Rogovoy Report 4/7/17

The cultural highlights in our region this weekend include pioneers of late 20^th-century indie-rock; new classical music; old classical music; Miles Davis jazz; literary readings, Texas folk-rock; and a whole lot more.

Newly reunited Miracle Legion and Lou Barlow, of Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr, and the Folk Implosion fame, revive the sounds of late-20th century indie-rock at Club B10 at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass., on Saturday at 8pm. Miracle Legion’s sublime jangly guitar-rock made them college radio stalwarts from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s. The band, led by Mark Mulcahy, is often mentioned alongside R.E.M. for helping to define the sound of college rock in those decades, and was dubbed “the band Thom Yorke [of Radiohead] loved” by the Guardian.

Also at MASS MoCA, dancer-choreographer Okwui Okpokwasili will premiere her new work, “Until... move,” a response to Nick Cave’s monumental exhibition, “Until,” taking place within Cave’s exhibition in Building 5 at MASS MoCA tonight at 8pm. Okpokwasili, also an actor and writer, has been praised for her kinesthetically powerful and “ruthlessly clean and clever” work.

The innovative International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) performs works by five living composers in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall at Williams College in Williamstown tonight at 8pm. The program offers a platform for exploring instrumental identities and asks a question: can a composer discover sounds that truly divorce the sound’s source from its customary associations? The concert is free and open to the public.

When it comes to jazz, all I need to hear are two words – “Charlie Tokarz” – and I’m there. Rob Fisch’s Intentional Jazz Ensemble will return to Spencertown Academy Arts Center with a celebration of music from Miles Davis’s classic “Kind of Blue” on Saturday 7:30pm. The group constitutes an all-star team of regional jazz talent, including leader-trumpeter Rob Fisch, pianist John Esposito, bassist Rich Syracuse, drummer Jeff McRae, and saxophone wizard and multi-instrumental visionary Charlie Tokarz.

Award-winning Texas singer-songwriter James McMurtry returns to Club Helsinki Hudson on Saturday at 9pm. McMurtry writes literate, politically charged songs with country, folk, Americana, and Texas influences. Son of famed novelist Larry McMurtry, James has a strong cult following, devoted to his smart lyrics, laconic vocals, and deft guitar playing. Last year McMurtry released “Complicated Game,” his first album in six years, which Texas Music Magazine called “a collection of narratives as sharply observed as any from McMurtry, but with a contemplative depth that comes with maturity.” Veteran Pioneer Valley pop-rock singer-songwriter Ray Mason – no chopped liver himself – I like to think of Ray as a one-man version of NRBQ - warms up the crowd for McMurtry.

Novelist Paul La Farge and author Melissa Febos will read from their works at Spotty Dog Books & Ale in Hudson on Saturday at 7pm, as part of Volume, the free monthly reading and music series that takes place every second Saturday of the month. The readings will be followed by a book-signing and a set by DJ Blake.

And finally, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic will perform works by John Luther Adams, the Brahms violin concerto, and a multimedia piece by Tan Dun, in a program called “21st Century Giants” at the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie on Saturday at 8pm. The Tan Dun piece will include audience participation via cellphone app. The concert will be led by longtime HVP music director Randall Craig Fleischer.