Look, we’ll admit it: We haven’t been too sure of Bronson Arroyo’s musical career over the years. Maybe it was the corn rows on his head, maybe it was all the Pearl Jam covers. Maybe we’re still not quite over the Wily Mo Pena trade that shipped him out of Boston back in 2006.
But something clicked a few weeks back when we heard the former Red Sox pitcher and 16-year Major League Baseball veteran get interviewed on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich show — Arroyo is just one chill dude with a heart of gold.
Tonight (November 27), he turns up the chill even more for United Sound’s “A Double Header: Baseball Legends and Jazz Icons” at Boston Symphony Hall, a night that merges music and sport to raise money for music students with special needs. And there’s nothing more golden than that.
The lineup for tonight features Arroyo, jazz trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, and Dave Matthews Band’s Jeff Coffin, with special guests including Chicago Cubs president of operations Theo Epstein, Q Division’s Ed Valauskas, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Josh Klinghoffer, Eliot Sloan of Blessed Union of Souls, members of the Boston Pops, and more.
“I got involved with United Sound because music is the most powerful mover on the planet,” Arroyo says in a press release. “I think it’s important for people with special needs to be up close and in person to these experiences, and to feel something they haven’t felt before. I was trying to think of a way to raise money for this organization and also play a great rock show with my friends. We were brainstorming ideas and this seemed like a great way to pair them together!”
Arroyo’s set tonight will include covers of Pearl Jam, Goo Goo Dolls, and other bands from the ’90s, but we won’t hold it against him. Plus, it’s all for a good cause.
“Seeing these world class musicians and athletes coming together to support our students is so exciting,” says United Sound Founder Julie Duty. “All kids, all of them, deserve the chance to be in music.”
Agreed.
United Sound Presents ‘A Double Header: Baseball Legends and Jazz Icons’ :: Monday, November 27 at Boston Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave. in Boston, MA :: 7 p.m., all ages, $40 to $500 :: Advance tickets :: United Sound event page :: Featured image from a United Sound promo video from 2015
