The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire & Hudson Valley Cultural Preview
Jun 12-16, 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 …
KIM GORDON BRINGS POST-PUNK to BASILICA HUDSON
Noise-rock avatar Kim Gordon -- best known as a founding member of the seminal post-punk group Sonic Youth, for which she wrote and sang one of their best-known songs, “Kool Thing” -- brings her latest project, The Collective, to Basilica Hudson in Hudson, N.Y., tonight, Wednesday, June 12, at 7pm. Gordon’s album The Collective was inspired in part by Jennifer Egan’s 2022 novel The Candy House. Bill Nace, part of the duo Body/Head with Gordon, will warm up the crowd for the headliner. (Wed, Jun 12)
BÉLA FLECK, EDGAR MEYER, ZAKIR HUSSAIN LEAD QUARTET at UPAC
Longtime trio partners Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, and Zakir Hussain bring their quartet, now featuring Indian flutist Rakesh Chaurasia, to UPAC in Kingston, N.Y., on Friday, June 14, at 8pm. Drawing upon banjo legend Fleck’s roots-music background, bassist Edgar Meyer’s Western classical training, and tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain’s mastery of Indian classical music, the quartet plays an intriguing global fusion, where raga meets funk at a barn dance. (Fri, Jun 14)
NATTALI RIZE BOOKENDS REGION WITH CONSCIOUS REGGAE
Australian-born, Jamaica-based reggae artist Nattali Rize bookends our region with two concerts this weekend, bringing her activist lyrics and old-skool Jamaican rhythms to Hawks and Reed in Greenfield, Mass., on Friday, June 14, at 8pm, and to the Colony in Woodstock, N.Y., on Sunday, June 16, at 8pm. (Fri, Jun 14; Sun, Jun 16)
ARTURO O’FARRILL BRINGS LATIN JAZZ to PS21
Multiple Grammy Award-winning Latin jazz pianist and composer Arturo O’Farrill leads his Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO) in a program of Cuban-influenced jazz at PS21 in Chatham, N.Y., on Saturday, June 15, at 7pm. ALJO’s 2023 release, Fandango at the Wall in New York, garnered the group its eighth Grammy Award, for Best Latin Jazz Album. In addition to O’Farrill’s own compositions, the group performs interpretations of music by Tito Puente, Frank “Machito” Grillo, Miguel Zenón, Dafnis Prieto, and that of Arturo’s father, the legendary Chico O’Farrill. (Sat, Jun 15)
CORRINE BAILEY RAE BRINGS SOUL-POP to THE EGG
Genre-defying English singer-songwriter Corrine Bailey Rae brings her blend of soul, pop, and jazz to the Egg in Albany, N.Y., on Saturday, June 15, at 8pm. With elements of rock and folk also showing up in her latest album, Black Rainbows, Bailey Rae continues to break new ground in her soulful approach to popular music, which occasionally recalls that of Stevie Wonder. There can be no higher praise. (Sat, Jun 15)
DAYNA KURTZ BRINGS JAZZ-POP to THE FOUNDRY
Singer-songwriter Dayna Kurtz began blending folk, pop, jazz, and blues nearly a decade before anyone had heard of Norah Jones, whom she counts as a friend, supporter, and sometime collaborator. Kurtz, who was named Female Songwriter of the Year in 1997 by the National Academy of Songwriters, boasts a husky, rich alto, which alternately purrs and explodes. Kurtz will be joined by her duet partner, Robert Maché, at the Foundry in West Stockbridge, Mass., on Sunday, June 16, at 7:30pm. (Sun, Jun 16)
Also of note:
Noel Prophet, Bryan House, and Peter Lindstrom, original members of the Berkshires 1990s reggae outfit Dredi, reunite as Secondhand Dredi, playing dub remixes of Dredi’s music plus classic reggae covers at Dottie’s and Dorothy’s in Pittsfield, Mass., on Thursday, June 13, at 6pm.
Singer-songwriter Belle-Skinner brings her hauntingly beautiful, lilting soprano and innate sense of melody to Dream Away Lodge in Becket, Mass., on Thursday, June 13, at 7:30pm.
Hudson Valley indie-rock singer-songwriter Jack Manley and Turkish electronic musician Kadir Yucel play a double-bill at Park Theater in Hudson, N.Y., on Friday, June 14, at 8pm.
Kevin Moore aka Keb’ Mo’ has not garnered a closetful of Grammy Awards for no reason – the Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist cooks up a highly personal stew of blues, folk, country, and jazz and delivers it all as a well-seasoned, entertaining meal of a concert, at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday, June 15, at 8pm.
Award-winning singer-songwriter Antje Duvekot brings her intimate folk-pop compositions to the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday, June 15, at 8pm. Antje’s music should appeal to fans of Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky.
Alt-rockers Guster are in residence at Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, N.Y., for two nights, Friday, June 14, and Saturday, June 15, both shows at 8pm.
Virtuoso vaudevillian Tomáš Kubínek brings his latest program, Miracle Man, to Sandisfield Arts Center in Sandisfield, Mass., on Saturday, June 15, at 7:30pm. After seeing him in 2009, I wrote, “Kubinek is a one-man circus and dramatic repertory company and band. This guy is so talented at so many different things he makes your average multitasker look like a sloth.”
The Django Festival Allstars bring the sounds of French swing to Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass., on Sunday, June 16, at 4pm, in a concert presented by Berkshires Jazz.
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Roll Call: Founding Members
Anne Fredericks
Anonymous (7)
Susan Bang
Erik Bruun
Nadine Habousha Cohen
Fred Collins
Fluffforager
Benno Friedman
Amy and Howard Friedner
Jackie and Larry Horn
Richard Koplin
Paul Paradiso
Steve and Helice Picheny
David Rubman
Spencertown Academy Arts Center
Elisa Spungen and Rob Bildner/Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook
Julie Abraham Stone
Mary Herr Tally