Town #40 Bristol (visit #2)

Saturday, May 16, 2009
Jason Castonguay * Prospect United Methodist Church

After supper at Anthony’s in Torrington, we headed to Bristol for another perfor-mance. We just made it in time to Prospect United Methodist Church, where Jason Castonguay was performing. He’s a young man in his late 20s, I’d guess, and he sings and accompanies himself on the piano. His primary style seems to be jazz and most of his songs were old-fashioned love songs, part of his new program. He does a lot of improvisation. The fact that he is totally blind made not one whit of difference in his performance.

He has an easy relationship with the audience. He sang two or three songs that were not the same style, and they were big hits, showing another aspect of his talent: “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables and “Wind Beneath My Wings.” When he concluded the program, someone mentioned an “encore” piece, and Bob suggested “five or six.” Jason really didn’t want to quit, and we easily got six more pieces, including our song, “Misty,” suggested by someone else.

Apparently this was the tenth year he has come to this church to perform. We thought that the person who introduced him might have been his father, but he was actually Jason’s personal assistant; he schedules his concerts and helps with his travel. Jason plays twice a week at Cavey’s in Manchester, and visits many other venues to perform. He is very well educated, with a double major for his bachelor’s degree (music performance and management information systems) and more lessons at Hartt School of Music. His credentials and adventures are extensive.