Bobby Previte and the Bobby Previte Pocket Orchestra will “re-alchemize” Miles Davis’s landmark jazz-funk fusion album, Bitches Brew, at Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield, Mass., tonight at 8pm. Drummer-composer-bandleader Previte and his ensemble will use Davis’s iconic album as a jumping off place to explore a large-scale sonic conversation, equal parts arranged and improvised. (Fri, Jan 17)
Grammy Award-nominated vocalist Shemekia Copeland brings her unique take on modern blues to The Egg in Albany, N.Y., on Saturday at 8pm. Copeland has performed with greats including B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Mick Jagger, and Trombone Shorty, and is the daughter of late blues singer and guitarist Johnny Copeland. Her most recent album, Blame It on Eve, garnered her three Grammy nominations, including Best Contemporary Blues Album, Best American Roots Performance, and Best American Roots Song (Sat, Jan 18)
Pianist Jeremy Denk will perform a program of works by women composers spanning 250 years, from Clara Schumann to Meredith Monk, plus classic works by Brahms and Robert Schumann, at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., on Sunday at 3pm, in a presentation of Capital Region Classical. The winner of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and the author of the 2022 memoir, Every Good Boy Does Fine: A Love Story, in Music Lessons, Denk has performed throughout the US and Europe in recital and with major symphony orchestras. His recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations reached number one on Billboard’s Classical Chart. (Sun, Jan 19)
Pianist Joanne Polk will perform works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Amy Beach, Cécile Chaminade, Alberto Ginastera, David Shenton, and Cole Porter at the Spencertown Academy Arts Center in Spencertown, N.Y., on Sunday at 3pm, as part of the academy’s Classical Sunday series. Polk’s albums have been deemed “best of the year” by the New York Times and been nominated for a Grammy Award. (Sun, Jan 19)
The Vince Herman & Sam Grisman Duo brings its heartfelt tribute to the musical legacy of Sam’s father, David “Dawg” Grisman, Jerry Garcia, John Kahn, John Hartford, and others to the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, N.Y., next Thursday, January 23, at 7:30pm. Herman is best known for his membership in the bluegrass-based jam-band group Leftover Salmon; Grisman is known for following in his father’s footsteps with his own Sam Grisman Project. (Thu, Jan 23)
Also of note:
Buffalo jam-rockers moe. are at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, N.Y., tonight and Saturday at 8pm.
The Cantilena Chamber Choir will present “I Will Lift Thine Eyes,” its annual Martin Luther King Concert, at Trinity Church in Lenox, Mass., on Sunday at 3pm, featuring a return appearance by the Urban Choral Arts Society from Baltimore, Md. Dr. King will be remembered in a combined choir performance of the choral music of composer Adolphus Hailstork and spirituals by Roland Carter and Moses Hogan.
Gamelan Yowana Sari and I/O Ensemble will join forces at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., on Sunday at 3pm, in a concert of new music for Balinese gamelan. The program features recently commissioned works for the ensemble by Bang on a Can’s Michael Gordon and Evan Ziporyn, alongside music by Vivian Fung and Balinese master composer and musician Dewa Alit. Gamelan Yowana Sari has recently appeared at Bang on a Can’s Long Play Festival in Brooklyn and at the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA.
The West Stockbridge Chamber Players will play works by Franz Liszt, Amy Beach, Jesse Montgomery, and Bernard Hermann in its annual Winter Concert at the Old Town Hall in West Stockbridge, Mass., on Sunday at 4pm.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.substack.com.
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