Rita Chiarelli brings "Music from the Big House" tour to the Garde

Starting Friday, Rita Chiarelli - who bears the nickname "Canada's Queen of the Blues" - will be on what might be the very definition of a worldwind tour. She'll be visiting 60 U.S. cities in 70 days.

It's not a concert tour but a documentary tour. Chiarelli is debuting "Music from the Big House," a chronicle of her trip to the Louisiana State Maximum Security Penitentiary. That's also known as Angola Prison, once the bloodiest prison in America.

On her journey there, she didn't play for the inmates but with them. Through those performances, they bonded, and this documentary explores the redemptive power of music.

Chiarelli is bringing her tour to the Garde Arts Center in New London on Tuesday, screening the film and giving a brief performance. She and a panel - including author Wally Lamb, choreographer Judy Dworin, and retired warden Rosetta Jones - will take part in a discussion with the audience.

- KRISTINA DORSEY

"Music from the Big House," 7 p.m. Tuesday, Garde Arts Center, 325 State St., New London; $10; (860) 444-7373, gardearts.org.