Brattleboro’s annual festival of music and art celebrates its fifth year with: Nu Mu 5: “Minding a New Way”. The festival will be held at 118 Elliot and is scheduled over 3 weekends in August from 7th–21st. The opening evening will feature celebrated bassist and storyteller Hilliard Greene with his famed musical project: “Milestone Negro Spirituals Until The Civil War: When Folksongs Bring Freedom.” Greene will be sharing bass lines and the stories behind the spirituals associated with the Underground Railroad as well as coded messages that runaway slaves used to elude capture, such as ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’ and others. 

Greene’s powerfully moving performance will begin at 8:30 pm following the Gallery Walk opening of the ‘Minding a New Way’ art exhibition in the 118 Elliot Gallery with paintings by Liza Cassidy and John Loggia. After Greene’s performance, saxophonist Jeff Lederer and other local musicians including Pete Simoneaux will explore the echoes of the spirituals in contemporary Jazz.

The Mending Wall