Thimble Islands Saxophone Quartet to Perform at Avon Library, Avon, CT – February 5, 2017

In search of a mid-winter pick-me-up? The Friends of the Avon Library have a suggestion for you: a free performance by the Thimble Islands Saxophone Quartet. The four high-spirited artists will share their contagious love of music in their Avon Library debut on Sunday, February 5, the third program of this year’s popular Sundays at Three series. The talented foursome will perform a fine-tuned, rollicking program that includes selections by composers as disparate as Johann Sebastian Bach and Thelonius Monk. Perk up your spirits with favorites by Scott Joplin, Cole Porter, Louis Armstrong, Claude Debussy and others, all arranged in entertaining settings by the quartet’s founder, tenor saxophonist and composer Frank Vasi.

Vasi, a graduate of the Mannes College of Music, was a free-lance musician and teacher in New York City in the late 1970s and 80’s. He went on to lead his own jazz quartet and played as a sideman with such notables as Benny Goodman and the great Joe Jones. His compositions have been performed at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully and Avery Fisher Halls as well as London’s venerable Saint Martin-in-the-Fields.

Soprano Saxophonist David Langlais has degrees in music performance and music education. In addition to his frequent appearances throughout southern New England, he is the much-loved music teacher at an elementary school in Branford.

Tim Moran, baritone saxophone, has performed in Europe, Japan, and throughout the United States and Canada. He has released 5 CDs and has backed up such artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Freddie Hubbard, and Phil Woods. He frequently works in pit orchestra for national touring companies of Broadway musicals.

Rounding out the quartet is alto saxophonist Will Cleary, a native of Houston, whose musical education includes degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and the Eastman School of Music. His formidable résumé lists appearances with luminaries such as Slide Hampton, Chuck Mangione and Marvin Stamm, as well as significant performances at leading jazz festivals.

The free, one-hour program is made possible by the generosity of the Friends of the Avon Library. The music starts promptly at 3:00 pm in the Community Room of the Avon Free Public Library, 281 Country Club Road. Seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis. Doors open at 2:30. Freshly baked goodies and an opportunity to meet the artists follow the program.

Contact: Patrice Celli, Avon Free Public Library, pcelli@avonctlibrary.info, 860-673-9712