Helsinki Hudson to present Joey Alexander on Friday
The word “prodigy” is thrown around rather lightly – often used to describe any kid who is kinda good at something, like blues guitar and drum fundamentals. Thirteen-year-old Joey Alexander is a different story: a prodigy on a Mozartean or Mendelssohnian scale. He is a fully formed player and improvisor in piano jazz – the most physically and intellectually demanding of genres. The final measure of Alexander’s prodigiousness is that, at the end of the day, his age isn’t even the story; his exceptional music is, regardless of the age at which it was made.
The Indonesian phenom Joey Alexander performs at Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, December 2 at 8 p.m. Reserved club seating costs $75. Standing-room general admission costs $45. Club Helsinki is located at 405 Columbia Street in Hudson. For more information, visit www.helsinkihudson.com.
Miki Orihara performs with Senri Oe this Friday at Kaatsbaan in Tivoli
Kaatsbaan in Tivoli presents Miki Orihara, solo dancer and principal artist with the Martha Graham Dance Company, performing with jazz pianist Senri Oe on Friday, December 2 at 7:30 p.m. Orihara will offer her acclaimed solo performance, Resonance. Following Resonance will be a performance by Senri Oe with Jim Robertson on bass. Senri Oe’s Sony Music international debut all-jazz album, Boys Mature Slow, in July 2012 continues to gather rave reviews from the top music magazines including Jazziz and DownBeat. Tickets cost $30 for adults and $10 for students with ID.
The Kaatsbaan International Dance Center is located at 120 Broadway in Tivoli. For more information, visit www.kaatsbaan.org.
Ars Choralis performs this weekend in Kingston, Woodstock
Ars Choralis presents a themed holiday performance, Welcome Yule: Peace in the Midst of War, on Saturday, December 3 at 7 p.m. at the Holy Cross Church in Kingston and on Sunday, December 4 at 4 p.m. at the Overlook United Methodist Church in Woodstock. Peace in the Midst of War tells the story of the Christmas Truce during the first World War that inspired soldiers to lay down their arms and befriend their enemy. Advance tickets cost $18 for adults or $9 for students, and are available at DIG in Saugerties, Mother Earth’s Storehouse in Kingston and the Golden Notebook and Catskill Art & Office Supply in Woodstock; or, for a dollar more, online at www.arschoralis.org. Tickets purchased at the gate cost $20 for adults or $10 for students aged 18 and under.
The Holy Cross Church is located at 30 Pine Grove Avenue in Kingston. The Overlook United Methodist Church is located at 233 Tinker Street in Woodstock.
Matt Pond PA plays Kingston’s Old Dutch Church this Saturday
On Winter Lives, the venerable Kingston-based indie rock outfit Matt Pond PA sets a series of seasonally themed, bittersweet and imagistic vignettes to the band’s time-honored sound: a strictly insistent, multilayered jangle that resembles nothing so much as a culturally neutralized, pure extraction of Holiday Spirit, encompassing both its jubilation and its melancholy in one big lyrical ache. The opening track, “In Winter,” seems to begin in a recognizable present, the context a troubled relationship in a troubled time renewed by the forced retreat and intimacy that winter brings.
By Track Two, “Glow,” nostalgic and introspective memory has taken the reins of the jangling sled. The rest of the record rolls out a dazzling and transportive chain of evocative musical memoir unhinged in time, keyed to and triggered by the natural world and cut with several short interstitial instrumentals that support the record’s profoundly consistent sense of period, place and occasion. Winter Lives, the bands 11th full-length release, is a powerful, conceptually unified effort.
Matt Pond and his band kick off a short Northeast tour with a hometown show at the Old Dutch Church in Kingston on Saturday, December 3 at 7 p.m. Americana singer/songwriter Caroline Reese and Kingston’s own J. K. Vanderbilt are set to open. Tickets cost $15. For tickets and more information, visit https://mattpondpa.com. The Old Dutch Church is located at 272 Wall Street in Kingston.
Foodstock at the Chance in Poughkeepsie on Saturday
The Foodstock Fund is bringing its ninth annual Foodstock concert to the Chance in Poughkeepsie on Saturday, December 3 beginning at 5 p.m. In addition to being an eminently worthy cause – 100 percent of the proceeds will benefit the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, the Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie and Dutchess Outreach – Foodstock is also a darn good and diverse evening of music. This year’s impressive lineup is headlined by the Push Stars, an adult alternative and WDST staple fronted by the talented singer/songwriter Chris Trapper. Also performing are Kristen Capolino, Sirsy, the Jason Gisser Band, the Adam Ezra Group and Snaphammer.
Admission costs $20. Non-perishable food donations will also be accepted. To donate without attending the show, e-mail foodstockfund@gmail.com. More information is available at www.foodstockfund.org. The Chance is located at 6 Crannell Street in Poughkeepsie.
America plays Bardavon this Saturday
They weren’t wrong, you know. There are plants and trees and rocks and things, and people should just drop it. Seventies hitmakers America survived the decade of their mega-fame with energy and good humor intact. Featuring founding members Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, the band has continued to be a vibrant and popular live act. America performs at the Bardavon Theater in Poughkeepsie on Saturday, December 3 at 8 p.m. Local favorites the Gold Hope Duo are set to open.
Tickets for America range in price from $59 to $94. They can be purchased at the Bardavon box office at 35 Market Street in Poughkeepsie, (845) 473-2072; the UPAC box office at 601 Broadway in Kingston, (845) 339-6088; and online via www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit www.bardavon.org.
Maucha Adnet brings bossa nova to Senate Garage in Kingston
Jazzstock has been working to bring a world-class and diverse stream of contemporary global jazz to the Hudson Valley since 2011, using various venues and scoring some outsize bookings through its tireless efforts and connections in the world of serious jazz. On Saturday, December 3, Jazzstock bring its latest astonishing catch – vocalist Maucha Adnet & the Brazilian Trio – to its latest luminous venue, the Senate Garage at 4 North Front Street in the ever-more-hopping streets of Uptown Kingston.
Maucha’s talent was authenticated by a ten-year stint singing with the immortal Brazilian composer and musician Antonio Carlos Jobim. Given jazz’s historical obsession with bossa nova in general and the work of Jobim in particular, it would be hard to imagine a more compelling stamp of approval. The Brazilian Trio features Adnet’s core collaborator, the pianist Helio Alves, as well as bassist Nilson Matta and drummer Duduka Da Fonseca.
Tickets for this performance cost $35. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.jazzstock.com.
Rock ’n’ Roll Flea Market in Kingston on Sunday
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Flea Market fills 10,000 square feet at the Murphy Center in Midtown Kingston with vintage and new vinyl, posters, tee-shirts and every other legal commodity associated with rock ‘n’ roll. The event takes place on Sunday, December 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. More than 50 vendors from the area and from afar will be showing their wares. Deejay Eric Bruce will be supplying the music.
The Murphy Center is located at 467 Broadway in Kingston, next to the Rite-Aid pharmacy. There is a $3 cover charge at the door, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Ulster County SPCA. Children aged 12 and under are admitted free. There is room for additional vendors; contact Chris Orlando at (845) 380-3127 or e-mail rosendaleretro@gmail.com.
Helsinki Hudson hosts Darol Anger holiday concert on Sunday
Bluegrass legend Darol Anger’s fifth annual Keepin’-It-in-the-Fam Holiday Show takes over Club Helsinki in Hudson on Sunday, December 4 at 8 p.m. The acoustic music legend is joined by singer/songwriter Emy Phelps and an all-star cast of string musicians in a multigenerational musical experience focusing on the spirit of midwinter and the turning of the year. This year, Anger’s band features old friend, musical colleague and banjo genius Tony Trischka and many other special guests.
Tickets cost $20 in advance and $25 on the day of the show. For more information, visit www.helsinkihudson.com. Club Helsinki is located at 405 Columbia Street in Hudson.
SUNY-Ulster hosts free December concerts, including Tuba Christmas
SUNY-Ulster presents six concerts performed by students, music educators, faculty, staff and audience participants this holiday season. The Honors Recital on December 2 at 3 p.m. in the Quimby Theater features faculty-selected solo and chamber performances by students in the applied lesson program. Under the direction of Anastasia Solberg, SUNY-Ulster’s String Ensemble will perform its holiday concert on December 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Quimby Theater. The SUNY-Ulster Chorus under the direction of Janet Gehres and SUNY-Ulster’s Guitar Ensemble under the direction of Greg Dinger perform on Thursday, December 8 at 7:30 p.m., in the Quimby Theater. The SUNY-Ulster Community Band under the direction of Victor Izzo, Jr. joins members of the SUNY-Ulster Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Chris Earley on Wednesday, December 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the Quimby Theater.
Finally, SUNY-Ulster’s Tuba Christmas completes the holiday performances. It will be held on December 17 at the Ulster Savings Bank Community Conference Center on the Stone Ridge campus. The event is open to tuba and euphonium players of all ages who will perform traditional Christmas music from around the world. Participants register at noon, rehearse at 1 p.m. and perform at 3 p.m.
The concerts are free and open to the public. For information, contact (845) 687-5262. SUNY-Ulster is located at 491 Cottekill Road in Stone Ridge.
Irish Christmas in America on Wednesday at Beacon’s Towne Crier
The young singer Irish singer Niamh (pronounced Neeve) Farrell is this year’s guest vocalist with the star-studded Irish Christmas in America, a night of Irish and holiday music coming to the Towne Crier in Beacon. Farrell is an up-and-coming vocalist from County Sligo who came to attention in 2014 during a ten-month world tour with UK star David Gray. Irish Christmas in America will appear on Wednesday, December 7 at 7:30 p.m.
The Towne Crier is located at 379 Main Street in Beacon. Tickets to the all-ages performance cost $30 in advance, $35 at the door. For information and tickets call (845) 855-1300 or visit www.townecrier.com.
Joan Osborne to play Helsinki Hudson
Legendary multi-platinum singer Joan Osborne performs at Helsinki Hudson on Friday, December 9 at 8 p.m. A seven-time Grammy nominee, Osborne is best-known as a soulful interpreter with boundless stylistic range, singing everything from AOR modern rock to blues, standards and the entire canon of the Grateful Dead, with whose members she has often performed. Osborne will be accompanied by her longtime collaborator, the New Paltz-born keyboardist Keith Cotton.
Tickets for Joan Osborne cost $48 for reserved seating, $35 for general admission. For more information, visit www.helsinkihudson.com. Club Helsinki is located at 405 Columbia Street in Hudson.
Join the family! 
