It’s the last full month of summer, festival fever is in full swing, and here comes one of the season’s biggest musical gatherings: the third annual “Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival.”
It’s a free event, taking place Saturday in Court Square, beginning at 11 a.m., with both an outdoor main stage and a secondary concert space inside the nearby Old First Church packed with performers.
The great Taj Mahal (pictured)headlines on the main stage at 8:30 p.m., wrapping up a day of music that also features the Eric Krasno Band, the Terri Lyne Carrington Group, the Joey DeFrancesco Trio, Heshima Moja and Ofrecimiento (with special guest Rayvon Owen), Samirah Evans and Her Handsome Devils, Jose Gonzalez and Banda Criolla and the Charles M. Greenlee Ensemble.
An additional full-day lineup lights up the historic Old First Church with more music and spoken word, beginning at noon, starring the Hartford-based Alpha Quartet, inspired by the chord-free explorations of legends like Ornette Coleman and Miles Davis, and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Lexi Weege, no stranger to Valley showgoers thanks to her solo shows and work with the Woman Songwriter Collective.
Also featured on the bill are Khalif Neville (son of Charles), vocalist/keyboardist/ukulele-player Gina Rose, spoken-word artist UGoddess (Uchenna Richards), vocalist Ryan Hollander (accompanied by guitarist Jerrod), Berkshire Hills Music Academy Performance Troupe, The Grays (a jazzy indie duo of Cait Simpson and Chris Merritt), the Nairobi Jazz Quintet and, in its second appearance at the festival, the Charles M. Greenlee Ensemble (an advanced group offered to outstanding high school music students).
There will also be free workshops held at the Community Music School of Springfield, open to the public and covering diverse topics, including vocalist Samirah Evans and pianist Miro Sprague offering an interactive exploration of “singing a song and finding your voice” (on Friday at 6 p.m.) and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington discussing “A Life of Improvisation” (Saturday at 1 p.m.)
Last year’s “Jazz & Roots Festival” drew nearly 7,000 people to downtown Springfield. For more information visit www.springfieldjazzfest.com.
Mark VI Polka fills up Millside Park in Easthampton with bright dance music for the latest show in the “Arts In the Park” summer concert series Friday at 6:30 p.m. Free!
Guitar-and-vocal duo Tuck & Patti has been an Iron Horse regular for decades. I first saw the down-to-earth twosome there in August 1997, and experiencing the combination of the gospel-strong vocals of Patti and jazzy inspired guitar of Tuck (uncle of Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent), it was easy to see why they’re invited back, year after year. Tuck & Patti returns to the Iron Horse in Northampton Friday at 7 p.m.
Pothole Pictures’ film series always pairs up a local band performing a half-hour live set before a screening of a classic movie at the historic Memorial Hall Theater. This week it’s the improvisational group The Collective (Leo Hwang, Lysha Smith, Trevor Ring, Brian Keaney and Debbie Way) playing largely instrumental jazz/noise/electronic sounds before the 1998 film “Run Lola Run,” Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at Memorial Hall in Shelburne Falls.
It’s Tribute Band-o-Rama for a summer night: Get the Led Out (Led Zeppelin tribute), Live at the Fillmore: The Definitive Tribute to the Original Allman Brothers Band and AfterFab: The Beatles Solo Years make up a triple bill of cover acts at Mountain Park in Holyoke Saturday at 5 p.m.
Guitarist Freddie Bryant and pianist Eugene Uman — joined by tenor saxophonist Scott Mullett, bassist Cameron Brown and drummer Francisco Mela — play the kick-off party for the annual Vermont Jazz Center Summer Workshop (all the performers are instructors at the workshop) at the Arts Block in Greenfield Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
Angela Sawyer, the John Moloney and Tony P Duo, Bromp Treb (pictured) and J Burkett play an in-store concert at Mystery Train in Amherst Monday at 6 p.m.
Local psychedelic funk band Galvanizer (a collective led by guitarist John Caban) has a bi-weekly residency at Chez Albert in Amherst — the restaurant even named a special drink after the band — every other Thursday from 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., including Thursday, Aug. 11.