We’re honored to close out our open-air season with a very special event on Sunday September 19th.  We will be performing at a free ‘matinee concert’ on the lawn of St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church in Acton, Massachusetts.  This is our way of saying THANKS! to the great folks at St. Matt’s that helped us out during the Covid-19 pandemic by taking us in for our first 10 weeks of rehearsals in 2021.  We’re back at our very longtime practice facility now, but the opportunity St. Matt’s provided was critical to restarting the band after a lonely hiatus apart  Even following strict safety precautions such as masking and distancing, the St. Matthews’ experience brought us together to make music in person for the first time in many months.  It really lifted everyone’s spirits.  And, it provided us a huge advantage over other bands not yet rehearsing, to better prepare for what turned out to be a busy summer of gigs.

This show is weather permitting only, with a rain date of Sunday September 26th.  The concert runs 12:00pm-2:00pm, and guests are encouraged to bring picnic lunches (please, no alcoholic beverages), as well as blankets and/or lawn chairs.  The church is located at 435 Central Street.

Although admission is free, the Compaq Big Band strongly encourages concertgoers to donate to an amazing effort to raise awareness about hunger, particularly in Massachusetts. You can learn more about Mark Robert\'s endeavor at https://saint-matthews.org/events/compaq-big-band-concert , or on Mark\'s site https://4hunger.org.

We’re hitting’ the audience with the best of our concert book arrangements old and new - Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson, Gordon Goodwin, Tom Kubis, Callum Au, and Chris Walden.  Terrific jazz vocalist Cara Campanelli will be with us for this event, out front with signature tunes as performed by Ella Fitzgerald, Diane Schuur, Tierney Sutton, Natalie Cole, and more.