The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire & Hudson Valley Cultural Preview

Nov 7-10, 2024

Nov 07, 2024

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 …

CIRCUIT DES YEUX BRINGS INDIE-FOLK to THE CLARK

Circuit des Yeux, the stage name of Haley Fohr, a Chicago-based vocalist, composer, and singer-songwriter known for her four-octave voice and distinctive twelve-string guitar style, brings her unique, experimental indie-folk sounds to The Clark in Williamstown, Mass., on Thursday, November 7, at 6pm. Some of Fohr’s music favors drones, and at times she recalls the Velvet Underground. Sharing the bill is Bill Nace, an experimental guitarist and visual artist who has collaborated with Joe McPhee, Steve Gunn, Thurston Moore, Yoko Ono, and Kim Gordon. (Thu, Nov 7)

ARCIS SAXOPHONE QUARTET BRINGS NEW MUSIC to TANGLEWOOD

The Germany-based Arcis Saxophone Quartet brings its contemporary chamber music to the Linde Center at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., on Saturday, November 9, at 7pm, to perform its Quirky Nightclub Chronicles program. The youthful quartet is a unique and fresh voice in classical music, free of any pigeonholing and equally at home in Baroque settings and 20^th century minimalism. Their innovative arrangements can fool listeners into thinking they’re hearing a string quartet instead of four saxophones. (Sat, Nov 9)

LULADA CLUB BRINGS SALSA to MASS MoCA

New York City-based all-women salsa band Lulada Club brings its innovative interpretations of vintage tropical rhythms encompassing salsa, bolero, and cha-cha while offering a fresh perspective through their original tunes to MASS MoCAin North Adams on Saturday, November 9, at 8pm. (Sat, Nov 9)

HODERA BRINGS MOODY ROOTS-ROCK to HUDSON

New Jersey-based Hodera brings its roots-rock to Park Theater in Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday, November 9, at 8pm. The group’s songs do not shy away from the darker corners of life, with songs addressing the confusion and frustration of growing up and trying to find where we belong; the grief of losing friends, family and potential loves; the dangerous pitfalls of depression’ and the measures someone will go to just for a glimpse of happiness. (Sat, Nov 9)

George Harrison author Seth Rogovoy (photo Franco Vogt)

SETH ROGOVOY to READ FROM and SIGN COPIES of NEW GEORGE HARRISON BOOK at UPSTATE FILMS in SAUGERTIES

Fresh on the heels of the publication of his new book, Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison, Seth Rogovoy will be appearing at several book events in the region, including at Upstate Films/Orpheum Theatre in Saugerties, N.Y., on Sunday, November 17, at 2pm, in conversation with rock biographer Holly George Warren and author/musician Robert Burke Warren, who will play a few George Harrison favorites. Beatles expert Kenneth Womack writes in his review for Salon, “Within You Without You accomplishes a rare feat. In a sea of ineffectual biographies devoted to the Beatles’ guitarist, Rogovoy makes a case for Harrison’s most important contribution: the music itself … Rogovoy’s eye towards soberly capturing the history of the Beatles with a welcome dose of critical objectivity makes Within You Without You required reading when it comes to the guitarist. It’s that good.” (Sun, Nov 17)

Also of note:

Berkshire-based, internationally renowned singer-songwriter Bernice Lewis brings her wry observations about modern life to Studio 9 at Porches Hotel in North Adams, Mass., on Friday, November 8, at 7:30pm.

Renowned pianist and conductor Benjamin Hochman celebrates the release of his new album, Resonance, featuring works by Beethoven and Sir George Benjamin, among others, with a recital at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., on Friday, November 8, at 7pm.

The Pine Leaf Boys bring the sounds of Louisiana to the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, N.Y., on Friday, November 8, at 7pm. The group blends the sounds of Cajun, zydeco, swamp-pop, country, and soul. Las Migas follows the Pine Leaf Boys at the Stissing Center the following night, Saturday, November 9, at 7pm, with their fusion of flamenco and Mediterranean styles of music from Spain.

Monte Weber aka Metno brings his innovative electronic sounds and grooves to the Dream Away Lodge in Becket, Mass., on Saturday, November 9, at 8pm.

The Berkshire-based Misty Blues, led by Gina Coleman, performs a 25th anniversary concert at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Mass., on Saturday, November 9, at 7:30pm.

Pop-rock singer-songwriter Ben Folds brings his Paper Airplane Request tour to UPAC in Kingston, N.Y., on Saturday, November 9, at 8pm.

Indie-rockers Finom, whose most recent album was coproduced by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and featured Spencer Tweedy on drums, brings its harmony-laden indie-rock to Tourists in North Adams, Mass., on Sunday, November 10, at 8pm. The Chicago-based outfit is led by the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist duo Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart

Multiple Grammy Award-winning violinist Gil Shaham will give a solo violin recital at the Linde Center at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., to benefit the Stockbridge Library, on Sunday, November 10, at 2pm.

Pianist Mitsuko Uchida returns to Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., on Sunday, November 10, at 3pm, with Musicians from Marlboro, to perform chamber music works by Beethoven, Schumann, and Kurtág, ahead of their sold-out performance at Carnegie two days later, in a program presented by Capital Region Classical.

Lisa Gutkin, fiddler in the Klezmatics and the Irish band Whirligig, performs at Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity on Thursday, November 14, at 7pm, for a concert of klezmer, Irish, and Americana music, with a band including Christina Crowder on accordion and banjo, Pete Rushefsky on tsimbl, a kind of Eastern European hammered dulcimer, and Rachel Leader on fiddle.

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The Rogovoy Report