We are excited to present our
2024 Summer Concert Series: Moving Music
Ballard Park Concerts is a grateful recipient of a New York State Council on the Arts “Reignite the Field” grant, and our season is dedicated to music that will move us! We are also grateful for additional grant support from the Cerf-Dunbar Fund; Rogers-Carroll Family Foundation; Essex County Arts Council’s Cultural Assistance Program Grant with funding from Essex County; and Stewart’s Shops.
Note: case of rain, most musical performances will be moved to the Whallonsburg Grange (https://www.thegrangehall) on the same day & time.
Food available for purchase at Mountain Dog Tavern, across Main Street from Ballard Park (https://www.facebook.com/mountaindogrestaurant/)
Join us for a special two-part New England-style square dance event as part of Westport Day! Adirondack Two-Step is a Plattsburgh-based contra and square-dance band playing Celtic and old-time fiddle tunes who will guide us through two concerts on Westport Day: an afternoon event oriented toward children and families, with beginner-level square dance; and an evening event that will also include guidance. No partner needed, and everyone can join (or watch)!
Thursday, July 18, 2024
Va-et-Vienne
Vermont’s Addison County group Va-et-vient (‘Come & Go’) celebrates the many colors found in music from several French cultures. These musicians will take you through the centuries from France to Québec and New Orleans with lively dance numbers, touching love songs, kickin’ Cajun and Créole tunes, and rollicking Québecois favorites
Thursday, July 25, 2024
The Ken and Brad Kolodner Trio
From traditional standards to new classic folk songs to lush originals, the repertory found here is both dependable and enjoyable. The arrangements include barn-burning twin-fiddle ragers, mellow meditations on hammered dulcimer, and bluegrass settings with solos on the breaks and three-part harmony vocals.
Thursday, August 1, 2024
Atlantic Crossing
The group covers traditional music from both sides of the Atlantic—Celtic jigs to New England maritime shanties. With their great store of knowledge, both the banter and the tunes are mesmerizing.
Thursday, August 8, 2024
Ray Vega
The master of Latin Jazz trumpet returns to Ballard Park to close out our season with a night of salsa, jazz and great riffs.
This beloved Adirondack group will set our hillside hopping as they return with favorite covers and their unique, infectious sound.
Past Acts
Studio Two
SATURDAY, July 1, 2023 @7pm
Westport Day
Beatles Tribute Band
Studio Two captures all of the excitement and danceable 50's and 60's Rock 'n' Roll songs The Beatles helped popularize. All of this is done in period correct attire and equipment. You will be transported in time!
Kat Wright
July 6, 2023 @7pm
Kat Wright, Bob Wagner (guitar) and Josh Weinstein (bass) lean into their trio formation, showcasing their folky / rootsy selves, all stripped down, a triangulation of their strengths, their bareness, their imperfect humanness, their voices, their ferocious tenderness, their love of songs and singing and story.
July 13, 2023 - Canceled Due to Weather
Myra Flynn
Myra Flynn will come to Ballard Park after headlining the 2023 Burlington Discover Jazz festival with a blockbuster concert celebration the release of her powerful new album, “Roar of the Queen.” In this album Myra takes on her own Black legacy, and reaches back to the soulful sounds of the 80s that inspire her music and lift her spirit. This Vermont rising stars blends soulful vocals with an engaging stage presence, and she maintains a busy performance schedule in Vermont, New York City and Los Angeles, in addition to hosting an Emmy-nominated show on Vermont Public. Myra’s indie/folk/soul vocal stylings have been compared to the likes of Erykah Badu, Janet Jackson, Leela James, and Alicia Keys, and she counts Joni Mitchell among her lyrical influences.
Nicholas Edward Williams
July 20, 2023 @7pm
Host of the popular roots music history podcast American Songcatcher, Nicholas Edward Williams is a multi-instrumentalist and storyteller who is dedicated to "playing it forward" by preserving the songs and styles that have shaped our country: ragtime, Piedmont blues, traditional folk, old time and early country. Grammy-winning musician David Holt says of Williams: "With tasteful guitar arrangements and a voice that draws you right in, Nicholas’ recordings roll along like a mountain stream.”
Meadowmount
August 3, 2023 @7pm
Annual Petey Cerf Memorial Concert
Meadowmount, a world-renowned summer strings school in Westport, joins Ballard Park for its annual student concert and in recognition of the generosity of Petey Cerf, founder of the Park and a long-time friend to Meadowmount.Students focus on solo performance and chamber music, with each student playing in a string quartet. Two such string quartets will be showcased in Meadowmount’s Ballard Park concert.
Ploughman’s Lunch
August 10, 2023 @7pm
Sometimes the best company is a night spent with great neighbors. These beloved, hard-working North Country Reber Rock musicians and friends return to Ballard Park with traditional bluegrass and eclectic sounds, covering all the music you most love. Come for a relaxed evening of great rhythm and sound under the Perseid meteor showers and a crescent moon!
Ryan Clark
August 17, 2023 @7pm
Take one listen to up-and-comer Ryan Clark, and the upstate New York native’s easy-going, melodies - paired with effortless, smooth vocals - make it clear he’s found his sonic sweet spot. Clark’s music - inspired by artists like Dan + Shay, John Mayer, Sam Hunt and Jack Johnson - quickly found its place in his hometown of Lake George and migrated south to Nashville in 2019. The singer-songwriter has since celebrated a series of successful releases. Clark’s up-beat single “Feels Like” is out now and he’s coming to Ballard Park as part of his national album tour.
July 6, 2022 @ 7pm
Mile 12 -
Progressive Bluegrass
Mile Twelve is a modern string band from Boston, Massachusetts. Winners of the 2020 IBMA New Artist of the Year award, they have been making waves in the acoustic music world with their seamless blend of expertly-crafted songs, creative arrangements, and virtuosic execution. The band takes their name from the mile marker that sits at Boston’s southern border, a road sign they’ve passed countless times while heading out on tour.
July 14, 2022 @ 7pm
Will Patton Ensemble - Jazz Mandolin
Best known as a multi-instrumentalist, composer and band leader. Will has performed, written and composed music for over 30 years, including genres such as Celtic, jazz, rock and roll, bluegrass and Brazilian choro. His talents as a jazz bassist and mandolinist have led to featured performances and teaching engagements from Fairbanks, Alaska to Paris. His quintet includes mandolin, violin, guitar, flute, clarinet and string bass, and covers Gypsy jazz and Brazilian styles as well as straight up bebop and many original compositions, along with Will’s entertaining and informative narrative.
July 21, 2022 @ 7pm
HEARD WORLD MUSIC
Heard is a collective of musicians that bring their skills and passion for world music, jazz and improvising together to create irresistible grooves set in a unique sonic tapestry. Together for over a decade, their vibrant sound incorporates influences from West Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean and beyond. Energetic & upbeat, Heard will open your ears & hearts.. and always gets the people of Ballard Park up and dancing!
July 28, 2022 @ 7pm
Ray Vega -
Latin Jazz Trumpet
Professor Vega returns to Ballard Park to continue our jazz education! Bronx-born renowned trumpeter, percussionist, composer, and arranger Ray Vega presents jazz from a refreshingly original and contemporary perspective and is a veteran of numerous great Latin bands, including Tito Puente, and has performed with artists such as Lionel Hampton, Mel Torme, Paul Simon, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, and The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, among numerous others. He’s also a University Scholar at UVM, where he is a popular teacher of trumpet and jazz history, and coaches jazz ensembles.
August 4, 2022 @ 7pm
Meadowmount School -
String Quartet
Annual Petey Cerf Memorial Concert
Meadowmount, a world-renowned summer strings school in Westport, joins Ballard Park for its annual student concert and in recognition of the generosity of Petey Cerf, founder of the Park and a long-time friend to Meadowmount.
August 11, 2022 @ 7pm
Cricket Blue -
Indie Folk String
You might think of Simon & Garfunkel when you first hear Cricket Blue, or Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. But their music is equally evocative of literary voices: Alice Munro. Dylan Thomas. Flannery O’Connor. Even a touch of Edward Gorey. NPR calls Cricket Blue “master storytellers” and the All Scene Eye says Cricket Blue “sets 3 new standard for fiction-folk.” They were voted “Best Folk Group” in Vermont’s Seven Daysie Awards and they’ve played stages and folk festivals around the United States and Canada. To bring their orchestral vision to fife, Cricket Blue plays with string trio: John Dunlop, Laura Markowitz, and Sofia Hirsch (Vermont Symphony Orchestra and Eclectica String Quartet).
August 18, 2022 @ 7pm
Big Hat, No Cattle
Western Swing & Honky Tonk
With guitars, steel guitar, fiddle, and smooth vocals up front, Big Hat, No Cattle plays old and new songs with a vintage Western vibe. Danceable and fun Western swing is a rich melting pot of styles, including swing-era jazz, honky-tonk country, frontier fiddle tunes, cowboy songs and more. Based in Central Vermont, the quartet features a variety of songs and tunes that lift the spirits—and dancing feet-in full Western style!.
Concerts are free to all, thanks to our many supporters!
This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts. Generous grants have also been contributed through Cerf-Dunbar Fund, Cloudsplitter Foundation; Essex County Arts Council’s Cultural Assistance Program grant with funding from Essex County; Rogers-Carroll Family Foundation; and many individual supporters.
Past Acts
2021
July 8, 2021 - Studio Two
7:00pm
Moved to the Whallonsburg Grange Hall at 7:00 pm tonight due to forecasted rain.
Whallonsburg Grange Hall - 1610 NY-22, Essex, NY 12936
Studio Two is a headlining Beatles tribute band, comprised of Berklee School of Music Alumni who focus on the most exciting, energetic period of The Beatles -- the early years. Choosing from a catalog of songs from their club and touring performances, Studio Two captures all of the excitement and danceable ’50s and ’60s Rock & Roll songs that The Beatles helped popularize. All of this is done in period correct attire and equipment. You will be transported in time!
July 15, 2021 - Paul Asbell Jazz Quintet
7:00pm
Legendary guitarist Paul Asbell, master of jazz, folk, rock, blues and everything in between, has been bringing music to Lake Champlain since the '70s, with Kilimanjaro, Big Joe Burrell and the Unknown Blues Band, his student Trey Anastasio, and now with the Paul Asbell Jazz Quintet, a sophisticated and wide ranging group rooted in the sounds and artistry of the Champlain Valley.
July 22, 2021 - Ray Vega
7:00pm
Bronx-born renowned trumpeter, percussionist, composer, and arranger Ray Vega presents jazz from a refreshingly original and contemporary perspective and is a veteran of numerous great Latin bands, including Tito Puente, and has performed with artists such as Lionel Hampton, Mel Torme, Paul Simon, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, and The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, among numerous others. He’s also a University Scholar at UVM, where he is a popular teacher of trumpet and jazz history, and coaches jazz ensembles. Come to Ballard Park to study some rhythm with Professor Vega!
July 29, 2021 - Will Patton Ensemble
7:00pm
They will take you on a musical journey from a Parisian bistro to a plaza in the heart of Rio, and back home again to your front porch. Features jazz/choro mandolinist Will Patton with a symphony violinist who also plays bluegrass and hot swing, add a string bass player who came of age working the Chicago blues clubs with the likes of Howlin' Wolf and Buddy Guy; a guitarist equally at home with flatpicking fiddle tunes and fiery Gypsy jazz solos, supported by a contradance clarinetist also adept at Balkan dance music. The highly experienced Ensemble deftly blends fiery Brazilian sambas and folk waltzes, gentle chords and hot Gypsy jazz into a seamless whole, focusing on high energy improvisation and group interaction.
August 5, 2021 - Va-et-vient
7:00pm
Vermont’s Addison County group Va-et-vient (‘Come & Go’) celebrates the many colors found in music from several French cultures. These musicians will take you through the centuries from France to Québec and New Orleans with lively dance numbers, touching love songs, kickin’ Cajun and Créole tunes, and rollicking Québecois favorites.
August 12, 2021 - HEARD
7:00pm
Heard is a collective of musicians that bring their skills and passion for world music, jazz and improvising together to create irresistible grooves set in a unique sonic tapestry. Together for a decade, their vibrant sound incorporates influences from West Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean and beyond. Their debut CD Karibu reached #15 on the WorldJazz charts and 2018's daring Flyway is similarly garnering much critical acclaim. Energetic & upbeat, HEARD will open your ears & hearts…and get you up and dancing! . More about HEARD.
Friday September 3, 2021 - Atlantic Crossing
For over two decades Atlantic Crossing have been rocking the contra dance halls of New England and beyond and entrancing concert audiences with paintings in song of local history and more. Their music, drawn from the Celtic traditions of the British Isles as well as from Maritime and French Canada, lifts audiences from their seats, transports dancers to ever greater delight and strikes joyous notes at celebrations.
Concert sponsorships are available. Inquire at ballardparkny@gmail.com