Olu Dara inaugurates a nightclub for Great Barrington
by Seth Rogovoy

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Nov. 12, 1999) -- To paraphrase the Bible, the sun sets and the sun rises. Which in layman's terms means, live music abhors a vacuum.

Just a few months ago, the future for popular music in the Berkshires looked grim, what with the demise of the National Music Foundation in Lenox following on the heels of the destruction of the Studio in Pittsfield. The only ray of hope was some programming at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, but this was hardly going to be enough to fill the void left by those erstwhile venues.

Last week we reported on one musician's efforts to bring live music back to downtown Pittsfield, with a series at the Crowne Plaza which will debut with a show by Magic Dick and J. Geils Bluestime on Nov. 26.

Subsequently we've learned of another effort, one similarly fueled in large part by the efforts of a local musician, making its debut this weekend, when avant-garde musician Olu Dara inaugurates the new Club Helsinki, at 284 Main St. in Great Barrington, directly behind the Helsinki Tea Company, with a two-night stand tonight and tomorrow night. Doors open at 7; the Ken Laroche Trio is scheduled to open. Tickets are $15; call 528-3394 for more info. Cuban artist Juan Carlos Formell is next up at Club Helsinki, performing on Saturday, Nov. 20, at 9:30.

The effort to bring live music to downtown Great Barrington is due in large part to musician Jim Weber and a group of colleagues, including his wife, Teri, and fellow musician Peter Lindstrom, working as Sambadees Productions. Weber and his cohort are perhaps best known for having produced several performances at the Mahaiwe Theatre, including African, Brazilian and Afro-Cuban dance and music, as well as for leading the percussion ensemble Berkshire Bateria Escola de Samba.

In a series of e-mails, Weber described his plans for Club Helsinki, saying that in geography and philosophy he envisions it falling "somewhere between Caffe Lena and the Iron Horse," referring to the well-known music venues in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and Northampton, respectively. Weber's production team has custom designed a sound system for the venue, and they will handle the booking, stage managing and sound engineering at the newly-renovated nightclub, which boasts a dance floor, murals and mosaics by local artists, and antique lighting and furnishings.

Weber says he hopes to program a variety of styles including jazz, blues, acoustic, world music and performance art. He estimated the capacity of the venue at about 150, which is just a little smaller than the Iron Horse. There are plans to host a once-monthly samba night with the Berkshire Bateria Escola de Samba, featuring guest artists from the New England Brazilian performance community.

Weber described Olu Dara, who was a seminal force in New York's downtown jazz loft scene in the 1970s, as the perfect artist to christen the club. "Performer and venue have a lot in common," said Weber. "Hip yet accessible, diverse but identifiable, mysterious but comfortingly familiar, there couldn't be a better match for an opening party."

Dara, who has worked with such avant-garde mainstays as Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Henry Threadgill, James Blood Ulmer, Nona Hendryx, Don Pullen, David Murray, Brian Eno and Cassandra Wilson, will appear with his quintet. While best known as an improvisational horn player, in recent years Dara has expanded his range to include country blues guitar and vocals and African-influenced folk music. His son, the multi-platinum rapper Nas, appears on his father's solo debut album, "In the World" (Atlantic).

With the popularity of Cuban music at an all-time high in the wake of the box-office hit and Grammy-winning soundtrack, "Buena Vista Social Club," the appearance by Juan-Carlos Formell on Nov. 20 couldn't be better timed. The son of Juan Formell, who as the founder of popular Cuban dance band Los Van Van is one of Cuba's best-known musicians, the young singer-guitarist has been living in exile in New York for six years and touring the U.S. with his band, Cubalibre (Free Cuba). A contemporary singer-songwriter who builds upon the tradition of Cuba's son and changui, Formell writes original lyrical ballads that, as heard on "Songs from a Little Blue House" (Wicklow) are gentle, jazzy, deceptively personal and subtly political.

All of a sudden, things are looking up for live music in the Berkshires.

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[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Nov. 12, 1999. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1999. All rights reserved.]