Main Street Alive
Friday, June 27th
7:30pm - 10:00pm
Opener: Marc Yaxley Trio
Jazz Guitar Ambassador
Performing at 7:30pm
Firecracker Jazz Band
Explosively Hot Dixieland Jazz
Performing at 8:45pm
Arts and Culture Week (June 27 – July 4) in Downtown Brevard kicks off with a bang with the first ever Main Street Alive Concert. The first of this year’s concert series features The Firecracker Jazz Band with special guests, the Marc Yaxley Trio. The June 27th outdoor concert takes place on the East Main Street block between Johnson and Gaston Streets. This is the block that was recently enhanced with antique street lamps, benches and brick pavers – a perfect venue for an evening concert.
Produced by John Felty of Looking Glass Entertainment who has been presenting the best of our local, regional and national talent with events like Mountain Song Festival and White Squirrel Festival, the event celebrates the incredible artistic spirit in our community. The performance, starting at 7:30pm, is free to the public.
The Firecracker Jazz Band is no stranger to Brevard. They were headliners at the White Squirrel Festival in 2007 where they ignited the crowd with their unique and original take on this early form of jazz. The Firecracker Jazz Band has been ambitiously studious with their interpretation of early New Orleans jazz and Dixieland. With the later introduction of African rhythms, the music of the Crescent City then evolved into the romping piano-led Dixieland of the Storyville district. Firecracker stays true to this, as well as the 1930s period pop made famous by the likes of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton.
The Main Street Alive Concert series will showcase local and regional bands that exemplify the wide and diverse talent emerging out of our mountain communities. The concert series is being launched by Looking Glass Entertainment and the Heart of Brevard.
Firecracker jazz band
With a unique and original take on this early form of jazz, the Firecracker Jazz Band has been shaking down venues with its ambitiously studious interpretation of early New Orleans jazz and Dixieland. While the band’s increasingly large crowds boogie the night away, they may not realize that they are also getting quite a history lesson. The origin of the music comes from Louisiana’s early years as a French colony, when armies charged down the streets of New Orleans, introducing The French military with drums and horns.
With the later introduction of African rhythms, the music of the Crescent City then evolved into the romping piano-led Dixieland of the Storyville district. Firecracker stays true to this, as well as the 1930s period pop made famous by the likes of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton.
“We stick to the early 20th century repertoire and we’re always trying to add to what we play,” says Widenhouse. “It’s just so rewarding studying the existing body of work. There’s a lot of music that Louis Armstrong and Django Reinhardt did that’s excellent material to work with, and nobody ever hears this obscure stuff.”
Where this music differs from modern jazz is its reliance on syncopated rhythms. The sousaphone anchors things as the bass, while the pairs of banjo/piano and drums/horns work together to achieve an overall, collective melodic harmony. Where buffs of today’s jazz spend times gawking at single soloist, Firecracker’s shows only entice listeners to get in line and start stomping along.
“The rhythmic element is a joyous, jubilant kind of thing, and I think that the happy, danceable rhythms make the music so likeable,” says Widenhouse. “It’s not about the virtuosity of the players. It’s about the rhythm of the music, and the music as a living thing unto itself. As musicians, if we discipline ourselves and practice, the music will live it’s own life through us, and we become just a channel for a great body of American music.”
Marc yaxley trio
Yaxley, who began playing guitar at age 11, got his first paying job when he was only 15, and has gone on to have a long and varied musical career. After spendinga year performing jazz and classical music on cruise ships. Yaxley moved to New York City to study cello and guitar. His career then took him to Las Vegas, where he became musical director at Nellis Air Force Base and a succesful performer, working in such noteworthy venues as Caesar's Palace and Circus Circus. He left Las Vegas in 1989, after he was asked to come to Florida to join the renowned Harold Blanchard Quartet.
Four years later he moved to Brevard, and has continued his musical journey ever since. He has been a featured soloist at the Grove Park Inn Jazz Festival. Through out his career, Yaxley has performed with world-class artists: Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers, jazz legends Carl Fontana and Ira Sullivan, and the founder of the Berkley School of Music jazz department, Jack Peterson.
In addition to performing, Yaxley has also maintained a passion for teaching during his career. In addition to teaching jazz and classical guitar at the University of North Carolina - Asheville, he also teaches guitar, bass guitar, mandolin and cello at Carolina Band Supply in Brevard.
He is joined by various musicians and it's always a treat to see who will be joining him!
Major sponsor
Additional sponsors
Will Morris of
Meredith Baldridge of
