19-Piece Compaq Big Band w/ Special Guest Vocalist Anaïs Reno at FREE 'Sounds on the Souhegan' Summer Concert Series Finale

The sun may be setting on the 19-piece Compaq Big Band’s loaded Summer 2025, but we still have a couple HOT concerts remaining! On Wednesday Auust 27th we’re once again *THRILLED* to have Special Guest Special Guest Vocalist Anaïs Reno out front! The audience in Milford is in for a VERY RARE treat when this jazz sensation from New York City returns to again grace a Southern New Hampshire stage with us – after performing just the night prior at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s iconic Dizzy's Club ;) This will be the season finale for ‘Sounds on the Souhegan’, the popular FREE public concert series presented annually by the Milford Recreation Department. Band plays 7:00pm-8:30pm Rain Or Shine. The primary outdoor venue for the show is The Stage at Keyes Memorial Park, located at 45 Elm Street. Bring a blanket and/or lawn chair. Free parking along Elm Street and in the Keyes Park lots. In the event of rain the concert moves indoors to the Milford Town Hall, upstairs in the Auditorium (3rd Floor). The Town Hall is located at One Union Square (on ‘The Oval) in the center of Milford. The Auditorium is accessible by stairs at the Nashua Street main entrance, or via an elevator via the rear entrance on Middle Street. Parking is available along Elm Street, South Street, Nashua Street, and Middle Street, plus on The Oval and in lots off Bridge Street and next to TD Bank. If held indoors, chairs will be provided and seating will be General Admission Only. Doors Open 6:00pm – please arrive early for best seats! The weather call will be made by 12:00pm the day of – check band and town Facebook pages, or the Milford Rec web site (all listed below). The sandwich boards on The Oval will be updated, too. Milford offers a wide variety of great choices for sustenance and libation before and after the concert, with many options on or just off The Oval. In 2024 the Compaq Big Band was fortunate to have Anaïs Reno up from New York to be featured in front of the full band on three killer concert events, including at the prestigious City Winery Boston. And, she wowed every audience member - from just sitting just a few feet in front of her to around the world - when she performed at a fabulous live studio, on-air FM, and streamed performance at 90.5 WICN in Worcester with a talented quintet of CBB instrumentalists 15 months ago. Check out audio and photos from that special WICN Studio 50 event at <a href="https://www.compaqbigband.com/CBB_AnaisReno_WICN_20240326.php">https://www.compaqbigband.com/CBB_AnaisReno_WICN_20240326.php</a>, along with a fascinating on-air interview by WICN’s Tom Nutile recorded just after the live performance. On August 27th Anaïs will be singing arrangements from the Great American Songbook as performed by Ella Fitzgerald with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, as well as other jazz classics as sung by Ella, Carmen McRae, Anita O’Day, Helen O’Connell, Rosemary Clooney, Nancy Wilson, and more. Apropos of our singer’s hometown, we'll also program a very hip version of Billy Joel’s “New York State Of Mind” from Chris Walden. And, we’ll round out the evening with a few tasty instrumental arrangements from the likes of Count Basie, Buddy Rich, and Gordon Goodwin. Since her public Boston debut with us in May of last year at City Winery, this rising New York City jazz star has been busy performing on stages in Manhattan, St. Louis, Buffalo, Philadelphia (where one of her very favorite venues once named an ice cream after her…), San Francisco, London, Edinburgh, Lake Tahoe, New Hampshire, Western Massachusetts, North Carolina, and more. Anaïs began singing the Great American Songbook at the age of eight, and has been performing at legendary Birdland Jazz Club in Times Square since she was thirteen. A graduate of the acclaimed Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music &amp; Art and Performing Arts in NYC, in May 2025 she received her bachelor's degree in jazz vocal performance from Purchase College (SUNY Purchase) in New York, where she was an Ella Fitzgerald Scholar. Among her many accolades, she won the Ben Tucker Jazz Award at the 2023 American Traditions Competition, took First Place at the 2020 Mabel Mercer Foundation competition, received the 2020 Julie Wilson Award, was awarded Second Place at the 2018 Michael Feinstein’s Great American Song Book Academy competition, and earned the 2016 Forte International Competition’s Platinum Award. She has performed for sold out shows at storied NYC venues such as Rose Hall at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Django, Dizzy’s, and Feinstein's 54 Below, plus Seneca One Auditorium in Buffalo, NY for International Jazz Day, as well as singing her own compositions with the NY Philharmonic in David Geffen Hall (Lincoln Center). Anaïs has also sung at Madison Square Garden, and at the Caramoor Jazz Festival. She delivered a stunning rendition of “America The Beautiful” on national television at Citi Field for the New York Mets/Yankees game on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Anaïs appears regularly at iconic music venues such as Birdland, Chris’ Jazz Club in Philadelphia, and at PizzaExpress in London. Her first album, “Lovesome Thing: Anaïs Reno sings Ellington &amp; Strayhorn”, debuted in 2021, and is a 12-song compilation of 100% Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn collaborations that rose quickly to #6 on the jazz charts. Her second album - “Anaïs Reno at PizzaExpress Live - in London“ - was recorded in Summer 2023 at the iconic club’s trendy Soho flagship location. Her latest studio endeavor, “Lady Of The Lavender Mist”, was released in May 2025 under Club44 Records, featuring legendary guitarist Peter Bernstein, David Wong, and Joe Farnsworth. All are available on Spotify, Apple Music, etc. We will have Anaïs’ three CDs available for purchase before and after the show (cash &amp; cards accepted). To get a couple more samples of what you’re in for on August 27th, watch a video collage captured live of her singing with the CBB at the Andres Institute of Art in Brookline, NH on September 20, 2024 <a href="https://compaqbigband.com/video/cbb_20240921_AndresInstituteOfArt.mp4">https://compaqbigband.com/video/cbb_20240921_AndresInstituteOfArt.mp4</a> , and listen to a live recording of her performing Billy May’s arrangement of “I Love You” with us at the Park Theatre in Jaffrey, NH on July 24, 2024 as part of the TEAM Jaffrey Summer Concert Series <a href="https://compaqbigband.com/CBB_Jaffrey20240724_I%20Love%20You.mp3">https://compaqbigband.com/CBB_Jaffrey20240724_I%20Love%20You.mp3</a> . <a href="https://www.compaqbigband.com">www.compaqbigband.com</a> | <a href="https://www.anaisreno.com">www.anaisreno.com</a> | <a href="https://milford.nh.gov/recreation">milford.nh.gov/recreation</a> FB: Compaq Big Band | Anais Reno | Milford Recreation Department IG: compaqbigband | anaisrenojazz

The Stage at Keyes Memorial Park

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19-Piece Compaq Big Band w/ Special Guest Vocalist Anaïs Reno at FREE 'Sounds on the Souhegan' Summer Concert Series Finale

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