Rogovoy Report 12/6/19

There are plenty of holiday-oriented programs around the region this weekend and next, but I’m here to fill you in on the non-holiday-related cultural events, including Caribbean party music, chamber music, big-band jazz, hard-bop, indie-rock … plus a whole lot more.

Brooklyn-based Delsonido brings its Caribbean party music mixed with NYC’s vibrant electronica, rock, and underground jazz to Club B10 at MASS MoCA on Saturday at 8 p.m. DELSONIDO’s founding members hail from Barranquilla on Colombia’s northern coast. Guaranteed to heat you up just when winter is chilling you down.

The acclaimed Cassatt String Quartet performs a concert at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown tonight at 7 featuring world premieres by three Williams College faculty composers. Each of the new compositions is inspired by the composer’s favorite artwork from the Clark’s permanent collection.

Aston Magna Chamber Players will feature works by Corelli, Monteverdi, Marais, Rameau, Rossi and others in a Baroque celebration at St James Place in Great Barrington on Saturday afternoon at 3. Remember, this is early music, so don’t be late.

Singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli brings his 16-piece big band to the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington on Saturday at 8 p.m. John and his big band will perform songs from the catalogues of Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Frank Sinatra and other mid-20^th century greats.

Jesse Malin and Band will cap Hudson, NY’s WinterWalk celebration on Saturday night with their unique brand of rootsy original rock at Club Helsinki Hudson at 9 p.m. Malin is an indie-rock singer-songwriter in the vein of Ryan Adams, Steve Earle, and Lucinda Williams. He also has covered songs by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, the Clash, Neil Young, and the Replacements, which gives as good an idea as any of where to place him in the musical firmament. Bruce Springsteen, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Lucinda Williams have lent their backing vocals to recordings by Jesse Malin, demonstrating the high esteem in which he is held by his peers. The Eck’s Men will warm up the crowd with a mix of good-time rockabilly, power pop, and funk.

Also, on Saturday night, the Bard Conservatory Orchestra, under the baton of James Bagwell, will perform Aaron Copland’s “Billy the Kid” and Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 in E minor – that is totally my favorite key -- at Bard’s Fisher Center. Price’s Symphony No. 1 was completed in 1932 and was first performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The piece was Price’s first full-scale orchestral composition and was the first symphony by a black woman to be performed by a major American orchestra.

And finally, jazz drummer, composer and bandleader Bobby Previte's new sextet, Art for Now, explores the music of Art Blakey and others of the Hard Bop era at the Avalon Lounge in Catskill, NY, on Sunday at 7 p.m.