The Inbetween Series brings cutting edge music downtown.

On the third Monday of every month, The Gallery at Avalon Island (39 S Magnolia Ave, Orlando, Florida) hosts the In-between Series. It is called the In-between Series because the art gallery is in-between shows. Soon after the concert, new art is loaded into the gallery and hung. Steven Head was listed on the invitation, but the trio consisted of, Doug Mathews on base, Mark Piszczek on sax and Chris Cortez on Guitar. Mark explained that one of the pieces was autobiographical having to do with his childhood growing up on the space coast. Mark’s father was a devout fan of classical music and it played
daily on the family phonograph. This early exposure to concert music and
the presence of highly competent music teachers, instilled a love of
music that later turned into a life long passion.

The music from this Jazz trio was both soothing and cutting edge.  The low resonant base contrasted the energetic searching melody of the sax. There was a yearning to the music, an endless reaching out. There is no better music to sketch too.

Mark and Chris have been working on opening a new music venue called The Blue Bamboo Music Center for the Arts at 1905 Kentucky Avenue just south of Fairbanks in Winter Park. He showed me plans for the 4,000 square foot warehouse which will become a studio quality performance space. The venue will feature state of the art sound, grand piano, back line equipment, stage lighting and a large projection screen, it will also be set up to record concert and performance video in high definition. The Center will also serve as an art gallery featuring local and international artists.

Unfortunately City codes and ordinances have tied up the construction and renovation. Creating a new arts venue in Orlando is not an easy task. The Center will hopefully open in 2016. It is a sure sign that the arts continue to grow in Central Florida.