Spring Formal Benefit with Beasley Court Big Band
03.25.2023 - The roaring 1920s set the bar for glitz, cocktails, modernism, and The Jazz Age, and we here at The Harvester Performance and Event Center are the standard bearers for the roaring 2020s which consequently sets the bar for class, style, creativity and a vibe that radiates from our love of music. Where there is music there is joy, and The Harvester stepped back in time to 1923 and shared joy throughout Historic Downtown Smithville. Irving Berlin and Glenn Miller would have been proud of the sound rolling through the Harvester on Saturday night. For the second night this week, The Flatwoods stage was filled to capacity with a ten-piece powerhouse called The Beasley Court Big Band, led by our good friend Jordan Morack who got his degree at The Burlap Room. Once again, Jordan put together an amazing group of musical pros that delighted the well dressed audience. Pennies From Heaven, Cheek to Cheek, New York New York, Fly Me To The Moon, Take the A Train and the list goes on and on. As stated, jazz comes right out of the south and we witnessed a clinic on how to perform great American music and that mission to preserve and propel music and the culture that it represents. It is, afterall, the home of The Fiddlers’ Jamboree.
The Beasley Court Big Band is oozing with talent including Mr. Andrew Carney, trumpet player who has recorded and toured with Ariana Grande, Brian Setzer, Pink, Andrea Boccelli, Joss Stone, and Whitney Houston. Oh yea, groove on this cats and kittens: trombone player Roy Agee played on the Jamboree stage back in the 1970s as young banjo player, and from that experience pursued a musical career that has led to recording and performing with artists including Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, The Black Keys, Keb Mo, Phish, The Who, Prince, Phish, and a whole slew of big league musicians. Roy represents what it is for us to be the vanguard of promoting music and not just any music but honest to goodness talent that lurks in the hills and hollows of Middle Tennessee, especially right here in Smithville, gateway to The Upper Cumberland Playland.
We are grateful to our partners for celebrating and benefiting the DeKalb County High School band. Swallows Insurance Agency, Janney & Associates CPA, and (our next door neighbors) FirstBank of Smithville did not hesitate to get involved and we are thankful to “local supporting local”. This entire community is blessed to have a marching band and we intend to bring focus to how important it is for all of us to support art in all its forms.
Diego Alvarez, from The Royal House of Cheese in Cookeville, plated up out of the ordinary faire that would stop Gatsby in his tracks. Tasteful, elegant were the many treats lavished on the guests of the evening. From delicate cornbread treats to creamy petifores, and from shrimp boats to croissants served from a bird cage. Food was plated and served by our own in-house crew who were all dressed in their feathers, head pieces, and “flapper style dress” that gave the whole night an air of sophistication that was all so avant-garde. Thanks to Angela Pedigo and Becca Bennett for creating a scene that was straight out of the speakeasy of the 1920s. The bar staff laid out some incredible craft cocktails while both drinks and food were served to all guests at their tables and throughout the venue. A very nice photo booth was on site to capture the moment and a few couples also demonstrated their dancing skills with some really nifty swing dances that got everyone to hoot and clap to the rhythm. Yes indeed, this was a night of flamboyance and style that F. Scott Fitzgerald would have heralded The Harvester as a place of first rate intelligence that has the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function, and we here are glad to bring a fresh, re energized, positive, local vibration to our Historic Downtown Smithville.
Personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures and thanks you to the many attendees that came to support local art. Members of The Beasley Court Big Band include:
Jordan Morack, Flute, Alto Sax, Clarinet
Don Aliquo, Tenor Sax
Zach Tyler, Baritone Sax
Andrew Carney, Trumpet
Daniel Melgar, Trumpet
Roy Agee, Trombone
Sam Glover, Guitar
Josh Karas, Piano
Bailey Johnstone, Bass
Ian Strobino, Drum Set
Dominique Caster, Vocal
We’re initiating our outdoor events for 2023 with Zach Davis live at Bert’s on Thursdays at the Burlap Room, 3/30, then Finally Fridays at the Harvester, 3/31, The Realty Firm of Smithville presents Harper Grace and Hazi (with opener Jimmy Wayne Garrett), Bert’s on Thursdays at the Harvester, 4/6, with the Joey Fletcher Band, Comedy Night with JJ Barrows, Amber Autry, and Doug Sanders on 4/13, Earth Day X on Saturday, 4/22, with Bee Taylor, Zion Stovall and “The Mojo Kingz”, an authentic taste of NOLA prepared by the Boil Bros. at the Burlap Room, Finally Fridays at the Harvester, 4/28, with Tom Tippin, and Bert’s on Thursdays at the Harvester, 5/4, with Cam Pierce and Craig Anderson. And be on the lookout for our first theater performance as the Nashville Shakespeare Festival makes its way to Downtown Smithville - details coming soon!
All the details for upcoming events at burlaproom.eventbrite.com. Stay up-to-date with all the events in the Bert Driver Network (Nursery, Burlap Room, and the Harvester) by signing up for our Burlapper Newsletter - released every other Tuesday morning straight to your inbox!
