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Local Jazz Ensemble Opens Midsummer Lakeside Concerts at Bates College

LEWISTON, ME: The Lewiston-Auburn based jazz band Three Point Trio opens the 2009 Bates College Midsummer Lakeside Concert Series at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 9, in the Florence Keigwin Amphitheater at the college's Lake Andrews.  The 2009 series also presents Maine singer-songwriter Carolyn Currie, Maine-based folk trio Ti' Acadie, the collaboration of Bates Dance Festival musicians known as the One World Music Ensemble and Reveillions!, a band known for their modern take on traditional Quebecois music.  Lakeside concerts start at 6 p.m. on five consecutive Thursdays in July and August. The concerts are open to the public at no cost. Picnics are encouraged, as is bringing lawn chairs or blankets.  The rain site is the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St., adjacent to the amphitheater. For more information, please call 207-786-6400.

Here's the complete schedule:

July 9, Three Point Trio: The Three Point Trio has shared its passion for jazz with the Lewiston-Auburn area since late 2007. Guitarist and Bates physics professor John Smedley, bassist Tim Clough and drummer Tom Schipper play a combination of jazz standards and original compositions.  The trio cites "Miles, Monk and Mingus" -- Davis, Thelonious and Charles -- among their greatest influences, along with such artists as Elvin Jones, John Coltrane and Charlie Haden. Three Point Trio's performances are based around the love of sharing jazz. Learn more at www.myspace.com/threepointtrio. 

July 16, Carolyn Currie: Carolyn Currie has charmed festival audiences across the U.S. with her layered blend of folk, ballads and Celtic music. A true singer-songwriter with a talent for lyrics, Currie has written prolifically since recording her first CD, "No Heroes," in 1995. She has played such gatherings as the Telluride Bluegrass festival, Napa Valley Folk Festival and the BMI Showcase for songwriters.  According to one reviewer, if you watch Currie "you'll swear, by the end of the night that at least one of her poetic melodies was written specifically about you." Currie supports her lyrics with music that has been described as "haunting, luminous and spellbinding."  Currie's CD "Kiss of Ghosts" was named one of the top independent releases by Performing Songwriter magazine. Her latest, "Waves of Silence," was featured as CD of the week on the BBC's Scottish Gaelic channel. Learn more at www.carolyncurrie.com.

July 23, Ti' Acadie: Ti' Acadie, or "little Acadia" in French, is a folk trio whose name refers to the Francophone culture of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, a culture reflected in Louisiana's Cajun people. Ti' Acadie features Pam Weeks on fiddle, mountain dulcimer and vocals, Jim Joseph on button accordion and five-string banjo, and Bill Olson, a singer, guitarist and bassist also known as a contradance caller.
The three have made music together since they met in the Maine contradance band Scrod Pudding in 1990. In 1996, united by a love of high-energy, highly percussive Cajun music, they formed Ti' Acadie. Since then, they have toured together, offering not only Cajun music but old-time songs with tight harmonies, Québécois dance tunes and New England contradance music.  Ti' Acadie is fascinated by the link between the Cajun and Acadian peoples, and uses music to explore this connection. This blending of styles makes for an interactive, engaging and undeniably unique concert experience. Learn more at www.pamweeks.com/tiacadie.

July 30, One World Music Ensemble: One World Music Ensemble comprises musicians from the Bates Dance Festival. This nationally recognized dance festival brings together an extremely diverse and talented group of musicians. This program promises to be a tapestry of rhythms and melodies from all corners of the globe. The ensemble plays a vast array of world instruments, including accordion, kalimba, bouzouki, marimbas and percussion, making for an incredible collaboration of cultures.

Aug. 6, Reveillons!: Aligning themselves with "the current universal . . . longing to 'return to our roots,' " Reveillons! is influenced by the Québécois tradition. The group hails from Montreal and features David Berthiaume on vocals, jaw harp and concertina, Marc Maziade on guitar, tenor banjo and vocals, Richard Forest on fiddle and Jean-Francois Berthiaume as the band's caller.  Reveillons! is French for "Wake up!" Since forming in 1996, Reveillons! has played reels, jigs, French songs and step dances at major festivals in Quebec and cities around the U.S. and Canada. Learn more at www.reveillons.qc.ca.