Concerts

(Music Review) Steely Dan at Tanglewood

Steely Dan's Donald Fagen and the Embassy Brats

TANGLEWOOD Steely Dan Tuesday, July 26, 2011   Review by Seth Rogovoy   (LENOX, Mass.) – It’s hard to believe we had to wait until the year 2011 to see Steely Dan at Tanglewood, but it was worth it, because it was perfect. Which isn’t any surprise, because Steely Dan is all about perfection. If…

(Music Review) Dr. John at the Mahaiwe

Dr. John at the Mahaiwe (photo Seth Rogovoy)

MAHAIWE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Dr. John and the Lower 911 Saturday, July 23, 2011 Review by Seth Rogovoy   (GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – Dr. John was smart – or lucky. When he created his sound, his persona, and his approach back about 40 years ago, he did it in such a way as to make…

A Poetic Pas de Deux from Taylor Mali and Marie-Elizabeth Mali

Taylor Mali (photo by Seth Rogovoy)

TRIPLEX CINEMA/NEW STAGE Taylor Mali Open Heart Perjury Thursday, July 14, 2011 by Seth Rogovoy (GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – At one point during his terrific, aptly titled one-man show, Open Heart Perjury, at the Triplex Cinema, spoken-word artist Taylor Mali riffed on the fact that a namesake of his in the Berkshires performs an annual…

(Concert Review) Copenhagen Jazz Festival II

Gretchen Parlato (photo by Seth Rogovoy)

COPENHAGEN JAZZ FESTIVAL Gretchen Parlato, Jakob Bro, Sleep Party People Copenhagen, Denmark July 8-10 Review by Seth Rogovoy (COPENHAGEN) – The final three concerts I saw at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival on Friday and Saturday partly serve as a model for the eclectic nature of the festival – ranging from Sleep Party People’s electronica-laced indie-rock to the…

(Music Review) Copenhagen Jazz Festival I

Anna Bronsted of Our Broken Garden (photo by Seth Rogovoy)

COPENHAGEN JAZZ FESTIVAL July 5-7, 2011 Review by Seth Rogovoy (COPENHAGEN, Denmark) – The storybook city of Hans Christian Andersen, so picturesque at times it seems impossibly like a movie set, and you’re waiting for a director to yell “strike the set” and down will come the charmingly false facades, is in the midst of…

(Concert Review) Montreal Jazz Festival (III)

(photo by Seth Rogovoy)

(photo by Seth Rogovoy) Montreal International Jazz Festival June 27-28, 2011 Review and photos by Seth Rogovoy (MONTREAL) – I am only being slightly facetious when I say that whenever I heard anything that sounded remotely like jazz over the last four days at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, I quickly fled in the opposite…

(Concert Review) Montreal Jazz Festival (II)

MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL June 26, 2011 Review and photos by Seth Rogovoy (MONTREAL) – Diversity and eclecticism run rampant at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, which takes the term “jazz” in its widest and broadest context, such that in one evening a listener could hear a tribute to a former sideman of Dizzy Gillespie…

(Concert Review) Montreal Jazz Festival (I)

Joy Frempong of Filewile performing at Montreal Jazz (photo by Seth Rogovoy)

MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL Saturday, June 25, 2011 Review by Seth Rogovoy (MONTREAL) – It didn’t take long to be reminded why I keep coming back to the Montreal International Jazz Festival. It’s the element of surprise and discovery, more than anything, that makes a festival appealing. Sure, there’s the opportunity to hear tons of…

Music Review: Adrienne Cooper performs Yiddish song at Book Center

ADRIENNE COOPER AND FRIENDS YIDDISH BOOK CENTER SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2011 Review and Photos by Seth Rogovoy (AMHERST, Mass.) – Vocalist Adrienne Cooper performed an eclectic cabaret of Yiddish and Yiddish-inspired songs on Sunday, drawing from the deep well of Old World and New World influences that keep the music alive and speak deeply to…