Solo/Duet

A poetry and music series at the Merriam-Gilbert Public Library
Free and open to all!

Please stop by or call the Library at
508-867-1410 to reserve your seat.

Each evening will feature poetry readings that will book-end a set of chamber jazz music. This program is made possible by the West Brookfield Cultural Council as supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, In celebration of National Poetry and National Jazz Month.

It is difficult
To get the news from poems,
Yet men die miserably every day

For the lack

Of what is found there

~William Carlos Williams~

Join us on Tuesday evening at 6:00 PM April 14th…

bassist: Jerry Wilfong guitar: Mitch Seidman harmonica: Chet Willamson
Read: Clair Degutis and Jim Beschta

Jerry Wilfong is an active freelance bassist in the Boston area. He has performed with such
distinguished jazz artists as Leni Stern, John Stowell, and Richie Cole, appears on several
recordings and can be heard live anchoring two working trios – “Bring Back Pluto” and “The
Conversation.” More can be learned about Jerry at jazzfong.com.

Mitch Seidman was initially inspired by a Kenny Burrell record to pursue jazz guitar, and then by the late Attila Zoller through study and a close friendship that began in 1974. A professional musician and music educator for well over forty years, he has performed at festivals, nightclubs, adjudicated, and presented clinics throughout the U.S., as well in France, Germany, and Costa Rica. He has earned a Bachelor of Music in Composition degree from Berklee College of Music, and a Master of Music in Music Education degree from Boston University.  More can be learned about Mitch @ mitchseidman.com

Chet Williamson’s 40-plus-year career as a harmonica player has taken him from the streets of the Great Brook Valley Housing Projects of Worcester, MA to memorable performances around the world. Reflecting his ability to play a wide variety of musical styles, Williamson has shared stages with many of the world’s most popular and finest musicians, including Sleepy LaBeef, Joan Osborne and Duke Levine.

Clair Degutis of Princeton writes poems drawn on her close observations, experiences, and relationships to the natural world. She is an avid hiker and woods-walker along New England’s forested paths. As a Field Teacher Princeton’s Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary, she introduces both the young and young-at-heart to the wonders of our local natural environment. Her poems are published in “Echo & Spark: Work from the 4×4 Poet and Artist Collaborative”. 

Jim Beschta: Wisconsin bred, born and raised, Beschta moved to Massachusetts in 1970 to earn a Master’s degree in English from Assumption College after graduate study in several University of Wisconsin branch institutions. A long-time board member of the Worcester County Poetry Association, his published books include Cutting the Cemetery Lawn (Haley’s, 2002), North From Yaoundé (Adastra Press, 2010) and Bone Cages (Haley’s, 1996), a collaboration of five New England poets. He currently teaches writing and poetry at the Worcester Art Museum and lives in Barre, Ma.