On Stage At Kingsborough To Kick Off Free Concert Series This Weekend
The Hot Sardines will play July 20. (Source: hotsardines.com)On Stage at Kingsborough, the performing arts programming division at Kingsborough Community College (2001 Oriental Boulevard) will once again host a series of free outdoor concerts all summer un the Hot Summer Nights banner. The concerts kick off this weekend, and follow on Saturday nights thoughout July at 8:00 p.m.
“This year, our concerts will feature some of the finest Jazz and Swing artists in the world that play regularly at New York City’s hottest clubs,” stated Anna Becker, executive director of On Stage at Kingsborough. “Or you can find them right here, at Kingsborough’s free outdoor concert series at our bandshell, in the shadow of our stunning lighthouse, and just a breezy stroll away from our breathtaking sea wall. We invite everyone to bring a picnic and make a wonderful summer evening of it.”
Here’s this year’s lineup:
July 6: The Brooklyn
Community Wind Ensemble
, conducted by Ray Wheeler, kicks off the series with its musical tribute to Independence Day. Join us for an evening of patriotic pops with our community’s beloved concert band.
July 13: The George Gee Swing Orchestra, f
eaturing vocalists Hilary Gardner and John Dokes with special guest Lindy Hoppers Samantha Siegel and Brian Lawton. Get ready to jump, jive and wail with the George Gee Swing Orchestra. This swingin’ band has been together for over 25 years and deeply enjoys its hard-earned reputation as the swingin’-est, blowin’-est, heppest classic big band in New York City. In more than 30 years of playing for dancing feet, the George Gee Swing Orchestra band has developed a special bond with lindy hoppers all around the world.
July 20: The Hot Sardines –
Take a blustery brass lineup, layer it over a rhythm section led by a Fats Waller-style stride-piano virtuoso, and tie the whole thing together with a magnetic, one-of-the-boys frontwoman whose voice recalls another era, and you have The Hot Sardines. The Sardine sound – wartime Paris via New Orleans (or the other way around) – is steeped in the kind of music Louis Armstrong, Dhango Reinhardt, and Waller used to make: Straight-up, foot stomping jazz.
July 27: David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Centennial Band –
Inspired by the noble jazz pioneers Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, and more, David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Centennial Band breathes life and passion into America’s own great art form. This
Grammy Award-nominated
band plays weekly at New York City’s Birdland Jazz Club with guest musicians such as Wynton Marsalis, Dick Hyman, Jon Hendricks, and blues great Big Joe Turner.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Admission and parking is free and open to the public. Kingsborough’s gates open at 7:00 p.m. and the concerts begin at 8:00 p.m.
A limited number of seats are available, but all are welcome to bring blankets and folding chairs for our grassy areas as well.
Rain Location:
In the event of rain or extreme heat, the concerts will be relocated to the air conditioned Leon M. Goldstein Performing Arts Center. Updated location information will be available on our box office line – (718) 368-5596 – starting at 4:00 p.m. on concert days.
Picnic Information:
To complete a gorgeous night of great music in a friendly community setting, our gates open at 7:00 p.m. and picnicking is welcomed. An ice cream truck will be on site selling treats.
For more information:
Box Office Location:
On Stage at Kingsborough box office, Kingsborough Community College, 2001 Oriental Boulevard. There is ample, free parking on the campus.
