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~

APRil 21nd: bassist Jerry Wilfong, Rich Falco, guitar, Rich Ardizzone, trombone
Judith Ferrarra and Jonathan Blake reads

Judith Ferrara’s poems, essays and artwork have appeared in three collections, Gestures of Trees, A Brush with Words, and the little O, the earth: Travel Journals, Art and Poems, and in journals. She received the 2018 Stanley Kunitz Medal from the Worcester County Poetry Association and is the author of a biography/memoir, A Feast of Losses: Yetta Dine and Her Son, the Poet Stanley Kunitz. Website: www.paletteandpen.com.

Jonathan Blake has been following the gospel of his heart for as long as he can remember. Writer, educator, arts activist/organizer, he makes his home in central Massachusetts. His book of poems In The Kingdom can be found at Lost Valley Press.com and online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Guitarist Rich Falco is professor emeritus and former director of jazz studies at WPI. Professor Falco remains a popular festival adjudicator, clinician and music lecturer. He has presented at the annual MMEA (Massachusetts Music Educators Association) All State Conference on jazz guitar, big band directing techniques and jazz improvisation.

Rich Ardizzone: While attending BU and Tufts, Rich worked nights and weekends in Boston, playing with a variety of jazz, Salsa and Latin bands, including the Paul Fontaine/Jimmy Mosher Big Band and the Brass Menagerie. He was also a member of Conjunto Azul, a Latin Jazz group that played as the house band at the legendary Paul’s Mall.  After moving to Worcester, he became a member of the Rich Falco Quartet and the Sonic Explorers.  Rich became Associate Director of the Joy of Music Program in Worcester in 1994, where he was already volunteering and teaching trombone.

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.