Benefit Dance Party w/ Mango Jam July 28 at Brookfield Town Hall

Mango Jam, called "quite possibly New England’s finest Cajun/Zydeco/Caribbean Band," will play a benefit dance party at the Brookfield Town Hall Saturday, July 28 from 8 p.m.–midnight. The Brookfield Community Partnership will sponsor the event as part of its 2007 summer events calendar.

Formed in the early 1990s, Mango Jam draws its inspiration from the music of South Louisiana and the Caribbean, incorporating Zydeco, Cajun, New Orleans R&B and Mardi Gras songs, along with Ska and Reggae. The band also features original songs written by guitarist and singer, Josie Ritter, whose musical collaborators include Gus Zeising (accordions, saxophone and vocals), Dana Lavigne (guitar, fratois and vocals), Mimi Ryan (alto saxophone and vocals), Lee Beckwith (bass and vocals) and Allen Bilson (drums).

As venues go, no place in Vermont could be more appropriate to Mango Jam’s infectious, dance inspiring sound than Brookfield’s Town Hall. Enlarged at the beginning of the 1900s to include a hall large enough for Town Meeting and social events of all kinds, it became one of the premier country dance halls of Central Vermont during the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, hosting weekly dances.

Retired from service in the 1960s and relegated to the yard sale business, the hall was purchased by the Brookfield Community Partnership in 2003 with the assistance of the Vermont Housing Conservation Board and is being restored, step by step, with help from Preservation Trust of Vermont, Freeman Foundation, Vermont Council on the Arts, Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, Senator Patrick Leahy, Northfield Savings Bank and countless private contributors of dollars, time and energy.

Pizza prepared exclusively with local ingredients, as well as other refreshments for hungry, thirsty dancers, will be provided by Brookfield’s own Localvore Pizza.

Come celebrate the revival of a grand dance hall, overlooking Sunset Lake and the Floating Bridge, and get enough exercise to last you a month dancing to the sounds of Mango Jam. For more information call 276-3722.

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