FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

CONTACT: Contact: Penny Davis-Dublin,  207-865-0044, programs@meetinghousearts.org

DATE: 25 August 2023 

Meetinghouse Arts Stage presents Novel Jazz Septet

Continuing the Meetinghouse Arts Jazz Series, Novel Jazz Septet will be performing on September 9 at 7:00 at Meetinghouse Arts Stage, 40 Main Street, Freeport, ME.  

Novel Jazz Septet will perform newly-found Ellington and Strayhorn jazz works at Meetinghouse Arts. Novel Jazz has been a fixture in the Maine jazz scene for almost two decades.  Their mission is to share the music and stories of jazz icons, Duke Ellington and his sidekick, Billy Strayhorn. Between them, they wrote some 2500-3000 compositions over their musical careers, two percent of which represent the well-known standards and 98% of which represent rarely heard gems.  The septet will perform standard tunes from the Ellington/Strayhorn repertoire plus newly arranged compositions that they have unearthed from original recordings, the Ellington Archives of the Smithsonian Museum of American History as well as the Strayhorn Collection at the Library of Congress, both in Washington D.C.   Novel Jazz members have dusted these pieces off, rearranged them for the septet, and given them a 21st century sound, all of their own.  

For more information and to purchase tickets, navigate your browser to https://meetinghousearts.org/event/novel-jazz-takes-the-stage-at-meetinghouse-arts/ Remember, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing!  So, bop-on over to  Meetinghouse Arts on September 9, 2023 for some classic jazz by Duke Ellington, as well as his sidekick, Billy Strayhorn, performed by the Novel Jazz Septet!

Tickets cost $15 for students and $20 for adults. They will be available at the door or  online here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/novel-jazz-tickets-700806319567?aff=oddtdtcreator

About Meetinghouse Arts:

The mission of Meetinghouse Arts is to cultivate Greater Freeport as a vibrant center for arts and culture by fostering creative collaboration, expanding access to arts and cultural assets, and amplifying the arts and culture as powerful tools to create, strengthen, and connect community.

Meetinghouse Arts Gallery & Stage  is a newly renovated, flexible, multi-use arts venue located within the historic First Parish Church, at 40 Main Street in downtown Freeport, across from the Freeport Historical Society. Meetinghouse Arts Gallery & Stage contains a 200-seat performance venue, an art gallery, exhibition space and gathering hall.

Upcoming Meetinghouse Arts Events: 

September 1-October 14

Color & Light 3rd annual mixed media gallery member show

Saturday, September 23 at 7:00 pm:

YES & Co. Improvisational Comedy

Saturday, September 30 at

Sara Cox Original acoustic music

Saturday, October 7 at 

A Sense of Wonder with Kaiulani Lee–Original one-woman play about the life of Rachel Carson

Saturday, October 15

Paul Sullivan Original piano compositions

October 20-28

Robert Shetterly  Portraits of People Who Tell the Truth

Saturday, October 28 at 

Fiddle-icious  An orchestra of over 140 playing a lively mixture of traditional music