Montreal-based pianist Gabriel Quenneville-Bélair – who sometimes goes by the name Gabriel QB to make things easier on Anglophone radio announcers -- will perform works by nineteenth- and twentieth-century composers including Ravel, Chopin, Schubert, and Beethoven, in a free concert at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., on Saturday at 2 p.m. At the Clark, QB will also premiere three concert études by Williamstown-based composer Stephen Dankner. (Sat, Oct 29)
Speaking of piano players, Emanuel Ax performs a solo concert to benefit the Stockbridge Library at the Linde Center at Tanglewood on Sunday at 2 p.m. (Sun, Oct 30)
Pink Martini is a kind of global cabaret ensemble featuring a dozen musicians performing songs in 25 languages, making them popular all around the world, but perhaps nowhere more than at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., where the group seemingly shows up every year or two, as they will tonight at 8, featuring lead singer China Forbes. (Fri, Oct 28)
Crescendo’s Music Across Borders series continues this weekend with Baroque and contemporary works from the Baltics and Eastern Europe, Saturday afternoon at Trinity Church in Lakeville, Conn., and Sunday at St. James Place in Great Barrington, Mass. Both concerts are at 4 p.m. (Sat-Sun, Oct 29-30)
Woodstock singer, songwriter, guitarist, and violinist Simi Stone kicks off a weekend of music at the Falcon in Marlboro, N.Y., tonight at 7, with her singular brand of “Mountain Motown,” a blend of Catskills roots music and the classic R&B sounds of the 1960s and ‘70s as filtered through Simi’s unique musical vision. Then on Sunday at 7 p.m., Sarah Elizabeth Charles and her ensemble, SCOPE, celebrate the release of their brand-new album, “Blank Canvas.” Charles’s alluring sound is a blend of neo-soul with jazz and R&B elements mixed in with avant-classical experimentalism. (Fri, Oct 28)
Virtuosic guitarist and witty singer-songwriter Leo Kottke brings his multiple talents to the Egg in Albany tonight at 8. Kottke is as adventurous musically as he is technically, experimenting with elaborate fingerpicking and open tunings. His latest album revisits a decades-long collaboration with Phish bassist Mike Gordon, on which the duo does for the Byrds’ “Eight Miles High” what they originally did for Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” back in 2003. (Fri, Oct 28)
Lili Lewis is trained as an opera singer and classical pianist, and now uses her voice to bring “sacred songs” into secular settings. Lewis is now an Americana singer-songwriter giving voice to social justice concerns. She brings her voice, her piano, and her trio to Caffé Lena on Saturday at 8. (Sat, Oct 29)
Singer Brad Cole brings his Bossa Blue project to the Stissing Center in Pine Plains, N.Y., on Saturday at 7 p.m. This extraordinary group of musicians rearranges contemporary, classic rock, and jazz standards with the influences of cool jazz, Bossa nova, soul, and blues, making for surprising juxtapositions and great fun on songs including Steve Winwood’s “Can't Find My Way Home,” James Taylor’s “Carolina in My Mind,” Bruce Springsteen's “Brilliant Disguise,” and Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black.” (Sat, Oct 29)
FilmColumbia, now in its 22nd year, finishes its two-week run this weekend, today through Sunday. Headquartered at the Crandell Theatre in Chatham, N.Y., highlights include The Whale, starring Brendan Fraser and directed by Darren Aronofsky, and The Son, starring Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, and Anthony Hopkins. (Fri, Oct 28-Sun, Oct 30)
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.com
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.