New Orleans’ legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band, a steward of the city’s vibrant cultural and musical heritage, has been touring regularly since 1963, bringing New Orleans music to the world. Tonight at 8 p.m. they will play at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs.
Susanna, a Neopolitan countess of the early 1800s, has a segreto, a secret: she smokes. Her husband, Count Gil, an obsessively jealous man — but a perfectly nice fellow in every other way — sniffs tobacco in the palace and draws a logical but preposterous conclusion: Susanna is having an affair with a man who smokes. The pair is at loggerheads, and more than willing to sing about it, courtesy of the great Enrico Wolf-Ferrari. Thus unravels the 15-minute intermezzo comic opera, Il Segretto di Susanna, to the merriment of all.
“Newfoundland is a beautiful, dangerous place,” laughs Great Big Sea’s Sean McMann, about the locale that forged his band’s sound. Part shanty reel, part chiming pop, part sweeping folk, ten albums in, the little band from the island that was a shipping and fishing outpost between Mother England and Canada has let its isolation protect their individuality.
BY JULIA RAPPAPORT
It may not quite measure up to Fashion Week in New York city, but Saturday evening will find a back alley of Main street Vineyard Haven temporarily transformed into a catwalk complete with leggy models, elegant couture and dazzling jewelry. Outside Che’s Lounge — the coffee shop known for good eats, an excellent cup of joe and a rockin’ weekend music scene — an outdoor fashion show will begin at 5 p.m. and the proceeds will go to benefit local musicians.
With a voice frequently compared to Joni Mitchell’s, Nancy Jephcote is gearing up for the release of a solo album this fall — but you can hear the Vineyard singer, songwriter and award-winning fiddler at a concert at 8 p.m. tonight, Friday, August 15, at Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven.
Well known for her work with the Flying Elbows fiddle band, songwriting has long been another side of this versatile performer’s offerings. Paul Thurlow and Brian Weiland will add instrumentals and vocal harmonies.
Steve Gorn’s Luminous Ragas, a concert of Indian classical music on the bansuri bamboo flute, will take place on Thursday, August 14, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Che’s Lounge on Main street in Vineyard Haven. Tickets are $15.
Mr. Gorn will guide the audience through the beauty and intricacies of this music with words.