Brown Bag Concerts

The Brown Bag Concert Series, presented by Mechanics Hall and 90.5 FM WICN, has been a beloved tradition in Worcester since 1983. These free concerts by acclaimed regional and national performers are held in the Great Hall on select Wednesdays from noon to 1pm. Bring your own “brown bag” lunch, and enjoy wonderful music while eating your lunch! Cabaret-style seating available on a first-come, first-served basis. All concerts are free, open to the public, and subject to change.

The accessible entrance to Mechanics Hall is located on Waldo Street. Elevators are located in the ground-floor lobby and provide access to the second and third floors. Please note, there is no elevator access to the balcony. All concerts take place in the Great Hall on the third floor. If you need assistance, please contact the Mechanics Hall Ticket Office, Monday through Friday from 9:30am-4:30pm, by calling 508-752-5608.

Whenever possible, Brown Bag Concerts are also broadcast live on WICN 90.5FM, and streamed live on WICN.org.

Fall 2022 Brown Bag Concert Series Schedule

Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Crocodile River Music
12:00pm

Crocodile River Music specializes in African and African-influenced music, dance, and art experiences. Using the universal influence and connectivity of African rhythms and melodies, an infectious beat, and a participatory performance style, Crocodile River Music engages audiences of all backgrounds and capabilities.

Zach Combs, Director of Crocodile River Music, fell in love with the rich and diverse cultures of West Africa while in Mali on a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. With his Malian friend and teacher, Issa Coulibaly, Combs founded Crocodile River Music in 2011. Together, they set out to provide opportunities for emerging and established artists from Africa and evoke new ways of cultural thinking in our communities. Balla Kouyaté, the group’s musical director, was honored in 2019 with a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) National Heritage Fellowship, the nation's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.

Today, Crocodile River Music continues to share the cultures of Africa through song, dance, and art that informs, connects, and inspires audiences.

Wednesday, November 16, 2022
Laszlo Gardony Quartet, featuring Don Braden
12:00pm

Internationally acclaimed Boston-based jazz pianist and composer Laszlo Gardony is one of the most expressive and technically skilled pianists working in jazz today. A native of Hungary, he has performed in 27 countries and released 13 albums on the Sunnyside, Antilles, and Avenue Jazz labels during his distinguished decades-long career. Gardony’s recordings and performances convey the joy of inspired creation, drawing on a deep well of emotions, a prodigious technique, and a playful curiosity that thrives on creating music that is truly alive in each unique moment. His 14th album as a leader, “Close Connection” (Sunnyside Records), which features his trio, Yoron Israel (drums) and John Lockwood (bass), will be released on December 2, 2022.

Gardony embarked on his professional musical career after graduating from the Bela Bartok Conservatory and the Science University of Budapest in 1979. Possessing a powerful sense of swing, a strong feel for the blues, and a firm command of post-bop vocabulary, he became one of Europe’s most sought-after accompanists. In 1983, Gardony emigrated to the United States where he enrolled at Boston's Berklee College of Music on full scholarship. He was awarded first prize in the Great American Jazz Piano Competition in 1987 and after graduating from Berklee joined their faculty as a professor of piano, a position he still holds. Gardony has divided his time between composing, recording, performing, and teaching.

Photo of Laszlo Gardony by Richard Conde

Laszlo_Gardony_Concert_Photo_by_Richard_Conde

Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Greg Abate
12:00pm

Rhode Island native Greg Abate is a jazz saxophonist, flutist, and composer, known for his dynamic, hard bop-influenced style. A 1972 graduate of Berklee College of Music, Abate has had a long and successful musical career, which includes 18 albums and a busy international performance schedule that takes him on the road 225 days a year. His early experience included playing lead alto sax for the Ray Charles Orchestra in the mid-1970s and playing tenor sax with the revived Artie Shaw Orchestra under the leadership of Dick Johnson from 1986-87. Since then, he has performed as a post hard bop soloist at jazz festivals, jazz societies and jazz clubs throughout the United States, Canada and abroad, including most of Europe, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Georgia.

Abate is an adjunct professor of Jazz Studies at Rhode Island College and is also a very active jazz clinician, conducting workshops and master classes through the United States and abroad. He was inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame in 2016.

Wednesday, December 7, 2022
Navy Band Northeast
12:00pm

Established in 1974, Navy Band Northeast is based at the United States Naval Station in Newport, Rhode Island and is one of 11 official U.S. Navy bands worldwide, providing musical support for military ceremonies, recruiting, morale and retention programs, and community relations.

For their performance at Mechanics Hall, the Navy Band Northeast will perform a selection of favorite tunes for the holiday season.

Photo by Bo Wriston

Brown Bag Concert Series Sponsors

Brown Bag Concert Series Archive

Recognizing the historical significance of nearly 40 years of the Brown Bag Concert Series, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has documented the history of the series in its Jazz History Database. The database includes information from 1989-2008.

"Studio 3," a half-hour music and interview television program featuring some of the best jazz groups in New England and beyond, was taped between 1993 and 2000 before live audiences in the studios of WGMC-TV3 or on location, including Brown Bag concerts at Mechanics Hall. All shows were produced and hosted by jazz vocalist Toni Ballard, with production support from Greater Media Cable, and aired from 1993 to 2003 on WGMC-TV3. The WPI Jazz History Database includes Studio 3 videos.