John Pizzarelli
JOHN PIZZARELLI BRINGS FRANK SINATRA CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION to MAHAIWE
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – Pop-jazz guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli celebrates the centennial of Frank Sinatra’s birthday at the Mahaiwe on Saturday, December 19, at 8pm, with “Swing 7 Frank Sinatra Centennial Celebration.” Using greats like Ellington, Cole and Sinatra and the songs of writers such as Rodgers, Gershwin and Jobim as touchstones, Pizzarelli is among the prime contemporary interpreters of the so-called great American songbook, bringing to the work his signature style and brilliant guitar playing.
Community actress Hannah Koczela through the years
‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’ RETURNS to the COLONIAL THEATRE
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – The 10th annual Berkshire Theatre Group community production of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol,” presented for the fifth time at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield and including 30 talented young Berkshire county actors, many of whom are returning to the Colonial Theatre, and some who are performing for the first time, runs Saturday, December 12 through Tuesday, December 22, 2015.
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Club D’Elf
CLUB D’ELF with JOHN MEDESKI BRINGS MOROCCAN TRANCE GROOVES to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Moroccan-dosed dub-jazz collective Club D’Elf, featuring superstar keyboardist John Medeski of Medeski Martin and Wood fame, returns to Club Helsinki Hudson with its funky world-trance grooves on Sunday, December 20, at 8pm. The brainchild of Boston bassist/composer Mike Rivard (Morphine, Either Orchestra, Guster, Boston Pops), Club d’Elf is a constellation of top musicians from the jazz, DJ, rock and world music scenes of Boston and NYC who get in the groove and proceed to blow it up. With Rivard and drummer Dean Johnston at the core, guitars, turntables, Fender Rhodes, laptops, horns, tablas and a myriad of exotic instruments flow in and out of the mix. Special guest John Medeski, who has been an “honorary core member” of Club d’Elf from day one, is best known for his work with the genre-defying trio Medeski Martin & Wood. Built upon jazz roots, electronics and rhythmic grooves – not unlike Club d’Elf — MMW have broken out of the traditional jazz sphere and have shared the bill with groups such as The Roots, Beck, A Tribe Called Quest, Ray Charles, Hermento Pascoal, and Phish, frequently appearing in venues unavailable to most jazz artists.
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Brian Wilson
BEACH BOYS MASTERMIND BRIAN WILSON to PERFORM ‘PET SOUNDS’ at TANGLEWOOD
(LENOX, Mass.) – Brian Wilson, the creative mastermind behind legendary American rock group the Beach Boys, will perform the landmark 1966 album “Pet Sounds” – which includes hit singles “Sloop John B,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” and “God Only Knows”; is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential recordings of the rock era; and is celebrating its 50th anniversary next year – in its entirety at Tanglewood on Sunday, June 19, 2016, at 2:30 pm in the Shed. Wilson’s 2016 “Pet Sounds” tour is being called “The 50th Anniversary Celebration & Final Performance in its Entirety.”
The National
THE NATIONAL PLAYS ONLY 2016 NORTHEAST HEADLINE SHOW at MASS MoCA
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Ohio-raised, Brooklyn-based band the National will perform its only 2016 headlining show in the Northeast United States at MASS MoCA on Saturday, June 11, at 8pm, in Joe’s Field – the main concert site for the biannual Solid Sound Festival curated by Wilco, which is taking this year off. In 2016, the National will release a much-hyped Grateful Dead tribute album, with contributions from Bon Iver, Sharon Van Etten, the War on Drugs, and Stephen Malkmus.