On their first trip outside of their native Malawi, the Kasambwe Brothers bring their traditional-based roots-music sounds to the Hunter Center at MASS MoCA in North Adams on Saturday at 8pm. Using homemade instruments — a bass guitar crafted from a tree branch and a suitcase drum set made with animal skin — this dynamic trio creates infectious grooves using traditional rhythm and soulful harmony. (Sat, Nov 16)
Punk-poet Patti Smith, a pioneer in combining poetry and rock music, will perform original spoken-word stories interspersed with songs at UPAC in Kingston, N.Y., on Saturday at 8pm. Smith -- a poet, singer, songwriter, photographer, and fine artist -- has produced a body of work whose influence branches out through generations, across disciplines, and around the world. (Sat, Nov 16)
The Barr Brothers will bring their eclectic and modern Americana sounds to Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield, Mass., on Sunday at 8pm. Even though brothers Andrew and Brad Barr are perhaps still known best as two-thirds of the 1990s jam band The Slip, as the Barr Brothers they mine a more folk-, roots-, and song-based sound. Ariel Engle aka La Force warms up the crowd with her haunting, keyboard-based indie-rock. (Sun, Nov 17)
Cellist Anneke Schaul-Yoder and pianist Derin Öge perform works by Bach, Lena Auerbach, and Beethoven at Spencertown Academy Art Center in Spencertown, N.Y., on Sunday at 3pm. Schaul-Yoder and Öge have been making music together since 2008, first as members of the Piano Music & Song Trio and later in the trio Eudemonia. The duo focuses on eclectic programs of music with vibrant rhythms and elegant textures. (Sun, Nov 17)
South African jazz legend Abdullah Ibrahim performs with his trio at The Egg in Albany, N.Y., on Sunday at 7:30pm. With Hugh Masekela and The Jazz Epistles, the two became the first Black artists to record a jazz album in South Africa under an increasingly strict apartheid government. After moving to Switzerland, Ibrahim encountered Duke Ellington, which led to the seminal 1964 recording Duke Ellington Presents the Dollar Brand Trio, Dollar Brand being the name under which Ibrahim performed early in his career, until he converted to Islam in 1968. (Sun, Nov 17)
Also of note:
Singer-songwriter Hayley Reardon brings her original folk-rock compositions to Park Theater in Hudson, N.Y., tonight at 8pm. Reardon’s rootsy approach and her dusky vocals recall those of Natalia Zukerman.
Roots-music singer Amy Helm brings her blend of country, folk, gospel, blues, soul, and rock to the Colony in her hometown of Woodstock, N.Y., tonight and Saturday at 7pm.
Cellist Laura Melnicoff brings her Nikolayev program, featuring late-19th and early-20th century Hasidic songs from Ukraine, to the Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio in Albany, N.Y., on Sunday at 3pm.
The Belcea Quartet and Ébène Quartet join forces to perform Mendelssohn and Enescu Octets at Union College’s Memorial Chapel in Schenectady, N.Y., on Sunday at 3pm, in a presentation of Capital Region Classical.
Singer-songwriter Brooke Annibale brings her delicate, ethereal vocals and her rootsy, folk melodies to Tourists in North Adams, Mass., on Sunday at 8pm.
Folk, rock, and reggae singer-songwriter Matisyahu brings his spiritually infused songs to the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, N.Y., on Thursday, November 21, at 7:30pm.
And finally, you can see me read from my new book, Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison, at Upstate Films/Orpheum Theatre in Saugerties, N.Y., on Sunday at 2pm, where I’ll also engage in conversation with rock biographer Holly George-Warren and author/musician Robert Burke Warren, who will sing a few George Harrison favorites.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.substack.com.
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