The last show of the 2025 Arts on the Hill program brings the Novel Jazz Septet to Beech Hill Preserve, Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 6 p.m., as part of this summer concert series.  

"The Novel Jazz Septet, led by trombonist Barney Balch, is seven hepcats from all over Maine who have been performing together for years," said Coastal Mountains Land Trust.

They are huge fans of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, two jazz composers who, between them, wrote more than 3,000 pieces. For the past few years, Novel Jazz Septet has been on a mission to transcribe some of the pair’s lesser-known tunes and shine a modern light on them. Balch is so committed to this project that he periodically visits the National Archives in Washington, D.C., to work with Ellington’s original manuscripts. 

Fourteen of Novel Jazz’s reinterpretations are now available on the CD The Novel Jazz Septet Live: Ellington and Strayhorn Rediscovered. It was Ellington himself who said, "The wise musicians are those who play what they can master."

"The Novel Jazz Septet can rest easy with this knowledge," said CMLT. 

All Arts on the Hill performances are free and open to all ages but please leave your dogs at home. 

Arts on the Hill is made by possible and presented by Camden National Bank, Cold Mountain Builders, Bangor Savings Bank, Camden Coast Real Estate, and Dirt Play. 

Since 1986 Coastal Mountains Land Trust has worked to permanently conserve land to benefit the natural and human communities of the western Penobscot Bay. The Land Trust has protected over 13,000 acres, offering 55 miles of trails for public recreation. 

Beech Hill Preserve is a 295-acre conservation property, managed for the complementary purposes of maintaining its scenic beauty, historic value, grassland bird habitat, and organic blueberry production.