The Rogovoy Report: Berkshire & Hudson Valley Cultural Preview
Jul 9-17, 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 …
VIEUX FARKA TOURÉ BRINGS ‘DESERT BLUES’ to RACE BROOK LODGE
As the son of Ali Farka Touré, the pioneer of African “desert blues,” Vieux Farka Touré is to the manner born. The singer-composer-guitarist -- often referred to as “the Hendrix of the Sahara” -- brings his unique, soulful fusion of blues, rock, and North African music to Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield, Mass., on Thursday, July 11, at 8pm.(Thu, Jul 11)
VANCE GILBERT BRINGS SONGS and LAUGHS to GUTHRIE CENTER
Vance Gilbert originally set out to be a jazz and R&B vocalist, but quickly stumbled upon his storytelling and songwriting talent and fell in with the new-folk crowd of singer-songwriters in Boston. From there it was a short leap to headlining at folk festivals and opening concerts for stars ranging from Arlo Guthrie to Anita Baker to Southside Johnny. It comes as no surprise that Gilbert warmed up audiences for George Carlin, as Gilbert himself is such an engaging, hilarious entertainer that he could easily have had a career doing stand-up comedy. Gilbert will play songs and make you laugh at the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday, July 13, at 8pm. (Sat, Jul 13)
SOCALLED BRINGS KLEZMER/HIP-HOP to YIDSTOCK FESTIVAL
Josh Dolgin aka Socalled is a pioneer of klezmer/hip-hop fusion, and the Montreal-based performer will be bringing his pathbreaking sounds to the annual, four-day Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music, with his band Gephilte, to the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Mass., on Saturday, July 13, at 8pm. Other artists at Yidstock -- which runs Thursday, July 11, through Sunday, July 14 -- include the Klezmatics, Eleanor Reissa, Hankus Netsky, and Daniel Kahn. (Thu-Sun, Jul 11-14)
SEUN KUTI BRINGS AFROBEAT to MASS MoCA
Seun Kuti – the son and musical heir of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti – brings his father’s legendary band, Egypt 80, and his blend of West African genres and American funk and jazz to the Hunter Center at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass., on Friday, July 12, at 8pm. Seun Kuti has spent most of his life preserving and extending his father’s political and musical legacy as the leader of his father’s former band Egypt 80. As a developing saxophonist and percussionist, he entered the formal ranks of the band before he was 12. After Fela passed away in 1997, Seun assumed the mantle as head of Egypt 80. (Fri, Jul 12)
BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY BRINGS NEO-SWING to MAHAIWE
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy brings its blend of swing, jazz, and jump blues to the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., on Friday, July 12, at 8pm. The band, co-founded by singer Scotty Morris and drummer Kurt Sodergren, was at the forefront of the swing revival of the 1990s. (Fri, Jul 12)
POET-GALLERIST GEOFFREY YOUNG CELEBRATED at TSL
The life and work of poet, publisher, and gallerist Geoffrey Young will be celebrated with the New York premiere of a new documentary, The Figures: An Abstract on Geoffrey Young, screening at Time & Space in Hudson, N.Y., on Sunday, July 14, at 5pm. The screening will be immediately followed by a Q&A with Geoffrey Young, filmmaker Nadia Szold, and editor Navzad Dabu. The screening is in conjunction with a solo show of Geoffrey Young’s drawings, Panegyrics, opening at the Pamela Salisbury Gallery in Hudson on Saturday, July 27. (Sun, Jul 14)
THE PRETENDERS BRING NEW-WAVE ROCK to TANGLEWOOD
Five years ago, Chrissie Hynde brought her band, the Pretenders, along with her phenomenal catalog of hits and her still-superhuman vibrato, to MASS MoCA for a concert attendees are still raving about. The group returns to the Berkshires, this time to perform in the Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., on Tuesday, July 16, at 7pm. (Tue, Jul 16)
Also of note:
Ted Rosenthal Trio performs at Boston University Tanglewood Institute in Lenox, Mass., on Tuesday, July 9, at 7pm.
Sonny Troupé and his Ka Quintet brings the sounds of the French Caribbean fused with modern jazz to The Clark in Williamstown, Mass., on Wednesday, July 10, at 6pm. The free concert on the Clark’s Reflecting Pool Lawn features musicians from Guadeloupe and Haiti.
A world music trio brings a fusion of sounds from South Asia and the Middle East with classical and jazz influences to the historic First Presbyterian Church in Hudson, N.Y., on Wednesday, July 10, at 5:30pm, in a concert to benefit the Hudson Festival Orchestra. The trio includes pianist Dinuk Wijeratne from Sri Lanka by way of Dubai and Ottowa, Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and violinist Layale Chaker, from Lebanon by way of Germany.
The U.K.’s Gandini Juggling brings its program Smashed2, a hybrid of juggling and dance inspired by Pina Bausch -- a hilarious, inventive, character-driven work akin to dance theater that challenges our ideas about what contemporary juggling can be -- to PS21 in Chatham, N.Y., on Friday, July 12, and Saturday, July 13, both nights at 8pm.
Aston Magna artistic director Daniel Stepner will perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s Three Partitas for Solo Violin at St. James Place in Great Barrington, Mass., on Saturday, July 13, at 6pm.
The ensemble Heard brings its self-styled world-jazz to the New Marlborough Meeting House in New Marlborough, Mass., on Saturday, July 13, at 4:30pm.
Kat Wright brings her sultry blend of soul, rock, and jazz, that should appeal to fans of Norah Jones and Amy Winehouse to the Stationery Factory in Dalton, Mass., on Saturday, July 13, at 8pm.
Haitian-American vocalist, flutist, and composer Natalie Joachim performs an eclectic style of music incorporating her ancestral roots blended with indie-pop, rock, and new classical that has garnered her a Grammy Award nomination for Best World Music album. She brings her trio to the Clark in Williamstown, Mass., on Wednesday, July 17, at 8pm.
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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