SAXTONS RIVER — The Main Street Arts “Taste of the Arts, Tales from a Community” continues Thursday, Jan. 9, at 6 p.m., with a presentation by ukulele artist Ben Carr.
Carr is a Saxtons River-based musician focused on performance and education of drum set, percussion, and ukulele. He fronts his own band, the Ben Carr Music Project, and also performs solo.
He also appears with many regional bands, including R&B/jazz artist Patty Carpenter, blues guitarist Sunny Lowdown, and the original Vermont reggae outfit Mo Ambesa.
He will share anecdotes about his life as a musician, his love of the ukulele, and its history.
He describes his music as “a funky melding of folk, jazz, prog rock, drum orchestrations, and solo ukulele compositions that deliver toe-tapping melodies over a solid foundation of dynamic rhythms.”
Carr's third solo album, “Oakleaf,” was released in 2011 and pairs his love of the ukulele with the heart of his various drumming styles. The album provides a journey from ukulele duets with the acoustic guitar, double bass and Mohan Veena to full band arrangements that swing bluegrass and funky odd meters.
Ben Carr Music also provides live sound reinforcement, sound design, recording, mixing and editing services. Carr's talk is preceded by a catered dinner that will take place at the Chivers Center at Vermont Academy due to construction at Main Street Arts.