesday, June 17, at the Guilford Community Park Pavilion on 24 Church Drive next to the Guilford Community Church.
The choir was founded in 2006, when Eugene Uman invited Anna Patton to lead a harmony singing class at the Jazz Center. Over the years, participants honed their skills of singing syncopated rhythms and close sophisticated harmonies, and Patton became a more adventurous arranger.
Their debut album “is a testament to the hard work, creativity and fun of tackling musical challenges together,” worte event promoters in a news release.
Town was conceived in the quarantined months of 2021 when the choir was rehearsing over Zoom. Like many singing groups during that period, they turned to recording technology as a way to hear their voices together while singing alone. Singers recorded their parts, one at a time, into a mic on Patton’s porch, with audio cables draped out her office window.
An array of instrumentalists added accompaniment to the project, including Patton’s father, Will Patton, on bass and mandolin, Eugene Uman on keys, and Patton, herself, on clarinet. The title track of Town is a Brattleboro-themed riff on a Mose Allison instrumental, celebrating the town’s boggling array of opportunities to dance, learn, eat, hear music, and generally get off the couch and go see what’s happening.
Other songs appearing on the album that will also be featured in the June 17 concert include Irving Berlin’s “Lazy,” celebrating the art of relaxation, Kris Delmhorst’s “Invisible Choir,” a mediation on leaving something behind to inspire those who come after us, and Ben Patton’s “There Aren’t Enough Love Songs,” which contains a “cacophonous interlude” that quotes no less than 13 love-songs from the American Songbook.
The concert will feature guest instrumentalists Will Patton and Ben Patton, Cathy Martin on keys, and Julian Gerstin on percussion.
This performance is part of the Joinery Summer Music series put on by the Guilford Community Park, presenting music at the nexus of folk, swing, and gospel. All Joinery concerts are from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., with admission by donation. (suggested: $15–$25) with no one turned away.
A lawn chair or blanket is recommended, and perhaps a parasol as well for the sunny start of the evening. Letti’s Besitos will be serving tacos and the playground will be open. In case of rain, The Soubrettes concert will be held next door in the Guilford Community Church.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.