19-Piece Compaq Big Band w/ Special Guest Vocalis Anaïs Reno at Backbeat Brewing Company (No Cover)
When:
Monday, Jul 28, 2025 7:00p -
9:30p
Monday, Jul 28, 2025 7:00p -
9:30p
Where:
Backbeat Brewing Company
31A Park Street
Beverly, Massachusetts 01915
Admission:
FREE
Hosted by:
Categories:
Date Idea, Drinks, Music, Nightlife
Event website:
https://www.compaqbigband.com/250728.php
The 19-piece Compaq Big Band is BEYOND EXCITED to make a midsummer return to one of our favorite new haunts, the Backbeat Brewing Company (BBC) in Beverly, MA, Massachusetts, on Monday July 28th. As was the case with our smash debut at BBC this past March 24th, Special Guest Special Guest Vocalist Anaïs Reno from New York City will be out in front!
Backbeat has quickly become New England’s premier ‘big band hang’, featuring monthly appearances by an all-star ‘house band’ - the Backbeat Big Band (BBB), directed by well-known New England jazz trumpeter Jay Daly – along with frequent guest big band performances. Both Jay and BBC owner Pete Harkins are HUGE fans of the genre!
As if having Anaïs with us at BBC again isn’t ‘enough’ for diehard big band fans, we’re honored to have world-renowned jazz trumpeter and Grammy Award-winning big band leader Bijon Watson as part of our stellar trumpet section for this show! He’ll be featured on Bill Holman’s dynamic arrangement of “Begin The Beguine” done for Doc Severinsen, and Adrian Drover’s legendary treatment of “MacArthur Park” done for Maynard Ferguson’s full-size big band.
There is no cover charge for this event. We’re on 7:00pm-9:30pm. Doors Open 5:00pm. All seating is General Admission – SO GET THERE EARLY! Indoors, but - weather permitting - BBC’s outdoor patio will be open, too! Cool and casual summer dress, for sure.
In just the last year and a half the Compaq Big Band has been privileged to feature Anaïs on four 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 in March 2024.
Check out video and photos from that special WICN Studio 50 event at https://www.compaqbigband.com/CBB_AnaisReno_WICN_20240326.php , along with a fascinating on-air interview by WICN’s Tom Nutile recorded just after the live performance.
BBC is located at 31A Park Street in downtown Beverly, just across from the Beverly Depot MBTA commuter rail station – just minutes off Route 128. There’s plenty of parking adjacent to/near the venue, including at the MBTA parking garage at 100 Rantoul Street ($4 cash or card) and metered on-street spaces ($1/hour up until 8:00pm - quarters, card, or Passport Parking App). Just an FYI, during the summer there’s the popular Beverly Farmer’s Market going on across the street at Veterans Memorial Park (Odell Park) 3:00pm-7:00pm.
BBC offers a great assortment of fresh craft beers brewed on premises, as well as non-alcoholic beverages. And, they serve great pizza and bar snacks.
On July 28th 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 her hometown, we’ll also be debuting a very hip version of Billy Joel’s “New York State Of Mind””. And, we’ll round out the evening with a few tasty instrumental arrangements from the likes of Count Basie, Sammy Nestico, Callum Au, and Gordon Goodwin. Plus Anaïs will dazzle the audience with a few small group features from her latest album.
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 & Art and Performing Arts in NYC, in May 2025 she received her Bachelor of Music degree in jazz vocal performance from Purchase College (SUNY Purchase) in New York, where she was an 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.
Since Anaïs’ public Boston debut with us just ten short months ago at City Winery Boston, this rising New York City jazz star has been busy performing in her hometown of Manhattan, along with appearing on stages in St. Louis, Buffalo, Philadelphia (where one of her very frequent jazz club venues named an ice cream after her…), San Francisco, London, Edinburgh, Lake Tahoe, New Hampshire, and more.
She has performed for sold out shows at storied venues such as: Madison Square Garden; Rose Hall at Lincoln Center; Carnegie Hall; The Django; Dizzy’s; Feinstein's 54 Below in New York City; Seneca One Auditorium in Buffalo, NY for International Jazz Day; Chris’ Jazz Café in Philadelphia, PA; the Valhalla Boathouse Theater in Lake Tahoe, CA; Pizza Express and Crazy Coqs in London; as well as singing her own compositions with the NY Philharmonic in David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. Anaïs has been featured at the Caramoor Jazz Festival, and the Edinburgh Jazz Festival, and 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 & 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 album, “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.
To get a couple more samples of what you’re in for on July 28th, 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, and listen to a live recording of her performing Billy May’s arrangement of “I Love You” with us at the The Park Theatre in Jaffrey, NH on July 24, 2024 as part of the TEAM Jaffrey Summer Concert Series.
www.compaqbigband.com | www.anaisreno.com | www.bijonwatson.com | www.backbeatbrewing.com | www.jaydalytrumpet.com
We will have Anaïs’ CDs of her three albums (along with vinyl of her second album) available for purchase before the show, during intermission, and post-show (cash & cards accepted).
Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Bijon Watson’s career as a musician and educator spans more than 30 years and has taken him around the globe to perform for audiences worldwide. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Bijon attended the New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory School, and the University of Southern California, and was a member of the 1994 Disney All-American College Band and 1995 Disney/Grammy All-American College Jazz Band. His love for big band jazz inspired him to become a student of the great bands of the past and present and he has become a sought after and in-demand lead trumpet player that can be heard on television, in films, and award-winning recordings with iconic and world-class artists.
Bijon plays lead trumpet for the Grammy-nominated Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, the Grammy-winning John Daversa Progressive Big Band, the Grammy-winning John Beasley’s Monkestra, José Rizo’s Jazz on the Latin Side All-Stars, the late Gerald Wilson Jazz Orchestra, and many other jazz, salsa, and pop bands throughout the United States. Most recently, in 2022, as co-leader with pianist/composer Steven Feifke, Bijon can be heard showcasing his talents not only on lead trumpet but as a featured soloist as well with their Grammy Award-winning Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra.
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