A North Fork building that predates the United States is about to get busy. The Jamesport Meeting House, built by Puritan settlers in 1731, has a fall season of music that begins this Saturday, October 24, when the group East End Jazz presents a program called The Heart of America: Songs of Our Roots at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday: an American songbook for a 250th birthday

The October 24 concert is built for the country's 250th anniversary year. East End Jazz will move through the music that fed American jazz from the ground up: blues, spiritual hymns and gospel, and country storytelling. The program marks the country's 250th anniversary inside a building that went up 45 years before independence. Tickets are sold through the meeting house's website.

The rest of the season

Three more dates follow before the year is out.

On Sunday, November 8 at 4 p.m., the Accord Treble Choir sings a program titled There is a Seam as part of the venue's 1731 Series.

On Saturday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m., pianist and singer Gail Storm debuts a CD that was recorded live in the meeting house itself, performing with David Phelps on guitar, David Sacrestano on bass and Ed Bimonte on drums. The room's acoustics are the reason musicians record there, and this show closes the loop by playing the album back where it was made.

On Sunday, December 20 at 4 p.m., the Meeting House Chorus sings Carols and Cookies, a free afternoon of carols with donations accepted and a cookie reception afterward.

The building is the headliner

The meeting house has had two lives. It served Congregational parishes for nearly three centuries until a merger left the building surplus, and in 2008 local residents bought it to keep it standing. It now runs as a not-for-profit venue and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Concerts, choral programs and community events are what keep the 295-year-old structure in use, and ticket sales support its upkeep.

The Jamesport Meeting House is on Main Road in Jamesport. Tickets and the full calendar are at jamesportmeetinghouse.org.

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