Club Helsinki makes the scene
by Seth Rogovoy

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., March 24, 2000) –
A whole slew of new shows have been announced in the coming weeks and months at Club Helsinki in Great Barrington, which is fast threatening to become the much longed for nightclub the Berkshires have never had.

The eclectic lineup coming to the nightspot at 284 Main St. includes venerable blues singer Odetta tonight at 8, roots-rock group the Mudhens tomorrow at 9, the Bashert Klezmer Band this Sunday at 6:30, groove-jazz organ trio Soulive on April 1, jazz-blues multi-instrumentalist and singer Olu Dara on April 7 and 8, funk-jazz saxophonist Charles Neville on April 15, cult singer-songwriters Marshall Crenshaw on May 4 and Jules Shear on May 27, zydeco performer Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys on July 6, and Jamaican reggae band Burning Spear on Aug. 2.

Many other concerts are expected to be announced in upcoming weeks. Club Helsinki is also something of a boon to local performers, as the owners are trying to slot Berkshire artists as openers for many of the nationally-known acts. singer-songwriter Meg Hutchinson, for example, will warm up the crowd for Odetta tonight. Dalton native Michael Haynes will launch his latest effort with an album release party at Helsinki on April 28. This sort of exposure is essential for up-and-coming performers in order to hone their craft and to advance in the highly-competitive artistic marketplace. Up until now, outside of the Lion's Den in Stockbridge, opportunities such as this were hard to come by on a regular basis in the Berkshires.

Tonight's performance by Odetta comes in the midst of a comeback for the folk and blues singer and sometime actress. Last September she received a National Medal of the Arts awarded by the President and Mrs. Clinton and the National Endowment for the Arts. "Blues Everywhere I Go," her first studio album in 14 years, was nominated for a Grammy Award. The seminal folk revivalist was also the subject of two retrospective releases: "The Best of the Vanguard Years" and "The Best of Odetta: Ballads and Blues."

Sunday's show marks the Berkshire debut of the Bashert Klezmer Band, a new group made up of veterans from several well-known national groups. Vocalist Felicia Shpall has toured the U.S. and Europe with Double Edge Theater, and is a member of the Yiddishkeit Klezmer Ensemble. Multi-instrumentalist Brian Bender (trombone, piano, melodica, percussion) is a member of the Wholesale Klezmer Band, the Yiddishkeit Klezmer Ensemble, and is a staff teacher at the annual KlezKamp. Sruli Dresdner (clarinet, accordion, drums) and Lisa Mayer (fiddle) are best known for their "Oy Vey!" series of klezmer children 's recordings with the Young People's Klezmer Workshop. They are also members of the group Klezchester. Club Helsinki will feature a special dinner menu with Jewish culinary selections on Sunday afternoon and evening. For more information or reservations to any of these shows, call 528-3394.

Lori B

Up-and-coming San Francisco singer-songwriter Lori B has taken the long way around to becoming a performer and recording artist. After stints as a long-distance truck driver, in the movie business, as a dancer and a psychotherapist, Lori B has returned to her musical muse and released her debut album, "Hurricane Child" (Goldenrod).

A starkly intimate and emotional approach akin to Tori Amos informs Lori B' s songs, but her quasi-autobiographical material resonates with hard-earned human truths. Delicate ballads of longing, accompanied by softly strummed guitar, alternate with blunt, outspoken songs of sexual protest. As Lori B says at the very end of her album, "there's more to nakedness than just taking off your clothes."

Think of Lori B (www.LORIB.net) as the grown-up Alanis Morrisette. Hear her warm up the crowd for Jorma Kaukonen at Valentines (518-432-6572) in Albany, N.Y., on Friday, March 31, at 9 .

Radio Beat

Another in our series of periodic tallies of the most-played recordings -- most new, some old – on our imaginary radio station:

1. Erik Friedlander, "Skin" (Siam)
2. Phoebe Legere, "Blue Curtain" (Einstein)
3. Frank London, "Shekhina" (Nujumusic)
4. John Zorn, "Taboo and Exile" (Tzadik)
5. Mr. Bungle, "California" (Warner Bros.)
6. Whirligig, "Spin" (1-800-PRIMECD)
7. Joni Mitchell, "Both Sides Now" (Reprise)
8. Gary Lucas, "Skeleton at the Feast" (Enemy)
9. Oasis, "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants" (Epic)
10. Rabbinical School Dropouts, "Introducing the Rabbinical School Dropouts" (Amazing Colossal)
[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on March 24, 2000. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 2000. All rights reserved.]

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[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on March 3, 2000. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 2000. All rights reserved.]