April Music Highlights

Fr 4/11- REGGAE DANCE PARTY with THE BIG TAKEOVER BAND at the Howland Cultural Center, Beacon—With Jamaican-born singer NeeNee Rushie at the mic, the Big Takeover lays down the roots, reggae, and rocksteady, with horns, no less. Before, after, and between sets, DJ Sarah De Selektor spins disks from her extensive archives, and the documentary Ras Cuba: Interviews with Cuban Rastafarians will be simultaneously screened. Caribbean cook Yvonne will be cooking up homemade patties, codfish cake, jerk chicken wings, and more—with ginger beer and sorrel to wash it down. Howland Cultural Center, 477 Main St., Beacon, www.howlandculturalcenter.org, 845.832.4988. 7:30 PM

Th 4/17- An Evening With RICHARD THOMPSON, at the Bardavon, Poughkeepsie—Whether he’s playing like three-guitarists-in-one (three very GOOD guitarists), accompanying himself on acoustic guitar or squeezing sheets of pure energy out of an electric guitar (only #19 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists list? Some of us think he was robbed), Richard Thompson’s musicality alone is worth circling the date. Add that rich toned voice that sounds great on 1000 years worth of songs, and an impressive backlog of amazing songwriting (you may have heard 1952 Vincent Black Lightning on the radio lately, I know I did. God Bless Hudson Valley radio.), and you got a show you’ll be mad you missed. The Bardavon has been bringing some great stuff through this Spring, with Los Lobos last month, and Joe Jackson who, by the way, will be at UPAC (see listings) on Fr 4/12. The Bardavon, 35 Market St., Poughkeepsie, www.bardavon.org, 845.473.5288. 8 PM

Fr 4/18- LARRY AND MURALI CORYELL at Columbia-Greene Community College, Greenport—Together for a rare duo performance, father-and-son guitar team Larry and Murali Coryell (also with vocalist wife/mom Tracy Coryell and full band) cover a wide array of jazz, fusion, rock, R&B, and blues. Father Larry studied jazz and classical technique, and gained notoriety with Gary Burton, Jack Bruce, Billy Cobham, and Chick Corea before forming the seminal fusion group The 11th House, and going on to a successful solo career, and even now teaching, writing books, and designing guitars for Cort. Son Murali, well-known in these parts, struck out on a decidedly more blues-based path, performing with Buddy Guy, Duke Robillard, and Richie Havens, has seven CDs as a solo artist, and his rendition of Jimmy Reed’s “Bright Lights, Big City” is featured in the opening credits for NBC’s “Crossing Jordan.” Arts Center Theater, Columbia-Greene Community College, Rte. 23 (near Hudson), Greenport, www.mycommunitycollege.com, 518.828.4181, ex. 3344. 7 PM

Sa 4/26- THE FELICE BROTHERS at Bearsville Theater, Woodstock—Doesn’t seem that long ago these guys were rolling up to the local venue in their van, spilling out with their The Band-hand-me-downs, all folksy hats and charm, playing their songs like they just wrote ‘em a few minutes ago. Now they’re on a hot run, multiple national and international tours, a major debut on Team Love records, and a full slate of summer work, including Bonnaroo, Clearwater, and WDST’s upcoming Mountain Jam. 100.1 WDST Radio Woodstock presents them right here at home for your listening pleasure, tickets available at WDST.com. Bearsville Theater, 291 Tinker St. (Rte. 212), www.bearsvilletheater.com, 845.679.4406

Sa 5/3, Sa 5/10- SNAPPERS ROCKABILLY RUMBLE (5/3) and HUDSON VALLEY HORRORS BENEFIT (5/10), at Snapper Magees, Kingston—Still the best punk/alternative watering hole in Uptown Kingston—well, OK, the only one, but still the best—Snapper Magees welcomes the warmer months in May with two good Saturday nights. On the 3rd, It’s the Snappers Rockabilly Rumble with Psychocharger (see CD reviews), the Blue Suede Bombers, the Arkhams, and the Soul Reapin 3. Then on the 10th, it’s a benefit for the Hudson Valley Horrors, our hometown roller derby league (see last months issue online at www.rollmagazine.com), with PBR, Bucket, Plainside, and the Cockwranglers. The latter being ex-rooster farmers, I’ll wager. Snapper Magees, 59 North Front St., Kingston, www.myspace.com/snappermageeslivemusic, 845.339.3888. 10 PM

Su 5/4- IRIS DEMENT at Club Helsinki, Great Barrington MA—Iris Dement should not have succeeded. When she moved there in 1998 to make a go at being a singer-songwriter, the Nashville country music business was not designed for someone as real and honest as her, it was (and still is) better suited for plugging songs from the enormous publishing pool available into product by cookie-cutter cowboy-hat boys and cowboy-boot girls, all produced by guys with too much technology. Thanks to people with taste, like producer Jim Rooney, and word of mouth about her indie debut Infamous Angel (but no help from country radio), Dement was able to reach her richly-deserved following, finally signing with Warner Bros., and garnering a Grammy nomination for her duets with John Prine. She’s not doing many small clubs these days, so don’t miss this intimate show. Club Helsinki, 284 Main St., Great Barrington MA, www.clubhelsinkiweb.com, 413.528.3394