First Night 2011



It was the 28th annual First Night celebration of the arts in Burlington, Vermont.

I wore black, diamond earrings, and hiking boots. (Okay, this is Vermont...) Weather was really mild. The streets were wet and a little slushy. 

Attending First Night has become a tradition for us. There's a choice of over 70 events, most lasting about 40 minutes, giving time to find one's way to the next venue for the next performance. 

Geo and Adriene arrived on time for the one-and-only performance of The Blue Gardenias. I parked the car and made it there during "Mood Indigo." Then it was on to  the glitz and glam of "Lyric First Night Cabaret" with their, well, powerfully lyric entertainment, singing Broadway showtunes. After this, Geo, Adriene and I split up in different directions.

I headed to the Flynn Space where there was standing room only to hear the hip renditions of The Flynn Jazz Combo, a talented young group led by none other than Tom Cleary. My fav group of the eve, however, was the Ellen Powell Jazz trio. We must remember to catch her at Leunig's Thursday nites when she performs on bass guitar with various accompanying jazz pianists (including Tom Cleary).

Geo met up with me for The Queen City Hot Club where "standing room only" became "grab a seat and sit on the floor." Being there early paid off with front row seats where we could not only hear the music, but we could see every note as fingers of the musicians danced over the strings of the instruments. Their style of music, "gypsy jazz," originated in the '30s and embraces American and European standards. I was happy to recognize the melody of "oh, how we danced on the night we were wed." (I haven't heard that one in a very, very long time.)

As promised, George treated me to Beef Stew at one of the church dinner locations. A hearty break with a lemon bars for dessert. Adriene met us there where she gathered energy to party the rest of the night long.

Before heading home, Geo and I took in one more event: folk singer/songwriter Aya Inoue. Very sweet voice. Still recovering from our Christmas colds, we called it an early evening.

I was sorry to miss Gregory Douglass, especially when I read that he has toured with They Might Be Giants, one of Sean's favorite groups. Also, Sambatucada, an Afro-Brazilian percussion group. Hopefully we'll catch up with them for 2012.

Sean and Jenna, wherever you'll be next year, we hope you'll join us for First Night 2012.