Wednesday Folk Traditions
35th Parallel
July 1 at 6:30 pm

HADLEY—The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum continues its 28th season of WEDNESDAY FOLK TRADITIONS on July 1st, 2009 with the self-proclaimed “MediterrAsian Jazz” ensemble, 35th Parallel. The group takes its name from the latitudinal line which runs through North India, North Africa, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the United States. Tracing this route will begin to give one an idea of the diversity of musical influences that the Vermont and New Hampshire-based ensemble, composed of multi-instrumentalists Gabe Halberg and Mac Ritchey, brings to the table.

This WEDNESDAY FOLK TRADITIONS concert is funded by grants from the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment of the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies; and with generous support from People’s Bank, Easthampton Savings Bank, Gage-Wiley & Co., MicroCal, LLC, and Western Massachusetts Electric Company, and many other local businesses
The music of 35th Parallel prominently features traditional instruments from around the world, most notably, the Middle Eastern oud and Indian tabla, as well as the bouzouki, tar, jaw harp, acoustic guitar, didjeridoo, and various percussion instruments. Despite this intimidating array of instruments and influences, however, Halberg and Ritchey are far from musical dilettantes. The group is committed to respecting and honoring the traditions they draw from, and both men have studied their instruments extensively.

Of course, with such a wide array of influences, the group’s music inevitably does more than simply recreate traditional sounds. With many of their compositions spawning from jazz-based improvisation, and incorporating electronic soundscapes courtesy of Ritchie, 35th Parallel’s vision is distinctively forward-looking. It’s a sound that is difficult to describe fully on the written page, and so we hope you will join us at the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum on July 1st to hear why the Vermont alt-weekly Seven Days called the group’s music “pure sonic sorcery.”

The Wednesday Folk Traditions concert series continues on July 8th with Amandla, a community chorus singing for freedom and justice in the languages of South Africa—Zulu, Xhosa and Sotho—and the world.
The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47. The Museum is open for guided tours Saturday through Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and by appointment. For further information about the tours and the WEDNESDAY FOLK TRADITIONS series, call the Museum at (413) 584-4699.