October
Brazilian-American singer ANITA COELHO plays Johnny D’s on the 4th, even as J.J. GREY AND MOFRO get Southern jams going at the Roxy (279 Tremont St). Also that night, local roots superstars SESSION AMERICANA make their Brattle Theatre debut (40 Brattle St, Cambridge; www.brattlefilm.org), and Woodstock legend COUNTRYJOE MCDONALD brings his Woody Guthrie tribute to Club Passim.
Asian zither may sound esoteric, but it’s also beautiful under the hands of the quartet THREE ZEE PLUS, who play Room 14W-111 of MIT’s Killian Hall (160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge; 617.253.2826) October 7 at 3 pm. An hour later in MIT’s Tang Center (2 Amherst St, Cambridge; 617.258.7971), violinist T.N. KRISHNAN, a top practitioner of the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions of Indian classical music, performs.
Geoff Bartley’s acclaimed Monday acoustic nights at Central Square’s Cantab Lounge (738 Mass Ave; 617.354.2685) begin a blues series on the 8th with MISS TESS; she’s followed by LISA MARIE & PAUL SPIEDEL on the 15th, MARTIN GROSSWENDT on the 22nd, and local lap-slide hero LLOYD THAYER on the 29th. Blues continues the next night at Johnny D’s with New England acoustic giant PAUL GEREMIA and DAVE HULL.
The Regattabar in Harvard Square’s Charles Hotel (1 Bennett St; www.regattabarjazz.comor 617.395.7757) becomes Little Argentina on the 11th with TIERRA TANGO featuring Buenos Aires singer KATIE VIQUEIRA. And Boston becomes Little Ireland — oh, scratch that, it already is — when the great MARY BLACK headlines the Berklee Performance Center (136 Mass Ave, Boston) on the 13th. Also that night, in Central Square, West African fusion band MAMADOU play ArtsCentral (18 Temple St; www.centralsquarecambridge.com/artscentral). And on the 13th and 14th, folk legend and activist HOLLY NEAR is at Club Passim.
The nomads, mystics, and troubadours of the SPIRITUAL SOUNDS OF CENTRAL ASIA drift into Harvard’s Sanders Theatre (45 Quincy St, Cambridge; www.worldmusic.orgor 617.876.4275) on the 14th. Louisiana’s Cajun ambassadors BEAUSOLEIL hit Johnny D’s on the 17th; also on that night, ERIN MCKEOWN begins a two-night stand at Club Passim behind her new live CD Lafayette (Signature Sounds), and Mexican acoustic-guitar blazers RODRIGO Y GABRIELA play the Orpheum Theatre (1 Hamilton Place, Boston).
AMY LEVERE’s role as Wanda Jackson ended up on the cutting-room floor in Walk the Line, but she made the final cut of Black Snake Moan and will bring her country-rockabilly roots to Harpers Ferry (158 Brighton Ave, Allston; 800.594.TIXX) on October 18. Hard-country honker SLIM CESSNA drives his AUTO CLUB to Central Square’s Middle East upstairs (472 Mass Ave; 617.864.EAST) that night; at the Roxy, the YONDER MOUNTAIN STRINGBAND bring Appalachia to downtown. And at the Somerville Theatre on October 12, it’s extraordinary singer-songwriters LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III and LEON REDBONE.
On the 19th, OLIVER MTUKUDZI churns at the Somerville Theatre. Boston expatriate MELISSA FERRICK returns for two powerhouse nights at Club Passim with guest HAMELL ON TRIAL beginning the 20th. Also on the 20th: African rockers SAMBA LOLO at Johnny D’s and TONI LYNN WASHINGTON at the Acton Jazz Café (452 Great Road, Route 2A, Acton; www.actonjazzcafe.com or 978.263.6161).
