A soulful rocker, a pair of contemporary folk acts and two home-grown jazz ensembles will entertain audiences this spring as the Fanwood Performance Series returns to the Carriage House.
The season begins Saturday, April 11, with An Evening with Danielia Cotton. This dynamic and powerful singer-songwriter-guitarist is making a return appearance to the series, after rocking a packed house in 2023. A Hopewell native now based in New York, Cotton draws from genres including rock, soul, gospel and country, with lyrics both deeply personal and broadly relevant. Her most recent record release is “Charley’s Pride: A Tribute to Black Country Music.”
On Saturday, May 9, Hudson Valley folk duo The Whispering Tree also returns to the series. Since their 2018 performance, singer-songwriter El Kleiner and multi-instrumentalist Elie Brangbour toured extensively until the pandemic, then turned to writing songs for their new album, “Bones of Better Days.” Sharing the bill with them is singer-songwriter Max Bartos, who brings a theater background and storytelling lyrics to his anthemic folk-rock music.
The spring season will conclude with an evening of jazz on June 13, featuring a quartet headed by saxophonist and arranger Pat Gannon – an alumnus of Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School (class of 2018) and its premier jazz band, the Moonglowers. He has performed at numerous festivals and clubs in the New York metro area, with his own groups as well as swing orchestras. Opening this show will be a combo of current members of the Moonglowers, led by senior James Gardella on drums.
All shows start at 7 p.m. at the Kuran Cultural Arts Center (a.k.a. the Carriage House), on Watson Road just west of Martine Avenue, next to Fanwood Borough Hall. Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors – cash at the door. Reservations are strongly suggested and can be made by emailing fanwoodperformance@gmail.com.
The Fanwood Performance Series is a presentation of Mayor Colleen Mahr and the Fanwood Borough Cultural Arts Council. It is made possible in part by a HEART (History, Education, Arts Reaching Thousands) Grant from the Union County Board of County Commissioners.
The series will continue with three more shows in the fall; dates and performers to be announced. Music fans can find more information and updates at the series website (https://fanwoodperformanceseries.org) and on its Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/FanwoodPerformanceSeries).
