Green River Festival 7/17/11 Greenfield MA

Emmylou Harris, JJ Grey and Mofro, Grupo Fantasma, Eilen Jewell, Locos Por Juana, Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited, Wanda Jackson, Patty Larkin.

Entered the festival to the strains of Regrooving the Dream and Stranger's World two of my most favorite Patty Larkin recordings. Patty, from Wellfleet continues to pump out excellent recordings. Next up was the 73-yr young Wanda Jackson. Produced by Jack White, Wanda's new album covers Amy Winehouse and Elvis Presley. Wanda growled her way through Heartbreak Hotel, god bless her for getting on stage with her 1950's sweater in 90 degree heat. African ex-pat Thomas Mapfumo brought some highlife music to the second stage. Highlife, the guitar-percussion precursor of afro-beat has a very distinctive danceable cadence. Boston local and Greenriver staple Eilen Jewell gave the honkytonk americana treatment to the main stage. Locos por Juana a latin trio with a monstrous trombone player brought some high energy to the dance tent. Festival highlight JJ Grey and Mofro were fantastic! Swampy vocals and searing guitar leads were the reason to be here. Mofro played Brighter Days, Lochloosa, Ho Cake, an Otis Redding cover, Orange Blossom Special, and several cuts off the recent (and excellent) Georgia Warhorse release. Festival closer Emmylou Harris has been at it for years. Wrecking Ball, one of my favorite EH records was heavily tasted. Her version of Gillian Welch's Orphan Girl was a great way to cap a hot and fun day

Natalie MacMaster New Haven Green 6/18/11

Saturday evening at the A/I festival brought Natalie MacMaster. A fiddler from the Cape Breton section of Nova Scotia, Natalie played Irish-type tunes. Reels and medleys made up the program. A good crowd showed for a perfect weather evening

Jose Conde w/ Cosmic Jibaros 6/12/11 New Haven Green

Bridgeport natives Cosmic Jibaros started off this Sunday set as part of the A/I festival. Like a local Ozomatli, I've always loved these guys. Frontman Rick Reyes has a good voice with tunes in english and spanish. New York latin sensation Jose Conde was up next. He had a breezy feel that was not cheesy.

tUneYarDs w/ Buke and Gass and Fake Babies 5/17/11 Daniel St

Sizable crowd drowned out local outfit Fake Babies. Poor stage geometry at Daniel St did not make for a good view of Brooklyn's Buke and Gass. This duo of baritone ukelele and guitar/bass smash and homemade percussion was the perfect opener for Tuneyards. From Frisco with some childhood ties to Milford CT, tuneyards rocked their brand of indecipherable yelp-rock. Bass, two saxes, and leader on vocals and ukelele played a great set to a rapt crowd. The vocals seem to be a cross between a yodel and a tribal chant, with some words thrown in. The lead singer had some face-paint and purple wings (like the you-tubable video for "bizness") All players banged on percussion which added to the tribal sound. I got up close to see that the bass player had a pulley, a box grater. and a cup to bang on. Truly original and bound for Europe, Tuneyards were awesome.

Xavier Rudd 5/15/11 Toads Place

Aussie Rudd has an unusual twist on the one-man-band, a digeridoo. Mix one part Keller Williams, one part Michael Franti, one part Dr. Didg one part Paul Simon and you have Xavier Rudd. Sometimes played acoustic guitar and didg and others with drumkit and didg. A frantic stagehand helped line him up for each tune. Songs had a quiet folk start then ended with didg-fueled frenzy. Packed house really enjoyed Xavier.

T.S. Monk Sextet 5/7/11 Woolsey Hall

My dynamic daughter has a dynamic TAG teacher named Marcella Monk Flake. The Monk in her moniker comes from her uncle, Thelonious. As a benefit for 8th grade TAG, T.S. Monk played a benefit at Woolsey Hall for the TAG program. After a warmup by the local H.S. jazz band, Monk's sextet took the stage. Soprano sax, alto sax, trumpet, bass, piano, and Monk on drums breezed through some standards: Song for Ray, Evidence, and Think of One. Must have been great to grow up in a house with a piano and Thelonious. T.S. said that his job was to answer the door when Coltrane, Miles, Diz , and Bird came by....a dream job for a jazz fan.

Guitar Chamber Music 5/4/11 Sprague Hall

I always look forward to Benjamin Verdeery's direction of classical and guitar work that he showcases at the beautiful Sprague Hall. Ben teaches modern classical composition and this program was a series of duets, trio, then an ensemble piece. The duet pieces included works by Bartok, Joan Tower, and Toru Takemitsu. The violin-guitar duets of short Bartok works were great. A trio of drums, electric guitar, and electronics performed Ornette Coleman's Lonely Woman Suite. The final piece was Terry Riley's In C. Twenty-four musicians played 52 "modules" of the note C. Only at Yale could one view this production. Oboe, bass clarinet, flutes, piccolo, national steel slide guitar, guitars, bass, violin, viola, percussion all played the note C at various speeds and octaves for 40 minutes! Riley would have been proud of that performance. Verdeery cracked up when one audience member yelled "encore". What's next In D?