Moo-sic to Our Ears

This one goes out to Bessie: legendary saxophonist and Litchfield, Connecticut, resident Paul Winter is performing with his ensemble in two concerts to benefit the Microloan Fund for New England Farmers, a benevolence campaign launched earlier this year by Brattleboro, Vermont-based nonprofit Strolling of the Heifers. (You read that correctly: the annual June event is the mellow, long-lost cousin of the madness entertained in Pamplona, Spain, from which executive director Orly Munzing had just returned when the notion of a parade to support family farms arose in 2001.)

While no cows will stroll the stage at the concerts—held September 11 at the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro and September 12 at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts—listeners will likely enjoy a similar sense of peace while soaking up Winter’s fusion of global sounds and snappy jazz. Launched in 1967 and credited with “awakening people to the plight of endangered species through the beauty of their sounds,” the Paul Winter Consort may soon be known also for helping to support the survival of another species: credit-crunched farmers spanning the Green Mountain and Bay states. [SEPTEMBER 2009]

THE GOODS

Strolling of the Heifers
New England Farm Relief Concerts featuring the
Paul Winter Consort

Sept 11 at 7:30
Latchis Theatre
50 Main St./Route 5
Brattleboro, Vt.
802.254.6300
www.brattleborotix.com

Sept 12 at 7:30
Colonial Theatre
111 South St./Route 7
Pittsfield, Mass.
413.997.4444
www.thecolonialtheatre.org
$45, $35 and $20

Strolling of the Heifers
www.strollingoftheheifers.com