"Jazz for the End of the World" (2020)

Sarah LeMieux (featuring Aaron Wyanski, Ethan Foote, and Andy Chatfield)

"Jazz for the End of the World" began as a conversation about ennui and the apocalypse around a bonfire in August 2019. Sarah LeMieux, Ethan Foote, and Aaron Wyanski had all met at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and played together in a variety of strange and delightful configurations.  The next logical step was clearly to make a jazz record that leaned into the apocalyptic underpinnings of the Great American Songbook. So, that's what they did.  Bringing in seasoned drummer Andy Chatfield to round out the group, they recorded nine songs, feeling out the emotionally dissonant roots of cherished American classics like "Darn That Dream," and "These Foolish Things." LeMieux's restrainedly emotional vocals glide atop Wyanski's scathing, glittery piano and Foote's wicked bass. Chatfield's drumming is solid pocket with flights of eerie fantasy. LeMieux's original tune "Goodbye, Paris," accentuates the existential while somehow also channeling Vince Guaraldi at Christmastime. 

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Sarah LeMieux's "Jazz for the End of the World" at Hartford Public Library's Baby Grand Jazz Series

Sarah LeMieux's "Jazz for the End of the World" at Hartford Public Library's Baby Grand Jazz Series

 — (EDT, UTC-04) — (EDT, UTC-04)

Hartford Public Library, 500 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103

Sarah LeMieux's "Jazz for the End of the World" will perform a free concert as part of the 20th season of the Hartford Public Library's highly-popular Baby Grand Jazz Series, which since 2004 has featured a spectacular lineup of sixteen of the best jazz music groups in the region, who are selected for their innovation, musicality, performance quality, and cultural tradition. The concert will take place in person in the Center for Contemporary Culture and will also be livestreamed to Facebook and YouTube. Seating is first come, first seated, starting at 2pm. No registration required.

The series is made possible with support from presenting sponsor The Kaman Foundation with special thanks to longtime partners The Hartford Jazz Society and WWUH 91.3 FM. Hartford Public Access films and broadcasts the performances.

For more information about the series, please visit https://www.hplct.org/classes-seminars-exhibits/baby-grand-jazz.

Read the announcement in The Hartford Courant: "Hartford Public Library reveals slate for 2023 Baby Grand Jazz series" https://www.courant.com/ctnow/music/hc-ctnow-baby-grand-jazz-hartford-library-2023-20221220-riygszw67jcavkkxkkobm76qt4-story.html

Join this event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1635704870197709

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Listen to "Goodbye, Paris" - the first single off the record "Jazz for the End of the World" - on Spotify here.

“['Jazz for the End of the World']'s dark themes and 'general sense of rising dread and anxiety swirling around in the world' was prophetic.” - Mike Horyczun

— Connecticut Post / The News-Times / Greenwich Time / Stamford Advocate / The Norwalk Hour

“The songs on 'Jazz for the End of the World' are alluringly portentous. It's tempestuous music made for uncertain times. During pandemic the jazz clubs are closed, but LeMieux's vocals evoke all the smoke and whiskey of a dark barroom.” - Justin Papp

— Hearst CT Media

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