May 8, 2025  |  By Anne Decker

TURNmusic presents a variety of unique, original listening experiences this May. All events take place at The Phoenix Music Gallery and Music Hall on Stowe Street in Waterbury.

Tickets for all performances listed below are available in advance online at sevendaystix.org or turnmusic.org. Admission is free for attendees under 21. All shows are BYOB.

May 13: TURNmusic Quartet presents ‘Hurtling Toward Oblivion’

TURNmusic's string quartet (pictured): violinists Mary Rowell, Brooke Quiggins, violist Elizabeth Reid, cellist John Dunlop; (not pictured) flutist Hilary Goldblatt, clarinetist Dan Liptak. Courtesy photo

“Hurtling Toward Oblivion” is TURNmusic Quartet’s latest concert program curated by Mary Rowell. It’s centerpiece is “Dig the Say” by Vijay Iyer, a study exploring the intricacies of James Brown’s musical genius in four continuous movements. The titles of each piece refer to Brown’s 1969 song “I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door I’ll Get in Myself).”

*Composers (left to right from top): Erik Nielsen, Missy Mazzoli, Kyle Saulnier, Vijay Iyer, Jessie Montgomery. Photo courtesy of TURNmusic*

The program also has a contemplation of fantasy and dreams with Missy Mazzoli’s “Quartet for Queen Mab,” folk idioms and the spirit of dance and movement with Jessie Montgomery in “STRUM,” Kyle Saulnier’s fearless relevance “at the edge of a world not unlike our own,” and the world premiere of “Nadia” (translation, “hope”) by Erik Nielsen, dedicated to the people of Ukraine.

Gallery opens at 7 p.m., music at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $15-30 sliding.

May 17: UVM Music Ed students host Open Stage: For Youth By Youth

This free event is perfect for middle/high school students to showcase their musical talents either solo or in groups. It’s a relaxed atmosphere to share original songs, covers, or just enjoy the performances.

All instruments, genres, and skill levels are welcome. Come out to support and enjoy a night of creativity and fun!

UVM Music Education students host. 5-6 p.m. Free.

May 21: Jazz Jam hosted by Nina Towne

Have you caught the monthly Jazz Jam nights yet? No two are the same, but all are a chance to experience creativity and improvisation. Jazz Jams are an opportunity for a musician community of all ages – school age to elders – to gather and play, sing and hear jazz, and socialize in an organized, relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.

Players join in on the songs others bring, and/or bring a few copies of sheet music for the tunes you want to call. Many tunes are called from “The Real Books.” Singers, please bring copies of lead sheets or sheet music for your tunes in your key.

Performances run 6-9 p.m. Admission: $5+.

May 25: Dan Greenleaf Organization

Waterbury native Dan Greenleaf’s live show captures the raw emotion, energy, and deep musical connection between Greenleaf and his band, showcasing his evolving artistry and unfiltered approach to jazz guitar.

Featuring an ensemble of longtime collaborators — Nick Peloso (upright bass), Robert Irvin (keyboards), and Theo Lobo (drumset) — the project embodies years of musical partnership and personal growth. This is on full display in their debut recording, “Live at Ford Hall,” releasing on May 16.

A Vermont-born guitarist and composer, Greenleaf embraces the unique challenges and strengths that shape his playing, including the influence of his cerebral palsy on his approach to the instrument.

“Live at Ford Hall” represents an unfiltered self-portrait of an artist fully embracing his musical voice. “This is as close as I could get to who I am right now,” Greenleaf explains. “It’s supposed to feel raw and unrefined because that’s what I can do.”

The concert setlist showcases Greenleaf’s approach to composition, where space and dynamics play a central role. Tracks such as “Opening Theme,” “Bite Bullet,” and “Closing Theme” highlight his ability to craft expansive musical landscapes with minimal yet impactful melodic material.

“My goal that night was to take the audience on a journey through dynamics — to make the quiet sections truly quiet so it feels like we went somewhere when it got loud,” he said.

The impact of Greenleaf’s artistry was noted by Ithaca College’s Director of Jazz Studies, Mike Titlebaum, who reflected on Greenleaf’s senior recital just days after the “Live at Ford Hall” concert: “Dan brings a depth of character and a sense of purpose to his study of music that is truly exceptional. His recital was one of the most effective, gorgeous student performances I’ve heard in my 16 years here.”

Doors open at 3:30 p.m.; music at 4 p.m. Admission: $15-30 sliding; under 21 are free.

May 30: Outer Sounds featuring MAW + The Untempered Unit

Eli Wallace on piano and synth, bassist Frank Meadows, and Jessica Ackerley on guitar, are MAW – a trio based in both New York City and Honolulu. They met through the thriving experimental and improvised music scene in Brooklyn, having come to the city via their respective locations of California, North Carolina and Alberta, Canada.

With various configurations of professional and musical collaborations between each musician over the past few years, they have honed a unique musical language and chemistry as a collective unit. Explore their soung at mawtrio.bandcamp.com

Ras Moshe Burnett (Theodore Burnett III) is a jazz musician, saxophonist, poet, activist, teacher, and returning student working toward a music therapy degree in the New York area.

He hails from East New York-Brooklyn with maternal grandparents from Harlem. His paternal grandfather, Ted Burnett (“Barnett” professionally), played tenor and alto saxophones after his arrival in the U.S. from Jamaica in the early 1930s. His father, Yaakov Levi (Ted Burnett II), played alto sax, flute, and bass clarinet in Brooklyn and Harlem throughout the 1970s.

Ras himself studied music in the public schools (mentored in Jazz history by Don Payne in junior high. With his father and grandfather, he eventually played in reggae bands in the ’80s and early ’90s, then led his own jazz groups since 1987.

Ras is a 9-year member of Bill Cole’s Untempered Ensemble featuring Warren Smith, Joseph Daley, Gerald Veasley, Althea Sully Cole, and Lisette Santiago. He believes in the positive effect that jazz and new music can have on personal and socio-political life, as well as with social movements in the Black community and for human rights causes.

The Untempered Unit is Ras Burnett on tenor and soprano sax, flutes and percussion; Bill Cole playing didgeridoo and double reeds, and Daniel Lin on cello. Have a listen here.

Gallery opens at 7 p.m.; music at 7:30 p.m. Admission: $15-30 sliding; under 21 are free.

May 31: The Ray Vega QuARTet

*(left to right): Ray Vega on trumpet, Evan Allen on piano, Jeremy Hill on bass, and drummer Geza Carr. Photo courtesy TURNmusic*

In addition to his busy sideman and teaching schedule, Ray Vega has been developing his own bands: The Ray Vega Quartet (bebop and beyond), Ray Vega and The New York Latin Jazz All Stars (following in the footsteps of Mongo, Barretto and Fort Apache).

Vega has performed at the American Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Modern Art, and Wave Hill (all in New Yorki City), the Indianapolis Museum of Art five years in a row, multiple years at the San Jose Jazz Festival, The Blue Note, Birdland, The Jazz Standard, Tula's in Seattle, Jazz at The Bistro in St. Louis, The Blue Wisp in Cincinnati, Churchill Grounds in Atlanta, Jazz en Carolina-Puerto Rico, Artsplosure in Raleigh and the Battery Park Salsa Series and the South Street Seaport/Heineken Latin Jazz Series, The Duncan Theatre in West Palm Beach, Florida. Add to that the 2002 U.S. Open, the Berne International Jazz Festival and Marian's Jazz Room in Switzerland, and the Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Festival.

While in Lebanon in 2002, Vega participated in three concerts that were sponsored by The American Embassy in Beirut. A recent high point in Vega's career has been his celebrated March 2017 concert with The Burlington Chamber Orchestra featuring new arrangements of his compositions for his Latin Jazz Quintet and the strings of the Burlington Chamber Orchestra. Other highlights were his 2008 to Australia where he performed and recorded the Australian premiere of the classic Miles Davis/Gil Evans work, “Sketches of Spain,” and in 2009 he returned to Adelaide to perform the famous “Porgy and Bess” arranged by Gil Evans for Miles Davis’ recording by the same name.

The quartet headed to The Phoeniz is Vega on trumpet, Evan Allen on piano, Jeremy Hill playing bass, and Gaza Carr on drums. The audience can look forward to The RayVegaQuARTet presenting original and standards with a focus on hard-core swinging!

Doors open at 7 p.m.; music at 7:30 p.m. Admission: $15-30 sliding; under 21 are free.

TURNmusic turns up the music for May in downtown Waterbury