The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
A musical showcase at Buttonwood Tree
Venue to host the Lost Tribe, Miles Elliot jazz band this weekend
MIDDLETOWN — The city’s north end performing arts venue will welcome the local world music group the Lost Tribe, and the Miles Elliot Experience jazz band this weekend.
The Buttonwood Tree will present the musical showcase of returning world-music group the Lost Tribe, led by Middletown multi-percussionist Jocelyn Pleasant, Friday at 8 p.m. at 605 Main St.
The group is a drum-centered Afro-funk fusion ensemble. “As a traditional percussionist and drum kit player, Pleasant wanted to create a group that showcased the drum as a lead instrument and melodic voice,” according to a press release.
Pleasant’s goal was also to provide a platform for musicians of different but overlapping communities to come together, the Buttonwood said. She founded the group in 2016, with the goal of blending djembe music into African diasporic genres such as jazz, rock, funk, blues and reggae.
The Tribe’s initial home base was MAC650 Gallery, a former artist-run co-op space on Main Street. Many of the musicians in the group were reared in some of Connecticut’s premier arts institutions, including the Artists Collective, the news release said.
“These institutions have cultivated a ‘Hartford sound’ that can be heard in jazz-infused horn solos and the driving drum rhythms of the group,” the venue said. “This mixture of energies creates a unique blend that is palpable to audiences, inviting participation and a sense of joy.”The group has opened for international acts Mokoomba (of Zimbabwe), and Trio da Kali (of Mali), featured artists at the 2018 Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz, and won first place at the 2019 Valley Music Showcase of Western Massachusetts.
For tickets, visit bit.ly/3Cs290. The next evening at 8 p.m., the Miles Elliot Experience is set to perform. Named after jazz legend Miles Davis, Miles Elliot was born in Edison, New Jersey, and raised in Bloomfield.
He became hooked on music at an early age and began deejaying during his early teen years, the release said.
In 2010, he began his professional DJ career in Hartford under the name DJ M.E.
During the next two years, Miles Elliot’s profile steadily rose as a DJ, the venue said. He was named Connecticut’s Best DJ in 2011 by The Hartford Advocate, which landed him gigs from Connecticut to New York City and Los Angeles, including residencies at Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mohegan Sun Arena, and Bounce, Gilded Lily and Slate in New York.
Elliot has since evolved into a producer, remixer, multi-instrumentalist, playlist curator and music journalist, according to the Buttonwood.
His band fuses jazz, R&B, soul, funk, rock, house and hiphop beats into its music. For tickets, visit bit.ly/3p8a4wq
Admission for each show is $20. Navigate to buttonwood.org for details, call 860-347-4957 or email TheButtonwoodTree@gmail.com for more information.