This evening in the balcony room of the Blue Nile, the cellist Helen Gillet will be celebrating the release of her new CD, Running of the Bells. The saxophonist Tim Green and the drummer Doug Garrison will be joining her.
Gillet is one the most accomplished musicians among the more recent additions to our fair city—classically trained, urbane and cosmopolitan—she can, and it appears, does play every style of music.
I have heard her sing French chansons, play drums and most recently play in what sounded like a chamber music ensemble if the other musicians were the guitarist Jonathan Freilich and the percussionist Michael Skinkus. This was at a wedding and most of the crowd mostly ignored the musicians. They just seemed to play harder.
The two musicians that will be accompanying her are also among the most adventurous players in town. Green is a masterful improviser and Garrison can be seen behind the kit playing in bands with a huge range of styles.
This is most likely Gillet’s last local gig before she embarks on her annual summer European tour.
The show begins at 10 PM and is free and open to the public. But remember to tip the band. It’s part of the social contract.
