The Taft School Music for a While concert series continues Saturday, February 10 at 7:30 pm, with Jazz from the Undercroft: A Mardi Gras Celebration, featuring T.J. Thompson and Friends.
The Taft School Music for a While concert series continues Saturday, February 10 at 7:30 pm, with Jazz from the Undercroft: A Mardi Gras Celebration, featuring T.J. Thompson and Friends. The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required. Guests are invited to bring their own refreshments to the cabaret, which is located in the Woodward Chapel Undercroft, 25 The Green, in Watertown, CT, on the Taft School campus. Doors open at 6:30 pm.
Taft School instrumental music teacher, conductor, and pianist T.J. Thompson will lead a group of talented musicians on what has become one of the most anticipated musical nights of the year. The event is a cabaret-style evening of Jazz, New Orleans Blues, Funk, and more. Thompson performed with Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, which led to a gig as featured artist on Branford Marsalis’ Jazz Set on WNPR. He recorded and produced “Thompson Trio Take One.” The album, which included mostly original works, earned positive reviews from Goldmine and Cadence magazines. Their sophomore album, “Take Two: The Sound of Playing,” garnered 2017 Jazz Artist of the Year honors from the International Music Entertainment Association. A student of both Henry Butler and George Cables, Thompson has opened for and worked with a wide range of well-known artists, including Henry Butler, Mel Tormé, Ed Thigpen, Dave Liebman, and Koko Taylor. Thompson was also a featured soloist on “The Morgan Powell Jazz Album.” He taught at St. Johnsbury Academy and Johnson State College before taking on the post of Director of Instrumental Music at Taft.
For more information visit taftschool.org/concerts or call the box office at 860-945-7898.