Boston Jazz, Blues Musician Paul Speidel To Perform Virtually

STOUGHTON, MA – Longtime jazz and blues musician and composer Paul Speidel will present a pair of virtual online concerts for area residents that will take listeners on a musical journey that explores how the two genres have included other varieties of music over the years.

The concerts, which are presented through a grant from the Mansfield Cultural Council in conjunction with the Massachusetts Cultural Council, will take place via video conferencing on Zoom at 2 p.m. on August 11 and 13.

The program, Speidel said, provides a history of jazz, beginning with its country blues roots. From there listeners will travel through through variations of jazz over the years culminating with the modern-day variety. The influence of blues into jazz will also be explored as well as the instrumental part the blues played in the development of modern Latin, soul and rock music.

Speidel, who released his first album in 2004, grew up in Chicago infatuated with jazz and blues. Since then, he has become a part of Boston’s jazz and blues community and has since released five more albums with the Paul Speidel Band, the most recent of which was released in 2014.

While transitioning to virtual performances due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has taken some adjustment, Speidel has quickly warmed up to the idea of performing in front of a computer screen.

“I love reaching out to people where they are, no matter the venue,” Speidel wrote in an email to Patch on Wednesday. “As far as (performing for) senior audiences go, it’s an even newer format for many of those folks, admittedly. But, to come full circle, when I can reach someone where they are at, that makes me feel like I’ve made a difference.

“And since many seniors have a harder time getting out of their homes, even when there’s not a pandemic, it makes these performances all that much more special to me. I think something all of us can do is to help people across the generation gaps keep in touch, and these days that means keep them in tune with technology.”

For information on how to gain access to either of next week’s virtual concerts, inquires can be made to Carolyn Lee at the Stoughton Commission on Aging at (781) 344-8882 ext. 9510 or by email at clee@stoughton-ma.gov.