American Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys, two-time Grammy Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning singer and instrumentalist, MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient, and composer of opera, ballet, and film Rhiannon Giddens, Aoife O’Donovan, and Lukas Nelson headline the three-day FreshGrass Festival at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass., today through Sunday. FreshGrass features roots music traditionalists and innovators on four stages and platforms throughout the museum’s 16-acre campus. Other headliners include singer-songwriter Allison Russell, banjoist Alison Brown, and the all-star trio of Bruce Molsky, Tony Trischka, and Michael Daves. The annual festival also includes world premieres, emerging artist competitions, and pop-up jam sessions. (Fri, Sep 22-Sun, Sep 24)
Istanbul native Kadir Yucel brings his unique blend of electronica and progressive rock to the Park Theater in Hudson, N.Y., tonight at 8pm. musician. Born in Istanbul, Turkey and moved to the US in 1998, Kadir spent his formative years in New York City and Woodstock, N.Y., and now calls Buenos Aires and the San Francisco Bay Area home. Kadir’s percussive grooves bubble underneath hypnotic synth riffs and haunting melodies. (Fri, Sep 22)
Toronto-based jazz vocalist Laura Anglade and her quartet bring their modern take on Broadway, Tin Pan Alley, pre-rock standards, and French classics made famous by Edith Piaf, Michel Legrand, Charles Trenet, and others, to Spencertown Academy in Spencertown, N.Y., tonight at 8pm. Originally from Brousse-le-Château in the south of France, raised in Connecticut, and now based in Toronto, Anglade grew up in a musical household and found inspiration early on listening to her idols, including Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughan, and Anita O’Day. (Fri, Sep 22)
Trio Calore, featuring flutist Carol Wincenc, violinist Kurt Nikkanen, and pianist Maria Asteriadou, will perform works by Melanie Bonis, Nino Rota,, Franz Doppler, J.S. Bach, and others at the New Marlborough Meeting House in New Marlborough, Mass., on Saturday at 4:30pm. (Sat, Sep 23)
Roots-music supergroup Mighty Poplar, featuring Noam Pikelny and Chris Eldridge of Punch Brothers, Andrew Marlin of Watchhouse, bassist Greg Garrison of Leftover Salmon and fiddler Alex Hargreaves of Billy Strings bring their mix of bluegrass classics as well as deep cuts from greats like Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard, John Hartford, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Norman Blake, to Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, N.Y., on Saturday at 8pm. The group will also take part in this weekend’s Freshgrass Festival at MASS MoCA in North Adams on Sunday at 2:45pm. (Sat, Sep 23)
Innovative contemporary jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny brings his signature sound and his solo Dream Box tour to Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, N.Y., on Tuesday, September 26, at 7:30pm. Throughout his career, Metheny has continued to redefine the genre by utilizing new technology and constantly working to evolve the improvisational and sonic potential of his instrument. Thus it’s no surprise that over the years, Metheny has performed with artists as diverse as Steve Reich, Ornette Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Milton Nascimento, and David Bowie. (Tue, Sep 26)
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.substack.com.
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