Groundtone, a four-day genre-defying music festival featuring immersive and nontraditional performance approaches, takes place at PS21 in Chatham, N.Y., today through Monday, July 21. The multitude of participants -- in styles ranging from jazz to experimental pop to new-classical and avant-garde compositions – include violinist Miranda Cuckson, cellist Julia Kent, Lithuanian artist and vocalist Lina Lapelytė, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, keyboardist Yuka Honda, and Exo-Tech, featuring New Zealand pop innovator Kimbra, among others. (Fri, Jul 18-Mon, Jul 21)
Award-winning actors James Naughton, Maria Tucci, John Benjamin Hickey, and Julie White will offer The Writing on the Wall, a new program combining theater, art, and the written word at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., on Sunday at 3pm. Naughton will read Michael Cunningham’s story “White Angel”; Tucci presents Margaret Atwood’s devastating parable “Death by Clamshell”; Hickey will deliver Thomas Meehan’s classic, comic “Yma Dream”; and White takes on Lynna Williams’s “Personal Testimony,” about trouble in Bible camp. (Sun, Jul 20)
Trumpet greats Jon Faddis and Randy Brecker share the stage with the next generation of trumpet superstars, including Benny Benack and Bria Skonberg, joined by the Ted Rosenthal Trio, performing music of trumpet legends Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, and others, in Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., on Sunday at 7pm. In addition to amazing trumpet virtuosity and improvisational creativity, the concert will feature the vocals of Benack and Skonberg, who have toured together with Jazz at Lincoln Center. (Sun, Jul 20)
Tony Award-winner Ari’el Stachel brings Out of Character, his one-man show, to Berkshire Theatre Group’s Unicorn Theatre, running today through Saturday, July 26, at 7pm. In his show, Stachel -- who won the 2018 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role in The Band’s Visit -- brings to life a full ensemble of characters from his past, weaving an expansive autobiographical tale. The Washington Post noted, “Stachel’s performance is both heartfelt and humorous, offering a nuanced portrayal of his personal journey.” (Tue, Jul 8-Sat, Jul 26)
Also of note:
Broadway singers Kelli O’Hara and Sutton Foster pay tribute to Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett together with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops in a concert inspired by the 1962 CBS-TV special Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall, in the Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., tonight at 8pm.
Grammy Award-nominated Memphis-based roots, blues, and soul band Southern Avenue will celebrate the release of Family, their Alligator Records debut, at Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, N.Y., tonight at 8pm.
Olatuja brings their singular blend of Afrobeat, jazz, funk, and soul to the Spiegeltent at Bard Summerscape on the campus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., on Saturday at 8pm. The quintet is led by vocalist Alicia Olatuja and Nigerian electric bassist Michael Olatuja.
Singer-songwriters Jeffrey Gaines and Belle-Skinner share a double-bill at Colony Café in Woodstock, N.Y., on Saturday at 7pm.
Rootsy singer-songwriter Tracy Grammer brings her pure, emotive vocals, her violin, and her guitar, to Studio 9 in North Adams, Mass., on Sunday at 4pm.
Seth Rogovoy is editor of the Rogovoy Report, available at rogovoyreport.substack.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.