- The Armenian Weekly - https://armenianweekly.com -

Black Sea Salsa in Newton

NEWTON, Mass. (A.W.)—Residents of Newton and their friends from neighboring towns are in for a delightful evening of music and dancing on July 12 at 6:30 p.m.

Black Sea Salsa, the 15-piece world music group, will be performing that evening at the Newton Center Green (corner of Center and Beacon Streets). This event marks the first of the “Heritage Festival” concerts held every Sunday in July and sponsored by the volunteer organization “The Newton Pride Committee,” which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

Armand Andreassian, who has been a member of the committee for over 15 years, was instrumental in organizing three performances by the “Sayat Nova Dance Company” with Janet Jeghelian (former radio personality) as host. Speaking about the festival, Andreassian says, “it’s a wonderful venue which attracts large crowds and provides an excellent opportunity for families to familiarize themselves with the richness of different cultures.”

This year, The Citizen’s Bank in Newton provided a generous donation to enable the production of the festival.

Black Sea Salsa was founded in 1996 by Armenian trumpeter Dan Teager, who still leads the group of musicians who come from diverse backgrounds. Among them are flutist Lance Martin, who founded the Lance Martin band; R&B and gospel singer producer Ron Murphy, known for his original works and interpretation of notables like Ellington and Gershwin; well known guitarist John Baboian,  a longtime instructor at Berklee school of music who is well known to audiences in many Cambridge venues such as Ryles and Regatta Bar.

Black Sea Salsa performs original blend of Armenian music and Afro-Cuban Jazz, written and arranged by Dan Teager. Recognized as one of Boston’s premier festival bands, they have played for Sail Boston 2000, The Marblehead Art’s festival and the Boston Art’s festival to name a few.