The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire and Hudson Valley Cultural Preview
Feb 1-9, 2023
With so much going on culturally speaking in our greater Berkshires/Hudson Valley region, this is my highly selective, curated snapshot of some of the most promising upcoming events …
MIKAELA DAVIS BRINGS MODERN POP-ROCK SOUNDS to KINGSTON
Hudson Valley-based singer-songwriter Mikaela Davis and her band perform the final concert of a three-show residency at Tubby’s in Kingston, N.Y., on Wednesday, February 1, at 7pm. Raised in Rochester and currently based in Catskill, Davis is a classically trained harpist whose current style brings together elements of classic rock, 1960s and ’70s pop, rootsy Americana, and delicate modern singer-songwriter sounds. She and her band Southern Star have shared bills with such names as Bon Iver, Lake Street Dive, Christian McBride, and Circles Around the Sun. (Wed, Feb 1)
PAMELA MEANS SALUTES POWER of MUSICAL PROTEST at BECKET ATHENAEUM
Singer-songwriter Pamela Means offers a salute to the Power of the Protest Song at the Becket Athenaeum in Becket, Mass., on Thursday, February 2, at 7pm. Part-performance and part-presentation, this family-friendly event will explore the origin stories and lineages of protest songs, how their meanings and impacts continue to transform through time and space, and how they have inspired--and continue to inspire--movements and cultural shifts within the realms of racial and social justice. Means’s outspoken songs and “kamikaze guitar style” often draws comparisons to Ani DiFranco. (Thu, Feb 2)
KRIS DELMHORST BRINGS HER LITERATE AMERICANA to CAFFE LENA
Americana singer-songwriter Kris Delmhorst brings her literate story-songs and portraits to Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Friday, February 3, at 8pm. Delmhorst’s folk soundscape is open and honest, celebrates vulnerability, and offers listeners gentle motivation. (Fri, Feb 3)
CRESCENDO PRESENTS EARLY MUSIC of SPAIN and LATIN AMERICA
Crescendo early music series presents early songs and dances of Spain and Latin America at Trinity Church in Lakeville, Conn., on Saturday, February 4, at 4pm, and again on Sunday, February 5, at St. James Churchin Great Barrington, Mass. The program, called Cantos y Suspiros – Songs and Sighs, showcases Hispanic music of the 17th and early-18th centuries, and alternates between dances, songs and airs, creating a varied dramatic flow. Performers include renowned soprano Camila Parias, whom the Boston Globe compared to a “young Ella Fitzgerald.” (Sat, Feb 4-Sun, Feb 5)
BILL NACE & MATT KREFTING BRING EXPERIMENTAL SOUNDS to THE CLARK
Experimental musicians Bill Nace and Matt Krefting bring their eerie minimalism, haunted creaks, and buried tonalities to the Clark Art Institute on Sunday, February 5, at 3pm. Matt Krefting is a DJ, music writer, and sound artist who has worked in the realms of drone, tape music, musique concrete, and avant-garde rock. Bill Nace operates in similar territory, often utilizing guitar and other stringed instruments (most recently the Japanese taishogoto) to expansive and improvisatory effect. (Sun, Feb 5)
CABARET MEETS CUMBIA at MASS MoCA
Cabaret meets cumbia in Broadway en Spanglish, a musical project by husband-and-wife duo Florencia Cuenca and Jaime Lozano—who was deemed Broadway’s “next big thing” by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda—that delivers Mexican interpretations of musical theater classics accompanied by New York’s acclaimed ensemble Mariachi Real de Mexico de Ramon Ponce, New York City’s premier mariachi band. The program, which sold out Joe’s Pub in the city last October, comes to Club B10 at MASS MoCA in North Adams on Saturday, February 4, at 8pm. (Sat, Feb 4)
JOHN PIZZARELLI and JESSICA MOLASKEY BRING RADIO DELUXE LIVE to THE EGG
Adorable husband-and-wife duo John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey bring their Radio Deluxe Live! program to The Egg in Albany on Saturday, February 4, at 7:30pm. Guitar virtuoso John Pizzarelli and his wife, vocalist Jessica Molaskey get together every weekend on the airwaves for “Radio Deluxe,” playing records and sharing their experiences in collaborating with a wide variety of jazz, cabaret, and pop artists. At The Egg the duo – along with John’s jazz trio and guitarist Matt Munisteri and violinist Aaron Weinstein – will present “Radio Deluxe Live” – a special edition to be recorded and broadcast on stations across the country. The Egg concert is presented in cooperation with WAMC Northeast Public Radio. (Sat, Feb 4)
FRED HERSCH and ESPERANZA SPALDING TEAM UP at TROY
Pianist/composer Fred Hersch and vocalist/bassist/songwriter esperanza spalding celebrate their new album, Alive at the Village Vanguard, at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on Sunday, February 5, at 7:30pm. Fifteen-time Grammy Award nominee Hersch, called by the New Yorker “a living legend,” and multiple Grammy Award winner spalding, whom NPR cites as “the 21st century’s first jazz genius” – present an evening of songs from the so-called Great American Songbook, music from Brazil, and jazz compositions, including several penned by Hersch. (Sun, Feb 5)
BOBBY PREVITE BRINGS IMPROV QUARTET to THE AVALON
Bobby Previte’s Art for Now Quartet is in residence at the Avalon Lounge in Catskill, N.Y., performing its new sounds every Sunday at 6pm. Players include saxophonist Keith Pray, trombonist Joe Fiedler, pianist John Esposito, bassist Nick Edwards, and bandleader Bobby Previte on drums. (Sun, Feb 5)
CRYS MATTHEWS BRINGS SOCIAL-JUSTICE SONGS to THE LINDA
A social justice warrior with her voice and guitar, Crys Matthews has been compared to everyone from Toshi Reagon to Tracy Chapman to Ruthie Foster. Matthews brings her political and personal folksongs, her natural vibrato, and her gifted sense of melody to The Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio, as part of the Women’s Voices Concert Series, hosted by WAMC’s own Wanda Fischer, on Thursday, February 9, at 8pm. (Thu, Feb 9)
Roll Call: Founding Members
Anonymous
Erik Bruun
Benno Friedman
Richard Koplin
Rhonda Rosenheck