Guitarist Joe Belmont has been a Valley mainstay for decades (as a member of world music ensemble Viva Quetzal, a member of the Five College and Amherst College faculty, and the director of Jazz Ensembles at the Northampton Community Music Center). He’s lined up a show that features two of his diverse projects — The Joe Belmont Experience and Duo Fusion — at the Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Duo Fusion is his long-running collaboration with flautist Sarah Swersey (for this twosome, he plays fingerstyle on a nylon-stringed guitar). Belmont said it’s their first area gig of 2017 and they’ve got some goodies planned: “We’ll play two classical compositions that I have written for flute and guitar. Also pieces by Ibert, Faure, Miles Davis and the surf guitar classic ‘Miserlou’ (our version based on Dick Dale’s version).”
Then his Joe Belmont Experience takes the stage, a trio featuring veteran musicians Rudi Weeks on bass and Eliezer Martinez on drums. Belmont said he spent the summer rocking with the versatile JBE. “I am really psyched how we sound now. We’ll feature two of my originals, several Pat Metheny pieces, and later on in the night, some danceable things.”
Belmont said that while Duo Fusion is definitely listening music, “the JBE can rock if provoked. We have a couple of sets of ethereal ECM type jazz. We also can play some Hendrix, and some music from the classic rock era. What I love about the project is that our shows can vary widely depending on the mood, the audience, and who knows what, maybe even celestial events beyond our understanding. We don’t play from a scripted set list.”
Belmont said this is the first time that two of his own acts have shared a bill. “I’ll plan to rest up before playing the show!”
Heart for Puerto Rico is an all-weekend, all-ages benefit at Gateway City Arts in Holyoke, with 100% of all ticket sales donated to the relief fund. The Friday night show features the Jose Gonzalez Duo, Jesus Pagan and Brendaliz Cepeda Bomba y Plena starting at 7:30 p.m. The Saturday event starts at noon and ends with a lineup of The Basement Cats, LuxDeluxe, Winterpills and Kat Wright starting at 6:30 p.m. Sunday’s festivities start at 12:30 p.m. and are headlined by Khalif Neville and Co. at 8 p.m. Visit GatewayCityArts.com for details.
It’s “a night of queer acts galore” featuring Northampton’s own Walmart Romeo (“uncomfortably personal songs with nods to folk punk”) and Maxi’s World (at left, lesbian pop punk for fans of The Bangles, Blink 182 and Black Tambourine) and, visiting from South Windsor, CT, Spacecamp (hard femme straight edge stoner metal) at the Basement in Northampton on Saturday at 8 p.m.
Punk/surf picker-uppers Pajama Slave Dancers and shouted-word freestyle poetry gang Pocket Full of Sex Change team up for a night they’re calling “Dangerchaos!” at Whiskerz Pub in Easthampton on Saturday at 8 p.m.
Singer/songwriters Diane Cluck (at left) and Sam Moss appear at the intimate and inviting Montague Bookmill on Saturday at 8 p.m. It’s a limited capacity show, and the last one of the season. Says the venue, “Buy tickets now to guarantee yourself a seat! Or you may get left out in the cold (literally).”
Philly punk-pop critic’s faves Radiator Hospital are on tour for their brand-new album, “Play the Songs You Like,” and will be joined by tourmates Outer Spaces (from Baltimore) and locals Laika’s Orbit and DUMP HIM at Flywheel in Easthampton on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Dar Williams sings and also reads from her new book, “What I Found In a Thousand Towns,” at The Iron Horse on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
OuroborO, Bat House, Tundra Toddler and John Trudeau play the 13th Floor Music Lounge in Florence on Thursday at 9 p.m.
It’s a “Halloween Rager” for the next Reanimate the Bay State concert — which, for the occasion, they’re renaming Reanimate the Doom State — featuring Problem with Dragons, Cazador, Oxen and Easter Bloodhounds at The Sierra Grille in Northampton on Thursday at 9:30 p.m.