THE JOINT IS JUMPING
Holyoke Community College has a fine jazz program – I know because my son has been part of it – and Friday and Saturday the school hosts its annual jazz festival. The music begins Friday at 8 p.m. in the Leslie Phillips Theater with Boston saxophonist George Garzone, backed by the Amherst Jazz Orchestra. Saturday from 9 a.m. on will feature performances by HCC students, with a concluding 4 p.m. concert led by Garzone. Free on Saturday; tickets for the Friday show are $15 ($10 for seniors and non-HCC students, free for HCC community members). Contact Robert Ferrier at rferrier@hcc.edu.
ANOTHER GOOD BET
The Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley features appearances next week by two up-and-coming novelists. Jung Yun, who works at UMass, reads from her debut novel, “Shelter,” Tuesday at 7 p.m., and Kaitlyn Greenidge, whose “We Love You, Charlie Freeman” is set in western Massachusetts, reads Wednesday at 7 p.m.