Oliver Mtukudzi and his band performed a very good public concert at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton on January 16. The dance floor was full of people dancing. Mtukudzi is from Zimbabwe, in southern Africa. You can hear one of his songs at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn5nEKvr6aU
Concord Music Group (CMG) Corporation has a web page about Mtukudzi:
Simba will perform a free, outdoor public concert in Putney, Vermont, near Brattleboro, on August 10. At a recent Simba concert, at least 100 people danced for hours. The band plays reggae and funk, among other kinds of music.
Thomas Mapfumo, a musician and activist from Zimbabwe, will perform a public concert in Northampton on July 22 at 7 p.m. Mapfumo was forced to leave Zimbabwe because he spoke out against the government. He lives in Oregon. Samples of his music can be heard for free at:
www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-k...
One of the best bands that is currently performing is Devil Makes Three. The band's lead singer, Pete Bernhard, will perform a public concert in Putney, Vermont, near Brattleboro, on March 25 at 7 p.m. He will perform with several other musicians. Details are at:
www.HookerDunham.org/docs/TWILIGHTCALENDAR.htm
and
On February 19 in Brattleboro, six musicians played an excellent concert at the Hooker-Dunham Theater, the town’s best live music venue. The theater was almost sold out, and the audience applauded the music warmly. The musicians sang and played Scottish smallpipes (like bagpipes except, rather than blowing into the instrument, the player pumps it like an accordion), a wooden flute, piano, guitar, and a lute. The absence of drums was pleasing.
Charlie King, Karen Brandow, and Rebel Voices will perform an evening concert in Greenfield on January 21. It’s a benefit for the Safe and Green Campaign, which works to replace the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor with solar panels, energy efficiency programs, windmills, geothermal energy, and other renewables. Safe and Green works closely with www.nukebusters.org and www.vpirg.org
Vermont Yankee is three miles from Massachusetts and a stone’s throw from New Hampshire.
Pete Seeger said, "Charlie King is one of the finest singers and songwriters of our time."
Seven local bands, some of which tour nationally, played at a festival whose mission was to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The music festival was on September 17 in Newfane, Vermont. The bands were outstanding. Among the highlights were Simba and Pulse Prophets. Hundreds of people attended; many danced. The autumn weather was sunny and comfortable.
Here are the web sites of the bands that performed:
Red Molly performed an excellent public concert in Putney, Vermont, near Brattleboro, on April 17. According to the Boston Globe, "Red Molly may be from New York, but their bluegrass and old-time gospel sounds and buoyant three-part harmonies are so down-home it's as if their notes are carried to you on the crisp air of the Ozarks."
Red Molly will play in North Carolina on April 29 and in California on June 23. The band performed in Putney with singer Chris O'Brien, who performed on Garrison Keillor's radio program, "A Prairie Home Companion."
Vusi Mahlasela, a singer-songwriter, guitarist and activist who lives in South Africa, performed an outstanding public concert in Northampton on February 16. Mahlasela was active in the movement that overthrew the apartheid government in South Africa. In 1994, he performed at Nelson Mandela’s presidential inauguration.
"Vusi has a sort of profound beauty about him. He has a light on," said two-time Grammy award winner Dave Matthews.
Amy Ray and Emily Saliers founded the the Grammy Award-winning band the Indigo Girls. The first few seconds of Ray's latest CD, Didn't It Feel Kinder, are taken up by her voice alone. Throughout the album, Ray's voice is direct, unsentimental and free of irony.
This record sounds more like the Indigo Girls than Ray's first three solo recordings, which were more punk. The best song on the new CD is "Cold Shoulder," a celebratory rocker: "See that girl over there, she's gonna give me the cold shoulder/ she may be straight tonight, but last night she let me hold her."