Ani and Utah (Falcon Ridge), Meg Hutchinson, Jim K, Saluting Ellington
by Seth Rogovoy

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., July 15, 1999) - Two years ago, Ani DiFranco applied her production and mixing talents to spoken-word pieces by Utah Phillips on "The Past Didn't Go Anywhere," a project which DiFranco aptly described as "acoustic trance-dance hiphop with a dusting of grandpappy rap." The well-matched duo are at it again, with a new album, "Fellow Workers" (Righteous Babe) and live appearances planned for this weekend's Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in nearby Hillsdale, N.Y. (July 23-25).

"Fellow Workers" was recorded before a live studio audience in New Orleans, and is more of a showcase for Phillips's storytelling. DiFranco and her band lay low while providing groovy backup for Phillips's classic stories and songs centered on the early-20th century labor movement. Characters including Joe Hill and Mother Jones make appearances on a mix of original stories and folk standards, including "Bread and Roses" and "The Internationale," all juiced by DiFranco's band to appeal to a contemporary sensibility without detracting from their timeless message of peoples' solidarity. "Fellow Workers" puts the "folk" back in folk music.

In addition to DiFranco and Phillips, you can catch a host of top contemporary folk talent at this weekend's Falcon Ridge festival, including The Nields, Cheryl Wheeler, Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, Lucy Kaplansky, Eddie From Ohio, Ferron, Jack Hardy, Karen Savoca The Kennedys, Moxy Fruvous, Peter Mulvey, Stacey Earle, Susan Werner and Vance Gilbert. The ubiquitous Tony Trischka will be there too, as well as the Berkshire's own classy clown, Roger the Jester. The festival also includes dance bands, children's programming, workshops, comedy, spoken word, crafts, food and on-site camping. (860-364-0366, www.FalconRidgeFolk.com)

Meg Hutchinson: Anti-gravity music

In the wake of Ani DiFranco's success, too many up-and-coming female singer-songwriters are trying to copy the Buffalo native's style. The Berkshire's own Meg Hutchinson is decidedly NOT one of them. Hutchinson's brand new album, "Against the Grey" (LRH), will undoubtedly draw comparisons to DiFranco, as well as Tracy Chapman, Natalie Merchant, Jonatha Brooke, Dar Williams and a host of others, but ultimately Hutchinson is an original from beginning to end. Her slinky, soulful vocals float naturally through the octaves, from a low vibrato to a high falsetto, and her melodies are well-rounded and matched to her profusely poetic and observant, gyno-centric love songs and ballads.

The album kicks off with "Pleasant Street" - locals will get the geographic reference - a catchy, upbeat tune that finds the narrator in a whirlwind of unexpected emotion. "I could lose myself hee easily and that scares me," she sings, but not without a sense of humor -- "What about my laundry?" she asks. Other standout numbers include "Lilith," an imaginative retelling of the myth of the Ur-woman by that name, and "Weightless," the chorus of which mimics the anti-gravity feeling expressed in the lyrics.

Hutchinson joined forces with fellow Berkshire singer-songwriter Robby Baier, who produced "Against the Grey," Hutchinson's second album, at his Housatonic recording studio with the same spare finesse he showed on his own solo album. Complimenting Hutchinson's vocals and guitar are multi-instrumentalist Baier, who handles additional guitar duties as well as sitar, mandola, harmonica, keyboard and percussion, Jesko Stahl on bass, Kris Delmhorst on cello and fiddle, Jon Babu on drums, Brigit Staudt on accordion and Tessa Hutchinson on vocal harmony.

Hutchinson and Baier get the nod as the Berkshires' most likely to succeed; you can catch them both performing locally next Wednesday, July 28, at 6:30 at Burbank Park in Pittsfield, as part of the Substance Free Concert Series at Lake Onota. (684-1218)

Jim K.'s rock 'n' roll road

Jim Kaminski, of Worthington, has been making music professionally for over 30 years. He was a founding member of the group Fat, who recorded their debut LP for RCA Records in 1970 and toured with the likes of the Allman Brothers, Grand Funk Railroad, Little Richard and Delaney and Bonnie. In the late-'70s, Kaminski landed in Austin, where he formed Little Jimmy and the Bad Boys, the name he would perform under for many years as a trio leader.

More recently, Kaminski has established himself as a steady presence in the Pioneer Valley, and last fall he finally released his first solo album, "No Holding Back," which showcases Kaminski's soulful vocals and fiery guitar playing. He's got an ideal rock 'n' roll voice, one-part Bruce Springsteen-like rasp, one part Van Morrison-like testifying ("Evening Star"), which he puts to good use on the CD's 11 original tracks, ranging from the blistering blues-rock of "Straight From My Heart" to the classic soul of "No Trace."

Occasionally Kaminski's guitar-bass-drums trio recalls the Police, particularly on the reggae-flavored "Only One World," but Jim K. and Co., as they are billed, are clearly the fulfillment of Kaminski's singular vision, one cultivated over the course of years on the road. Catch rock 'n ' roll veterans Jim K. and Co. live at the Old Egremont Club in South Egremont this Friday, July 23, at 9:30. (528-9712)

Saluting the Duke

Say what you will about Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra - there's plenty to say and everybody does - but one thing nobody argues. The band knows how to bring the music of Duke Ellington to life like no other band working today. The group just released its third recording devoted to the works of Ellington, "Live in Swing City: Swingin' with the Duke" (Columbia), one of a flood of new releases and reissues marking the centennial of Ellington's birth. According to Rob Gibson, director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the LCJO was created "first of all to play Duke Ellington's music, and then over time build up a repertoire of original compositions as well as playing the history of jazz as much as possible."

Tanglewood is marking Ellington's centennial this Saturday, July 24, at 8:30, when Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra join forces with Boston Symphony Music Director Seiji Ozawa and the BSO for a salute to the Duke. The program includes Ellington's arrangement of Grieg's "Peer Gynt" and "Harlem," originally written by Ellington for Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. "Ellington at 100" will also include other arrangements of Ellington's work by Wynton Marsalis and the LCJO. (637-5165, www.bso.org)

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[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on July 22, 1999. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1999. All rights reserved.]