Brian McCarthy is coming to the Highland Center for the Arts!

“McCarthy plays and composes with palpable sensitivity… he can certainly bring heat.” — Seven Days

In his nine-piece chamber jazz ensemble work, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Vermont-based saxophonist Brian McCarthy explores popular songs of the American Civil War, and introduces original material based on figures and events of the era. A Civil War history buff, McCarthy found the era an ideal subject for a large-scale project that grew out of a Vermont Arts Council Creation Grant. Inspired by Abraham Lincoln’s appeal to “the better angels of our nature’ during his inaugural address, McCarthy’s opus locates the better angels at the heart of music. As he explains, “Jazz came from the African-American experience here in America. Out of the darkness of terrible slavery, Reconstruction and Jim Crow came this really beautiful art form.” Now, McCarthy brings Better Angels of our Nature to the to Highland Center Main Stage, pairing insightful new arrangements of vintage wartime folk songs with vibrant new compositions for his skilled Nonet to explore.

Featuring:
Bill Mobley - trumpet/flugelhorn / Cameron MacManus - trombone / Brian McCarthy - Alto/Soprano Sax / Daniel Ian Smith - Tenor/Soprano Sax / Stantawn Kendrick - Tenor Sax / Andrew Gutaskas - Baritone Sax / Adam Birnbaum - Piano / Matt Aronoff - Bass / Mark Ferber - Drums

video: https://youtu.be/GCkjF_hi4ak

Tickets are $25 for adults, $10 for students, and $5 for EBT cardholders.
For more information visit www.highlandartsvt.org