Kaleta, a singer/guitarist from the West African country of Benin, got his start in the late 1970s performing in church, where he was discovered by iconic Juju master and world music pioneer King Sunny Ade, who took him to Lagos, Nigeria. A few years later Fela Kuti came calling, and Kaleta would go on to tour the world playing guitar for the King of Afrobeat in his storied band Egypt 80 through the 1980s and into the 1990s. Now based in New York City, Kaleta has been leading his Super Yamba Band since 2017, and he will bring the superhot Afro-funk outfit to Club B10 at MASS MoCA in North Adams on Saturday night at 8. Collectively, the members of Kaleta & Super Yamba Band have performed with a diverse range of artists, including Lauryn Hill and David Byrne as well as the kings of Afrobeat. With a kicking horn section, a healthy dose of jazz organ, and mind-blowing guitar riffs, Kaleta and the Super Yamba Band promise a high-energy dance party to heat up a cold January night. (Sat, Jan 7)
The Crescendo music series presents A Story of Hope in the Voice of the New World, vocal and instrumental Renaissance music from colonial-era Latin America, featuring four soloists from Latin America, Europe, and the U.S., and an ensemble of period and folk instrument players. Concerts are at Trinity Church in Lakeville, Conn, on Saturday at 5:30 p.m, and at Saint James Place, in Great Barrington, Mass., on Sunday at 4 p.m. The music is a mixture of native folk music and Western European-style compositions likely by indigenous composers. Performers are sopranos Rebecca Palmer from Vienna and Jayne Segedy from Barcelona, tenor José Ignacio Lagos from Barcelona, and baritone José Sacín from Peru by way of Washington DC, with period violinist and percussionist Job Salazar from Mexico by way of Boston, charango, ronroco and viola player Carlos Boltes from Chile by way of Hartford, and period harpist Christa Patton of New York City, all directed by Crescendo’s founding artistic director Christine Gevert on historic keyboards. (Sat-Sun, Jan 7-8)
Standup comedian Nikki Glaser brings her so-called “Good Girl Tour,” featuring her shockingly-honest, no-holds barred style of comedy, to the Egg in Albany for a two-night stand on Thursday and Friday, January 12 and 13, at 7 p.m. Nikki has multiple stand-up specials and late-night TV appearances in which she jokes about her most humiliating moments as a woman in the modern world. (Thu-Fri, Jan 12-13)
Jazz fans take note: the adventurous all-female Esthesis Quartet brings its original compositions and improvisations to Jazzstock at Senate Garage in Kingston, N.Y., next Thursday, January 12, at 7 p.m. Together, Denver-based pianist Dawn Clement, Swedish-born and New York-based flutist Elsa Nilsson, Chicago-based bassist Emma Dayhuff, and LA-based drummer Tina Raymond shake the preconceptions of traditional instrumental roles. Indeed, when I listen to the group, I hear Nilsson’s flute playing the typical role of a guitar in the ensemble. (Thurs, Jan 12)
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.substack.com.
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