March 22nd: Tom Cleary

Community Concerts @ First presents jazz pianist Tom Cleary on March 22, 2026 at 3pm at the First Congregational Church of Essex Junction. The Sunday afternoon concert will highlight Cleary’s solo playing and will feature vocalist Amber DiLaurentis on several tunes. Come out to enjoy one of Vermont’s finest jazz musicians!

Tom Cleary studied jazz performance at Hampshire College, where his teachers included Yusef Lateef and Archie Shepp, and music education and classical piano performance at the University of Vermont, where his teachers included Sylvia Parker and Elizabeth Metcalfe.  As a pianist and keyboardist he has had extended collaborations with artists including Phish bassist Mike Gordon (with whom he did a number of tours between 2008 and 2014; click here to see a performance by this band on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon), James Harvey, Ray Vega, Patricia Julien, and Jamie Masefield.  His collaboration with his wife, vocalist and composer Amber deLaurentis, in the jazz quartet Birdcode can be heard on the album You Are Here which was released in 2019 and features a number of his original tunes.  He has also played on jazz recordings including Siempre Salsa and Salsa Nortena by Rick Davies and Jazzismo, Cerulean by harmonicist John LaRouche, and Burmese Panther by guitarist/composer Paul Asbell.  His work as an arranger and co-writer can be heard on deLaurentis’ solo albums Innocent Road and Hey Sadie.   He has played on recent releases including Now And Then by saxophonist and flutist Marty Fogel and the eponymous album by Saturn People’s Sound Collective, led by Brian Boyes.  He has accompanied artists including Clark Terry, Lester Bowie, Fontella Bass, Ernie Watts, Chris Vidala, Pete Yellin, Max Weinberg, Judi Silvano, Joe Lovano, Joan Rivers and Steve Earle.  As a composer, his work has been commissioned and recorded by groups including Social Band, Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble and the Saint Michael’s College Fine Arts Department.  The musical Mill Girls, a collaboration with director/playwright Peter Harrigan for which he composed and compiled the score, was first performed in 2017 at Saint Michael’s College and was recently revived in an online production now available on YouTube.  He teaches in the jazz studies program of the UVM Music Department, the Flynn Arts jazz program and his home studio; please visit https://soundcloud.com/bird-code and blog.uvm.edu/tgcleary.

April 26th: Ray Vega

Community Concerts @ First presents the Ray Vega Afro Caribbean Jazz Ensemble on April 26 at 3pm at the First Congregational Church of Essex Junction.

A native of the South Bronx, RAY VEGA is a veteran of the bands of Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Mongo Santamaria, Mario Bauza, Luis “Perico” Ortiz, Hector LaVoe, Johnny Pacheco, Larry Harlow, Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez and Louie Ramirez to name a few. Ray has performed and/or recorded with Nicholas Payton, Joe Henderson, Lionel Hampton, Mel Torme, Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, The Chico O’Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, Jazz at Lincoln Center Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Paul Simon, Frank Foster’s Loud Minority Big Band, Diane Schuur, The Caribbean Jazz Project, Pete Escovedo/Sheila E, Michel Camilo, Eddie Palmieri, The Mingus Big Band and La Orquesta Sinfonica de Simon Bolivar (Venezuela) among numerous others. 

Ray has established himself as one of the innovators of the international Jazz and Latin music scenes. A multi-talented trumpeter, percussionist, composer, arranger and educator, he presents Jazz from a refreshingly original and contemporary perspective. His two recordings on the Concord Picante label, his self-titled debut “Ray Vega”, and “Boperation”, along with his 1st release on the Palmetto label “Pa’lante” have been well received by critics, audiences and musicians alike. Vega’s 2nd Palmetto CD “Squeeze, Squeeze” has also received critical acclaim including Four Stars in Down Beat Magazine.
Vega’s CD “East-West Trumpet Summit” was a collaboration with Seattle trumpeter Thomas Marriott. The CD was released in the summer of 2010 on Origin Records and it hit number 1 on the Jazzweek national radio Jazz charts during the week of June 21, 2010.
His latest CD “Chapter Two” is produced Thomas Marriott. It was released in the Spring of 2014 on Truth Revolution Records. The CD has already received much critical acclaim including a 3 and a half star rating in Down Beat magazine (Nov. 14, 2014). Vega’s latest release (2016) is his second collaboration with Thomas Marriott entitled “Return of the East-West Trumpet Summit”……it’s currently in major airplay rotation nationwide. 

Ray Vega now resides in South Burlington, Vermont. He is a senior lecturer at The University of Vermont (UVM) where he teaches Jazz History, Jazz Improvisation, directs 3 Jazz combos and directs the trumpet studio (Jazz Performance). UVM inducted Vega as a University Scholar for 2015-16. Vega is the first creative artist to receive this high honor and recognition at the university. Vega is the host of Vermont Public Radio’s Friday Night Jazz show.

His current music projects are Ray Vega and his New York Latin Jazz All-Stars, The Ray Vega Quartet, and Ray Vega Latin Jazz Sextet.