Dec
27
Sat
Greg Abate Jazz Quartet @ Mass Arts Center
Dec 27 @ 8:00 pm – 10:30 pm

Greg Abate jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer continues as an International Jazz/Recording Artist with 225 days a year touring the globe.

In the mid-70s, after finishing a four-year program at Berklee College of Music, Greg played lead alto for the Ray Charles Orchestra for 2 years.

In 1978, Greg formed his group Channel One, which was a favorite in the New England area, and from there had the opportunity to play tenor sax with the revived Artie Shaw Orchestra under the leadership of Dick Johnson from 1986 to ’87.

Following this experience, Greg ventured out as a post-hard bop soloist playing Jazz Festivals, Jazz Societies, and Jazz Clubs throughout the U.S., Canada, and abroad, including most of Europe, the UK, and Moscow and Georgia, Russia.

Greg’s newest release, Gratitude, with the Tim Ray Trio, has received glowing reviews and extensive international airplay.  Also, check out Greg’s other recordings, including special guests Phil Woods and other notable artists.   

Greg is currently a Whaling City Sound recording artist. Greg recorded his first CD, Live At Birdland NYC, in 1991 on the Candid Jazz Label with the trio of James Williams, Rufus Reid, and Kenny Washington. To this date, Greg has recorded over 17 other recordings as a leader.Greg is also an adjunct professor of Jazz Studies at Rhode Island College and is a very active jazz clinician with the company, sponsored by the Conn-Selmer Instrument Co., conducting workshops and master classes throughout the U.S and abroad.

Greg has been inducted into the RI MUSIC HALL OF FAME 2016.

Jan
10
Sat
On A Winter’s Night @ Regent Theatre
Jan 10 @ 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm
On A Winter's Night @ Regent Theatre

On A Winter’s Night. Patty Larkin, John Gorka, Cliff Eberhardt, Lucy Kaplansky. Presenting the Reunion Tour of “On A Winter’s Night” from veteran singer-songwriters who remain among the brightest stars of the singer-songwriter movement for the past three decades. In 1994, Christine Lavin gathered them together, along with folk and Americana artists, to showcase music of the Winter Season on the now-classic On A Winter’s Night CD, followed by several years of touring collaborations. These artists have released dozens of recordings and toured steadily through the decades, with fond memories of their touring days together. The winter season is once again celebrated by these unique and popular performers, reunited by popular demand. Photo: Laurie Glassman

Jan
17
Sat
Monica Rizzio @ Rose Garden Coffeehouse
Jan 17 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm

Monica Rizzio. A unique Americana singer-songwriter who blends Texas influences and Cape Cod charm. A bonfire on a beach. A couple of days with the one you love. Simply doing…nothing. The little joys in life. Americana singer-songwriter Monica Rizzio’s new album, Sunshine Is Free, is all about the simple things that make it all worth it. The concept for Sunshine Is Free was born on the road, as Rizzio spent time under open skies while touring. Realizing she needed to step outside of a New England winter to write the follow-up to 2016’s Washashore Cowgirl, Rizzio spent the fall of 2018 traveling from her home in Cape Cod to Nashville for writing sessions. Over a week in April at Skinny Elephant Recording, she and producer Michael Rinne (Caroline Spence, Erin Rae & The Meanwhiles, Kelsey Waldon) as well as a stacked lineup of guest musicians including Mindy Smith, Maya de Vitry, Gwen Sebastian, Joe Pisapia, Will Kimbrough, and Eamon McLoughlin, Rizzio created a collection that focuses on finding joy in simpler things and looking for the silver lining of difficult situations.

Feb
14
Sat
Krisanthi Pappas With Love @ Mass Arts Center
Feb 14 @ 8:00 pm – 10:30 pm

Join award-winning singer/songwriter Krisanthi Pappas and her band performing Burt Bacharach and Beatles Love Songs! Bring your Valentine or your “Galentines” and enjoy such songs as “What The World Needs Now,” “The Look Of Love,” “I Say A Little Prayer,” “This Guy’s In Love With You,” “All My Loving,” “In My Life,” “If I Fell,” “Can’t Buy Me Love” and more. With Krisanthi Pappas on lead vocal and piano, Steve Forrest on guitar and vocal, Steve Skop on electric bass and John DiSanto on drums. Krisanthi has performed the Xfinity Center pre-shows for Sheryl Crow, Queen with Adam Lambert, Hall & Oates, The Doobies, Chicago and several others. She last directed Reality Romance at the Mass Arts Center. Her music has had over 5 million spins on Pandora Radio as well as Apple Music, Spotify, Sirius XM, Google Play, Amazon and more. Also included in the show will be interesting stories of how the songs were written. Enjoy this wonderful evening of music.

More Last Dance Productions events here.

Feb
21
Sat
James Lee Baker and Charlotte Morris @ Rose Garden Coffeehouse
Feb 21 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
James Lee Baker and Charlotte Morris @ Rose Garden Coffeehouse

James Lee Baker

Winner 2024 Rose Garden Performing Songwriter Competition

Birthed from the dusty high plains of the bible belt, wordsmith James Lee Baker sources the essence of his craft from a small-town past and a journey of self-discovery as the way out. Laced with mysticism, his emotive and thought-provoking songs speak to the shared, tender heart of our human condition.

​In 2020, he released 100 Summers – a full-length LP of songs centered around a theme of change. The title track reached #1 on the FAI Folk charts that month, garnering nearly half a million streams across platforms. Two of the songs on the project –Returning to Paris and The Last Cowboy in Hutchinson County – were selected as finalists for several nationally-known songwriting contests.

In 2022, he released a cover project called “Impressions”, recorded by Chris Bell (U2, The Eagles) and produced by Roscoe Beck (Eric Johnson, Leonard Cohen), which was released in 2022. The single “Did Galileo Pray?”, a cover of Ellis Paul, charted #10. John Apice from Americana Highways said “Baker’s cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Just Like a Woman’ is one of the finest I ever heard. He captures the lyric, understands it and possesses it as a first-class interpreter.”

Charlotte Morris

Winner 2025 Rose Garden Performing Songwriter Competition

Growing up near Philadelphia, Charlotte Morris found her passion for music early, learning multiple instruments and writing songs by age twelve. Influenced by folk classics and female storytellers like Joni Mitchell and Brandi Carlile, she developed a genuine, raw, and emotional style.

After touring with “Lonesome Traveler” in 2018, performing alongside folk legends, Charlotte released her debut EP “To New York, with Love,” followed by the “Sputnik” EP and a national acoustic tour. Her first full-length album, “Songs For My Next Ex” (2020), received critical acclaim, prompting her move to Nashville in 2021.

There, she participated in The Johnny Mercer Foundation’s Songwriters Project, mentored by industry greats. In 2022, Charlotte partnered with Charlotte Avenue Entertainment, releasing impactful singles like “Good Kind of Hurt” and “Tennessee.” Her second studio album, “Wild Child” (2023), gained international recognition. After a 30-city international tour in 2024, Charlotte returned to Philadelphia, with new music and tours on the horizon. She holds a degree in Theatre from Northwestern University.

For More Last Dance Productions events, click here.

Mar
1
Sun
Help Tony Beat Cancer, A Benefit Concert @ Capone's
Mar 1 @ 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Tony Depietro, a very special Friend of yours, mine, and Hell, Everyone who knows him! Needs a hand beating cancer for the second time! Our lineup will continue to grow, and let’s face it, there isn’t a venue big enough to hold everyone who would want to help Old Tony! Please spread the word and join us for a very special event!
You may also help by visiting:
Please reach out with any questions to briola13@aol.com
As always, thank you for your support!
Mar
14
Sat
Laurie MacAllister @ Rose Garden Coffeehouse
Mar 14 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Laurie MacAllister, Member of Red Molly returns to Garden!

In late 2024, Laurie MacAllister embarked on an exciting new chapter, launching a solo career with a sold-out performance at the legendary Club Passim.

Two decades earlier, she co-founded the beloved Americana trio Red Molly, which released seven acclaimed albums and toured both the U.S. and internationally, including appearances at MerleFest, Cayamo, and Boston Symphony Hall.

Along the way, ad executives heard Laurie’s voice on the Red Molly album “Never Been to Vegas” and invited her to sing the iconic Folgers Coffee jingle for a national TV commercial.

Her 2018 self-produced solo album “The Lies the Poets Tell” is a heartfelt tribute to the contemporary folk music scene, celebrating a handful of its best songs and songwriters. It features duets with six male artists, including the late Americana master Jimmy LaFave. SiriusXM praised the album as “Defining. A curated collection packed with emotional vibrancy.”

Laurie’s earlier solo album “The Things I Choose To Do” was produced by folk luminary Cliff Eberhardt and was first released independently. Hearing it, Barnes & Noble re-released it as an exclusive on their label, saying, “MacAllister wholly inhabits these songs as subtly as a chameleon, convincingly taking on the persona’s skin, quite simply singing her heart out.”

From a young girl with a quiet dream of becoming a singer, Laurie’s journey has unfolded one song at a time. Over more than two decades, she’s made her dream into a reality.

Laurie has announced her Solo Debut Tour, headlining shows in 2025 across the Northeast, bringing her soulful, loving voice and presence to fans old and new.

For More Last Dance Productions events, click here.

Apr
12
Sun
The Jon Pousette-Dart Duo @ Mass Arts Center
Apr 12 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Jon Pousette-Dart is best known as an American Classic and Folk Rock songwriter, musician, and performing artist. Growing up in Suffern, NY with a household of artists, including his father, grandfather, and sister, he separated himself by picking up a guitar at the age of 10 and mapping out a life in music before he ever attended a little league game. Since then it’s been a long and well-traveled road in the world of music.

A little bit of time has passed between when Jon Pousette-Dart as a teenager started forging a path in the musical landscape that started in the 60’s and laid a foundation with the original Pousette-Dart Band. Throughout the 70’s and into the 80’s the band earned a loyal national following and produced 5 releases for Capitol that made a deep imprint in the world of album radio, when we all used to only listen to vinyl. When the band parted ways, Jon continued working and slowly began navigating back to where he started writing and recording in earnest with many of Nashville’s finest, and some twenty odd years ago Jon crossed paths with Jim Chapdelaine one of the more formidable musicians he crossed paths with. Jon continued touring as their musical collaboration continued to brew into a satisfying vital musical landscape of it’s own.

Come see Jon Pousette-Dart and Jim Chapdelaine in this intimate acoustic duo setting.

Apr
26
Sun
A Healing Garden Concert with Lance Cowan, Irene Kelley, and Antsy McClain @ French American Victory Club
Apr 26 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
A Healing Garden Concert with Lance Cowan, Irene Kelley, and Antsy McClain @ French American Victory Club
The Healing Garden Concert” Brings Renowned Singer-Songwriters to the French American Victory Club
Prepare for an afternoon of world-class storytelling, soulful melodies, and acoustic mastery. A special matinee performance featuring three of Nashville’s most respected musical voices: Lance Cowan, Irene Kelley, and Antsy McClain.
This intimate “In-the-Round” performance offers New England audiences a rare opportunity to hear the stories behind the songs from artists who have shaped the landscape of folk, bluegrass, and Americana.
May
16
Sat
Christine Lavin & our 2026 Performing Songwriter Competition @ Rose Garden Coffeehouse
May 16 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Christine Lavin is a veteran folk artist and fearless musical storyteller.

Christine Lavin started her professional life as a waitress/bread baker at the Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY in 1975 where she met Dave Van Ronk who encouraged her to study guitar with him in NYC. She took his advice and is now a singer/songwriter/guitarist/recording artist/author/videographer based in New York City. Her latest solo album, her 25th, ON MY WAY TO HOOTERVILLE, includes 10 new songs and one re-worked song, “Ramblin’ Waltz,” a re-telling of her time in 1975 when she was an entourage driver for the first week of Bob Dylan‘s iconic Rolling Thunder Revue” tour.

In 2023 Christine released “The Seasons Project,” an 80-song seasonal compilation that features the work of 63 American, Canadian, British and Irish singer/songwriters. Christine assembled this compilation to help guide future historians and folklorists to authentic music being written in the last two decades of the 20th Century and the first two of the 21st Century.

In 2024 she is completing her 26th solo album, DRUM SCHOOL DROPOUT, hoping to have it completed in 2025.

In October 2024 there were 11 performances of “InunDATEd,” a 90 minute theatrical production that showcased nine of Christine’s songs by the York Theatre in NYC. There will be one more workshop production before the show is released world-wide. The most recent production starred two thrilling Broadway veterans, Kate Rockwell and Taylor Crousore

HONORS AND AWARDS: In May 2021 Christine received an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from her alma mater, the State University of New York at Brockport. In an odd twist, she has a younger brother also named Chris (born on Columbus Day) who also in May 2021 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from his alma mater, Hobart/William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY.

For more Last Dance Productions events, Click Here.