The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme (FCCOL) has announced that Tom McDermott, the New Orleans piano virtuoso, will perform a concert for area residents at 5 p.m., Saturday, March 25, in the Sheffield Auditorium at the church. A donation of $10 at the door is suggested. Doors for the concert will open at 4:30 p.m. and seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
McDermott’s music has been heard frequently on NPR, the Showtime series “The Knick,” and the HBO series “Treme” (10 of his songs were included throughout the show.) During his accomplished career, he has recorded more than a dozen albums, including 75 original tunes. McDermott was a member of the Dukes of Dixieland for several years, as well as a founding member of the New Orleans Nightcrawlers.
His concert will consist of both original works and timeless classics, and reflect his musical expertise in ragtime, jazz, funk, blues and choro (a Brazilian musical form with similarities to ragtime and jazz). The “New York Times” once said of him in a review, “Whatever direction he moves in, Mr. McDermott is a very skillful pianist.”
In announcing the performance, FCCOL Senior Minister Steve Jungkeit said, “Tom’s work reminds us of the power of music to lift the human spirit. In times of great social injustices such as the one we currently live in, we need the musicians – and the novelists, and the poets and the filmmakers – to remind us of our need for beauty and art … not only to speak to our social struggles but also to help us transcend them. Tom is an amazing artist who can help us do just that. This is a concert not to be missed.”
At the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, music is a vital element of communal life – sacred, secular, classical, jazz, barrelhouse blues.
For more information, visit the church’s website at www.fccol.org and/or Tom McDermott’s website at www.mcdermottmusic.com.