Culture/Corey Harris
June 12. Culture, the Jamaican vocal trio founded three decades ago by the late Joseph Hill, carries on after his passing, with his son, Kenyatta Hill, filling the vacated mike spot alongside veterans Albert Walker and Telford Nelson. Culture’s legendary album Two Sevens Clash (1977, Shanachie) is acknowledged by Rolling Stone as one of the 50 all-time coolest records (the only reggae album to make the list). One critic summed up Kenyatta’s debut as being “more magic than tragic.” Rasta bluesman Corey Harris, a 2007 MacArthur Fellow and a star of Martin Scorsese’s The Blues documentary, brings the African diaspora to American roots music. 8pm. $25, $30. Bearsville.
(845) 679-0008; www.reggaewoodstock.us.
Cajun/Zydeco Music and Dance Festival
June 12, 13, 14. Billed as Ulster County’s first festival of its kind, this fete features nine bands (four from Louisiana) at Kerhonkson’s Mountain Valley Resort, locally known as the Peg Leg Bates resort, where Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sammy Davis Jr. all appeared in the lounge. This zyde-cool event features the real-deal bands of Roy Carrier, Jesse Lege, Corey “Lil Pop” Ledet, and Leroy Thomas, among others. The spacious resort offers affordable rooms, camping, RV space, Louisiana-style food and other amenities. Music and dancing in the freestanding performance space promise to roll late into the night. First show is June 12 at 6pm; resort opens at 8am that day. (Upcoming this summer are shows by Saints of Swing, Big Joe Fitz, and others.) $90 weekend, 80 advance. June 12: $20, 15. June 13, 14: $25, 20.
( 845) 626-7673; www.mvresort1.com/musicfestival.
Peter Yarrow
June 13. Folksinger and peace activist Yarrow, of Peter, Paul & Mary, kicks off the implementation of his Operation Respect’s “Don’t Laugh at Me” program in the Spackenkill Public School District. The program incorporates elements of music and the arts to reach the hearts of practitioners and students alike, encouraging acceptance of differences and sparking a vital and affirmative school spirit. Since Yarrow founded Operation Respect in 1999, the program has been deployed in over 22,000 schools in the US, translated into four languages, and utilized in schools as far away as Hong Kong, South Africa, and Croatia. The performance will take place at the congregation Shir-Chadash’s temporary home in Freedom Plains Presbyterian Church on Route 55, across from Arlington High School. 8pm. $100, $25. Poughkeepsie. (845) 486-9969;
www.shir-chadash.org.
Jazz at Jack and Luna’s
June 6, 27. The harmonic convergence that is Jack and Luna’s Cafe has an ace up its sleeve, with the deep jazz roots of the venue’s co-designer and builder, drummer Chris Bowman, who along with his wife Julie have created another oasis of gentility along Route 209. The Bowmans present one to two sessions per month in the warm weather that feature Chris’s cronies from his many ensembles. On June 6, kick back to fave guitarist Mark Dziuba fronting the house band of Mike Kull on piano, boom-bassist Charlie Kniceley, and Bowman on drums. On June 27 Chris reunites Urban Survival, his old-school New York unit featuring Jim Donica on bass, Eric Olsen on piano, and Mike Lee on sax. 6:30pm. $10. Stone Ridge. (845) 687-9794; www.jackandluna.com.
George Benson
June 27. Benson is well worth just about any admission price, and tonight it’s for a good cause: the Paramount Center for the Arts’ sixth annual Red Carpet Night Gala Benefit. Eight-time Grammy winner Benson has mastered just about every modern guitar style, from the hard swing of Wes Montgomery to down-home funk, rhythm & blues, and pop. And did you know he sings pretty well, too? Expect to hear Benson hits from his four-decade career, like “This Masquerade,” “On Broadway,” “The Greatest Love of All,” and “Give Me the Night,” at this ultrarare appearance, his first in the Hudson Valley in many moons. 8pm. $90, 65. Peekskill. (914) 739-2333; www.paramountcenter.org.
This article appears in June 2009.
