Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present an evening of bluegrass, jazz, gypsy, classical, and roots music by three of Vermont’s finest mandolinists – Matt Flinner, Will Patton, and Jamie Masefield – accompanied by acoustic bassist Pat Melvin on Saturday, January 8 at 7:30 pm. The Vermont Mandolin Trio performs the music of Bill Monroe, Django Reinhardt, J.S. Bach, and everything in between – all with the flair of virtuosity and originality. Fiddler/singer Lissa Schneckenburger will open the show.
Grammy-nominated mandolinist Matt Flinner has made a career of playing acoustic music in new ways. Whether it’s with his own Matt Flinner Trio or with Phillips, Grier, and Flinner, the Frank Vignola Quartet, Darrell Scott, Steve Martin, the Ying Quartet, Tim O’Brien, Leftover Salmon, or the Modern Mandolin Quartet, Flinner’s style and compositional ability have established him as one of the most accomplished and musically diverse mandolinists in the world. Matt has won the National Banjo and National Mandolin competitions, received three Grammy nominations, and become one of the leading writers of instrumental classical and string band music in the acoustic world.
Multi-instrumentalist Will Patton has been leading bands since he was thirteen. He has performed in Rio, Paris, and the Caribbean, as well as across the U.S. and Canada, playing rock and roll, folk, bluegrass, Brazilian music, and jazz. His bands have opened for Van Morrison, Ray Charles, Bonnie Raitt, Earl Scruggs, Maynard Ferguson, John McLaughlin, and Toots Thielemans, and he is featured on many recordings as a bassist and mandolinist, including those by his quintet The Will Patton Ensemble.
Jamie Masefield’s background playing traditional New Orlean jazz on the tenor banjo has influenced his mandolin playing over the years on his way to becoming one of the most widely-recognized jazz mandolinists in the country. He is perhaps best known for his groundbreaking group, the Jazz Mandolin Project, which toured the US extensively from 1996 to 2006, and helped carve out new territory for the mandolin in the jazz and jam band scenes. Jamie has also toured and recorded with virtuoso guitarist Frank Vignola and Phish drummer Jon Fishman.
Inspired by her parent’s interest in folk music, Lissa Schneckenburger began playing fiddle at the age of six. In 2001, she graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with a degree in Contemporary Improvisation, and has been performing and teaching music around the world ever since. Lissa is currently one third of the Brattleboro-based trio Low Lily.
Next Stage is located at 15 Kimball Hill in downtown Putney, VT. Tickets are $18 Advance / $22 At the Door / $5 Virtual. For information, call 802-387-0102. Advance tickets are available at nextstagearts.org. Next Stage will provide a beer, wine, and cocktail cash bar. Proof of vaccination or negative COVID test within 48 hours is required for entry to indoor shows, and masks are required while inside the venue.