Tanglewood Announces Jazz Festival Dates

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LENOX, Mass. — Tanglewood Jazz Festival will open on Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010, at 2 pm, with "Radio Deluxe," co-hosted by John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey. The program will be taped live at the festival for later broadcast on more than 60 stations nationwide. Normally broadcast from their living room "high above Lexington Avenue," the Tanglewood program will be the second consecutive year the duo has taken their show on the road since the program’s inception in 2005.

"Radio Deluxe" from Tanglewood will feature two special guests to be announced at a later date.

On Saturday, Sept. 4, at 8 p.m., jazz vocalist and 2010 Grammy winner for the Best Vocal Jazz Album of the Year, Kurt Elling, makes a triumphant return to Seiji Ozawa Hall. Nine-time Grammy nominee, Elling captured the award for his latest CD, "Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman" (Concord Records 2009). With a four-octave baritone voice, Elling is known for his cutting edge vocalese technique and has toured with his musical "father figures" Jon Hendricks and Mark Murphy in "Four Brothers."

Opening for Kurt Elling on Saturday night will be Elling’s long-time collaborator Laurence Hobgood and his trio. Referred to as "one of the most incredible pianists I’ve ever heard" by Dave Brubeck, Hobgood has worked with Elling since 1995 when they co-produced "Close Your Eyes," their first of six Grammy nominated records on the Blue Note label. Hobgood received his own Grammy nomination in 2010 for "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist" for "Dedicated to You."

The Sunday afternoon concert on Sept. 5 will open at 2 p.m. with a rare and exclusive performance by clarinetest/saxophonist Eddie Daniels and pianist Bob James, in a new program called "Broadway Boogie." Musical collaborators for 40 years, Daniels and James refer to this swinging, integrated quartet as "chamber jazz."

Bob James, best known for his smooth and fusion-flavored music and collaborations with guitarist Earl Klugh, David Sanborn and Fourplay, has a wide range of musical talent from classical music to straight-ahead jazz. Pianist for Sarah Vaughn in the 1960’s, James’ discography includes work with guitarist Lee Ritenour, bassist Dave Holland and pianist Joe Sample as well as an eastern-influenced CD "Angels of Shanghai" that features students from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Following "Broadway Boogie" on Sunday afternoon will be the Legendary Count Basie Orchestra. Since it’s creation in 1935 by William “Count” Basie, the orchestra has toured and performed around the globe for fans and dignitaries in every country. Since Basie’s death in 1984, the orchestra has been led by Thad Jones, Frank Foster, Grover Mitchell and–currently–by Bill Hughes (who was hired by Basie in 1953).

Sunday evening’s performances on Sept. 5 at 8 will begin with the Julian Lage Group. While Lage has performed several times at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival (most recently with Mark O’Connor’s Hot Swing in 2008) this marks the first appearance on the Ozawa Hall stage with his own group. Regarded a guitar prodigy at the age of 13, Lage spent several years under the tuttelege of instrumentalist Gary Burton and subsequently gained recognition from jazz superstars Herbie Hancock and Bela Fleck. His premier recording "Sounding Point" (EmArcy Records 2009), was nominated for Best Contemporary Jazz Album that year and received critical acclaim for Lage’s thoughtfully composed works and innovations in duo and trio settings.

The festival will close on Sunday evening with an encore performance by pianist/composer Donal Fox, performing a new program called "Piazzolla to Bach," with a very special guest to be announced. Fox appeared at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival in 2008 and returns by popular demand. Named a Martin Luther King visiting artist at MIT in 2009, Fox crosses the classical music and jazz music boundaries and continuously receives critical acclaim for his compositions and integration of the two musical genres.

Artists to perform at the popular Jazz Café will be announced in the near future.
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A Boutique Hotel is Bringing Guests a Luxury Stay in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LENOX, Mass. — A new Inn is bringing a boutique-style stay for visitors and locals to enjoy.

Owners, Sullivan Capital LLC, purchased the property, located on 135 Main Street, in 2024. After a year or renovations, Garden Gables Inn is open for business. 

"Garden Gables started off as one of the many Berkshire cottages, 1790 was the date on that, and it's always operated as an inn," said Hospitality Manager Yvonne Walton. "It's just a great gathering place and relaxation spot for people to come and get the feel of Lenox, and just slow down and enjoy the nature and the surrounding area...get culture and art and see some great concerts. I think it'll be a wonderful place, definitely does more of the upper-scale hospitality." 

Owners Niko Giallouis and Eric Sullivan bought the property from the former owner. Sullivan had his eye on Lenox since attending a wedding almost 10 years ago.

"I came to a wedding in Lenox, probably six or seven years ago. Personally, just kind of fell in love with the area, and I guess that's kind of how it got on my radar. So you know from that perspective, as we got into the hotel business out towards an area, it was a place I was kind of monitoring and waiting for the right property to show up."

After purchasing the two underwent a full renovation, a project that cost around $1.5 million. The building, first built in 1780, required some TLC. Sullivan's wife, Jessica, who owns Jessica Sullivan Design, designed the inn.

Sullivan said they installed a new roof, repainted everything, renovated the bathrooms, installed new floors, a new HVAC system, and new plumbing.

"We really touched everything from the outside...I mean, all the aesthetics and layouts changed a bit," he said. "As I said, put about a million and a half into it. All new furniture, fixtures, everything. The design's completely different. It wasn't a full gut, but it was a heavy, heavy renovation."

The two like to collaborate with local businesses, and they make a point to direct visitors to local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.

"If guests are asking for recommendations, our customer service team, our guest services team, will relay that kind of information. Even if we can call and make a reservation for somebody, happy to do it," he said. "We aren't doing breakfast, but what we do is we have partnerships with a lot of the breakfast places downtown. We actually purchase a gift certificates for each person each day, so that they can use that to go downtown."

Sullivan hopes that guests don't see their inn as just a place to sleep and dump their bags, but make it an experience for anyone who stays.

"We really focus on kind of the experience side of things, so again, we want to give you the best experience you can have here...and we want that not just to be the place you put your bag and go do things. It's important to think of everything," he said.

Sullivan said partnerships are important to their business and are a way to connect with locals.

"The local partnerships, I can't stress that enough, because no matter how much and how great the room is, people are still going to want to go do other things," he said. "So, I think it just benefits everybody if we're all working together and so forth, and supporting the community, being neighborly too, because we are surrounded by residential homes...But we really try to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of love into the building, all the details, really care about the senses," Sullivan said.

The Inn's check-in and reservations are completely online. When guests arrive, all they have to do is check in online and receive their code that they will use to enter their room. Sullivan hopes this helps create less stress for guests and gets them to their room as fast as possible, especially after a long trip.

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