Berkshire and Hudson Valley Cultural Preview

November 18-20, 2022

This is a test version of a revived newsletter previewing weekend cultural highlights in the greater Berkshire/Hudson Valley region. This should be fully up and running in early 2023, using the Substack platform (rather than Mailchimp) for better ease and efficiency.

With so much going on culturally speaking in our region, this is my highly selective, curated snapshot of some of the most promising events happening this weekend …

TAYLOR MAC RETURNS to MASS MoCA

Taylor Mac and longtime musical partner Matt Ray sit down with MASS MoCA director Kristy Edmunds to dig into their creative process and share selections from their new project, Bark of Millions, featuring original music celebrating queer luminaries throughout history, in the Hunter Center on Saturday at 8pm. Taylor Mac is the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” and was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, for his 24-hour performance called A 24-Decade History of Popular Music. (Sat, Nov 19)

BRANDON GOLDBERG HEADLINES BERKSHIRES JAZZ FALL SPRAWL

This weekend marks the inaugural Berkshires Jazz Fall Sprawl, featuring jazz and blues performances in both Lenox and Pittsfield at various venues. Headliners include Misty Blues at Firefly in Lenox tonight; the 17-piece Amherst Jazz Orchestra at Flat Burger Society in Pittsfield on Saturday at 7pm; and the Brandon Goldberg Trio -- featuring the 16-year-old piano prodigy, winner of the 2022 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award -- at Ventfort Hall in Lenox on Sunday at 4pm. (Fri-Sun, Nov 18-20)

GENTICORUM BRINGS CANADIAN ROOTS MUSIC to DEWEY HALL

Canadian roots-music trio Genticorum brings its blend of Québécois traditional music to Dewey Hall in Sheffield, Mass., tonight at 7pm as part of the TapRoot Sessions series. The trio has won multiple Canadian Folk Music Awards as well as Juno and ADISQ nominations. (Fri, Nov 18)

THE ORCHESTRA NOW PLAYS SHOSTAKOVICH and IVES at SIMON’S ROCK

The Orchestra Now (TŌN) will perform a free concert of works by Shostakovich and Ives at Simon’s Rock College in Great Barrington, Mass., on Sunday at 3pm. (Sun, Nov 20)

ALBERT CUMMINGS BRINGS HIS STINGING BLUES LICKS to THE EGG

Blues singer-guitarist Albert Cummings, the Berkshires’ answer to Stevie Ray Vaughn, brings his trio and his stinging blues guitar licks to the Egg in Albany on Saturday at 7:30pm. (Sat, Nov 19)

LESLIE MENDELSON BRINGS HER PIANO-BASED FOLK-POP to THE LINDA

Grammy Award-nominated singer/songwriter Leslie Mendelson premieres songs from her most recent studio album If You Can’t Say Anything Nice..., as well as a solo acoustic EP, In The Meantime, at the Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio in Albany, tonight at 8. The latest songs by the Brooklyn-based Mendelson, who sings like a cross between Norah Jones and Carole King, address political and social issues, and in the past the singer has covered songs by Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell. When I put this weekly rundown together, I listen to music by all the artists; this week, I had a hard time stopping listening to Mendelson.  (Fri, Nov 18)

JAY UNGAR and MOLLY MASON BRING ROOTS MUSIC to THE STISSING CENTER

The Hudson Valley’s Jay Ungar and Molly Mason play a hometown kind of gig at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, N.Y., on Saturday at 7pm. The roots-music duo is best known for their work on Ken Burns’ PBS documentary The Civil War and its signature tune, Jay’s haunting composition, Ashokan Farewell. (Sat, Nov 19)

STEPHANIE BLYTHE SINGS GERMAN CABARET at BARD FISHER CENTER

And finally, the Bard Conservatory Graduate Vocal Arts Program presents Berlin Im Licht: A German Cabaret, featuring vocalist Stephanie Blythe in an evening of signature German cabaret songs by Weill, Brecht, Holländer, Spoliansky, and more, music drawn from The Threepenny Opera, Happy End, Rise and Fall of Mahagonny, and The Blue Angel, at the Bard Fisher Center on Saturday at 8pm. (Sat, Nov 19)