At least a dozen Syracuse Area Music Award-winners will perform this summer as part of the annual Liverpool Is The Place concert series. All concerts are free and take place from 7 to 9 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday evenings at Johnson Park, at the corner of Oswego and Vine streets, in Liverpool’s central business district.
Monday June 3: Liverpool School Jazz Ensembles
Wednesday June 5: Mark Hoffmann Quartet (rhythm & blues)
Monday June 10: Liverpool Community Chorus
Wednesday June 12: Joe Whiting Band (rock)
Sunday June 16: MacBeth staged by the Redhouse Arts Center.
Monday June 17: The Fab Cats (Beatles tribute)
Wednesday June 19: Mark Doyle & The Maniacs (British blues-rock)
Monday June 24: Matt Chase & Thunder Canyon (country rock)
Wednesday June 26: Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers (original folk-rock)
Monday July 1: Liverpool Community Band (patriotic tunes)
Wednesday July 3: Scott Dennis Quartet (jazz standards)
Monday July 8: Excelsior Cornet Band (Civil War military music)
Wednesday July 10: Fab Five Paul & Magical Mystery Tour (Beatles tribute)
Monday July 15: The Coachmen featuring Elizabeth Fern (rock/R&B)
Wednesday July 17: Michael Houston & Anjela Lynn (soul)
Monday July 22: Jon Seiger’s All-Stars (jazz and swing)
Wednesday July 24: Southern Comfort (country and oldies)
Monday July 29: Native Man & The Funky White Band (rock’n’roll)
Wednesday July 31: I Am Fool (original rock)
Monday Aug. 5: The Bob Lyna Trio (acoustic swing)
Wednesday Aug. 7: Mickey Vendetti & The Good-Time Band (rock’n’roll)
Monday Aug. 13: The Details (rock’n’roll)
Wednesday Aug. 14: Enzian Bavarian Band (old world dance music)
Monday Aug. 19: The Other Guise (rock’n’roll)
Wednesday Aug. 21: Alan Taylor & Two Feet Short (folk)
Several of the 24 bands booked for performances between June 3 and Aug. 22 feature Sammy Hall of Famers. They include guitarist Mark Hoffmann (June 5), singer-saxophonist Joe Whiting (June 12), guitarist Mark Doyle (June 19), songwriters Gary Frenay and Arty Lenin (playing with the Fab Cats June 17), keyboardist Mike Davis (with The Coachmen, July 15), and drummer Jan Fetterly (with the Other Guise, Aug. 19).
Other Sammy-winners appearing at the park this summer are the Excelsior Cornet Band (July 8), and guitarist Eric Will (leading Southern Comfort July 24).
Every Monday and Wednesday evening from June 3 through Aug. 21, music-lovers will bring their blankets and lawn chairs to the park’s amphitheater to enjoy the tunes and a cone of hot popcorn. The LITP Committee, chaired by 1st Ward Town of Salina Councilwoman Colleen Gunnip, has scheduled two dozen free concerts starting with a showcase for the Liverpool School Jazz Ensembles on June 3.
Something new this year will be a free theatrical presentation of a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, “MacBeth,” performed by a Redhouse Arts Center troupe at 7 p.m. Sunday, June 16, at Johnson Park.
Besides the student jazzers on June 3, other musicians with local ties include the Liverpool Community Chorus conducted by John Miller (June 10); Fab Five Paul & The Magical Mystery Tour, a Beatles-tribute band (July 10); the Liverpool Community Orchestra led by Clay clarinetist Vince Iarossi (July 1); and I Am Fool, a new progressive rock combo featuring Liverpool singer/trumpeter Tamaralee Shutt (July 31).
When guitarist Alan Taylor presents the Annual John Denver Memorial Food Drive concert (Aug. 21), his fellow performers will be Two Feet Short, a duo featuring folksingers Jimmy Flynn and Don Meixner. That night audience members will bring non-perishable food items to share with St. Joseph the Worker Church food bank.
In 2009, the Liverpool Is The Place concert series was nominated as Best Concert Series in the Syracuse New Times’ annual “best of” awards.
This year’s series sponsor is WellCare of New York. Individual concert sponsors are still being sought. If you or your business would like to support a concert, email Gunnip at [email protected].
For information, visit liverpoolistheplace.com, or call the Greater Liverpool Chamber of Commerce at 457-3895.
