Fall 2000 Berkshire Pop Preview
by Seth Rogovoy

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., September 18, 2000) – Now that the summer is over, it’ s time to relax and savor the beauty of having nothing to distract from the transcendent contemplation of one’s navel, right?
Wrong.

There has never been a fall music season in the Berkshires like the one we are about to witness. And if this is indicative of the shape of things to come, well, who would’ve thunk it? The Berkshires really are turning out to be cultural after all.

Between now and the end of the year, on most any given weekend night (and on some weekdays, too), there will be several concerts or nightclub shows from which to choose in the Berkshires. And if one factors in the lure of an hour’s drive to the Capital District or Northampton, music fans will have next to nothing to complain about.

Club Helsinki in Great Barrington is not losing a step on its march toward establishing itself as the Berkshires’ answer to the Iron Horse. The funky little club that could will have plenty to offer blues fans especially, but also will have plenty of shows to appeal to fans of funk, soul, rock and even world music.

Tonight, Helsinki presents veteran blues/rock ‘n’ roller Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater in a CD release concert for his brand new album, “Reservation Blues.” Tomorrow night, Helsinki goes psychedelic with the trip-hop sounds of Wax Poetic, blending electronic techno beats and samples with jazzy soul. Upcoming to Helsinki are Babaloo’s self-styled “Hardcore juju (Sept. 30), blues guitarist Rusty Zinn (Oct. 5), blues guitarist James Armstrong (Oct. 6), r&b diva E.C. Scott (Oct. 7), Cuban vocalist Pio Levya from the “Buena Vista Social Club” (Oct. 12), roots-rocker Mike Plume (Oct. 13) and blues guitarist Eddie King (Oct. 14).

Also coming to Helsinki are former Peter Wolf guitarist Johnny A (Oct. 18), second-generation pop-folk princess Sally Taylor (Oct. 21), funk band Soul Work (Oct. 26), the Hot Heads (Oct. 28), Walter “Wolfman” Washington (Nov. 2), Pressure Cooker (Nov. 4) and Debbie Davies (Nov. 25). More acts are expected to be announced soon.

Also in Great Barrington, the Guthrie Center’s folk music series continues for a few more weeks before it culminates with a three-night stand by Arlo Guthrie himself (Oct. 6-8). Country-bluegrass singer Irene Kelly is at the Guthrie Center tonight, followed by Tom Pacheco tomorrow night. Folk-blues singer-songwriter Guy Davis is at the center, located in the church of “Alice’s Restaurant” fame, on Sept. 29, followed by RIG (Sept. 30), the 21st century’s answer to the Weavers, featuring the grandchildren of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.

The Rave Review music series at Searles Castle in Great Barrington continues this fall with a tribute to Benny Goodman’s quartet by the Joint Chiefs of Swing on Oct. 7. Vocalist Monica Simms will perform a tribute to Nancy Wilson on Nov. 4, and pianist Robert Kelly will perform a program of duets called “Stereo Grands” on Dec. 2.

While Tanglewood traditionally shuts down after the Labor Day weekend jazz festival, the fall has become the season for arts and cultural benefit performances at Ozawa Hall. There’s a trend this year in which groups are apparently reaching out to a younger demographic than in the past, with artists such as Richie Havens, Aztec Two-Step and Jess Klein (Sept. 30, for the Pediatric Development Center in Pittsfield) and the Bacon Brothers (Oct. 8, for the Lenox Library), and the political satire group Capitol Steps (Oct. 1, for the Berkshire Theatre Festival).

In Pittsfield, a new, free music series debuts this weekend at the Cyberian Café on Fenn Street, known locally as Silicon Alley because of the concentration of Internet businesses in the neighborhood. The underground punk/ska bands performing at the cybercafe include Irish group The Keds (Sept. 25), Timversion (Sept. 29), and Cappucino Jellybeans (Oct. 20), as well as Dalton country-blues guitarist Charlie Mead (Oct. 13). These shows will also be simulcast on the World Wide Web.

Also in Pittsfield, the Berkshire Museum is making one of its periodic stabs at programming live music, this time with a trio of Boston-based jazz ensembles, including Spiritjazz with Carolyn Wilkins (Oct. 7), the Roxbury Blues Aesthetic (Nov. 4), and the Bob Nieske 3 (Dec. 9).

Up in North County, the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown continues to present offbeat, adventuresome acts, this season with a jazz/world-music theme, beginning with the Amherst Saxophone Quartet (Oct. 14), followed by Israeli jazz violinist Miri Ben-Ari and her quartet (Nov. 4), and running into the winter with Afro-Cuban jazz by Bobby Sanabria and ¡Quarteto Aché! (Jan. 13), progressive klezmer by the Klezmatics (Feb. 17) and groove-jazz by guitarist Charlie Hunter (March 24).

Mass MoCA in North Adams is attempting to keep things going year-round with comedy, dance, film and music programming. Pery Ribeiro will headline a bossa nova dance party on Oct. 14, and Reno will offer her barbed, humorous social commentary on Oct. 21. DJ Bobby Morales will spin the tunes for a disco dance party on Dec. 9, and a capella godfathers the Persuasions will cap the festivities for MoCA’s community day on Dec. 2.

At Williams College, the Art Lande/Bruce Williamson Duo will offer their piano/woodwind improvisations on Oct. 26, followed by the Onus Jazz Sextet on Nov. 9.

Just over the border in Spencertown, N.Y., the Allen Livermore Quartet -- featuring pianist John Sauer, drummer Randy Kaye and bassist Dan Broad, several of whom live in the Berkshires -- will perform its original jazz compositions and standards at the Spencertown Academy on Oct. 21. The Pioneer Valley’s Wholesale Klezmer Band will also be at Spencertown (Dec. 9).

Beyond the county’s borders a wealth of musical opportunity awaits those willing to make the drive to Troy, Albany, Northampton and Amherst. In Albany, Tina Turner brings her farewell tour to the Pepsi Arena tomorrow night, accompanied by the indefatigable Joe Cocker. Other big-name rock shows coming to the region include the Matchbox 20/Jayhawks double-bill tomorrow night (or at the Mullins Center at UMass-Amherst, tonight). Tragically Hip is at the Palace Theatre in Albany (Oct. 4), to where Ani DiFranco will return on Nov. 1. DiFranco will also be at Amherst’s Mullins Center on Oct. 28.

Pub-rocker Graham Parker is now a published author, and he’ll be reading and presumably singing at the Van Dyck in Schenectady, N.Y., tomorrow night. Rocker/poet Jim Carroll follows on Oct. 7. The Tom Harrell Quartet, which performed at last spring’s Jazztown festival in Williamstown, is also coming to the Van Dyck (Oct. 14), as is famed California singer-songwriter Karla Bonoff (Oct. 21).

Michael Franks will perform at the Troy (N.Y.) Savings Bank Music Hall (Sept. 29), as will new-age pianist George Winston (Oct. 6), David Bromberg, Jay Ungar and Molly Mason (Oct. 15), Irish groups Cherish the Ladies and Solas (Nov. 12), John Hartford’s Aero Plain with Vassar Clements, Norman Blake and Sam Bush (Nov. 18), Charlie Haden and Quartet West (Nov. 19), Steve Turre (Dec. 1), and New Grange and Wayfaring Strangers (Dec. 2). Over in Northampton, the Three County Fairgrounds hosts an eclectic festival of rock, reggae, roots, funk and folk music on Sunday, featuring Ben Harper, Sonic Youth, Toots and the Maytals, Juliana Hatfield, Sleater-Kinney, Galactic, Martin Sexton and others.

Joan Osborne fans can catch the Lilith Fair favorite at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton (Sept. 30) or at Saratoga Winners in Latham, N.Y. (Oct. 14). The David Grisman Quartet will be at the Calvin (Sept. 29), as will the Dave Brubeck Quartet (Oct. 14), which recently headlined the Tanglewood Jazz Festival.

And among the many great performers coming to Northampton’s Iron Horse are seminal British folk-rockers Steeleye Span (Sept. 24), David Wilcox and Jennifer Kimball (Sept. 28), pianist Brad Mehldau (Sept. 29), and Mose Allison (Oct. 7).
Happy concertgoing!

[This article originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Sept. 22, 2000. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 2000. All rights reserved.]

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