Berkshire Buzz
April Foolery
by Bess Hochstein
Even though April Fool’s Day has passed, Mother Nature is making fools of us all right now, teasing us with warm spring afternoons that coax the tips of tulips out of the ground, then smacking us with winter weather. Thus far, April showers have been snow flurries, and May flowers seem to be a long way off.
But here’s a sure sign of spring: Baby Animals have arrived at Hancock Shaker Village. The famous Round Stone Barn is serving as a nursery for newborn lambs, piglets, goats, and calves. It’s a great outing for the whole family to learn about heritage breeds while enjoying the cute baby farm animals.
This week brings another surefire harbinger of spring: the Williamstown Jazz Festival. From April 12-22, a crescendo of activities sweeps across Williamstown and North Adams, including swing lessons and kids dance classes, films, lecture/demos, a photo exhibit, a Gospel concert, and performances by jazz notables. There’s too much to list, but the highlights include a recital by Trio Del Sol at the Clark; a Soul/Jazz/Funk dance party with Hipmotism at MASS MoCA (and a post-party jam at Café Latino), the Ravi Coltrane Quartet at the Williams College ’62 Center (and a post-performance jam at Spice Root), and a closing spoken word/music performance by Merge, inspired by the current exhibit, “The Moon is Broken: Photography from Poetry, Poetry from Photography,” at the Williams College Museum of Art.
These hills are alive with music of all types, as various solo acts, duos, trios, and quartets play folk, pop, blues, jazz, and rock for enthusiastic audiences across the county at restaurants and pubs such as Spice, Castle Street Café, and the Red Lion Inn’s Lion’s Den. Classical music fans should note the Mahaiwe’s recital by famed pianist Andre Watts on Friday, April 13, benefiting MusicWork’s ongoing efforts to provide Holocaust music education in the Berkshires. The next Saturday, April 21, Close Encounters with Music features pianist Adam Neiman in “Programmatic Piano: Scenes From a Keyboard;” the program includes Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” Rachmaninoff’s “Etudes-Tableaux,” or Study-Pictures, and Ravel’s “Jeux d’Eau,” or Water Games. That same night, for fans of old-time rock & roll will bop over the Mahaiwe for “Solid Gold Spectacular,” featuring The Belmonts, Elsbeary Hobbs Drifters, Bill Haley's Comets & Phil Grover's Doo Wah Revue. And since children love music, too, the Mahaiwe’s Earth Day presentation of “The Ghost Net: An Environmental Musical of the Sea” by the Grumbling Gryphons will include a pre-performance workshop so kids can get into the act. Even polka fans will find something to dance about in the Berkshires when the Colonial presents Jimmy Sturr on April 22, touring to promote his latest album, “Shake, Rattle and Polka.”
But if music doesn’t ring your chimes, there’s plenty else going on. L.A . Theatre Works’ production of “The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial,” starring Edward Asner will do a mini-tour in the Berkshires, with performances on Thursday and Friday April 12 & 13 at the 62 Center and on Saturday, April 14 at the Mahaiwe. And on April 21, the Storefront Artist Project holds an opening reception for a new show by Pittsfield native and Berkshire Community College art faculty member Colleen Quinn, a painter who also teaches at Pittsfield High School.
As the seasons change, so do museum exhibitions; this is your last call to catch a few great shows that are ending soon, including “Drawing on Hopper,” photographer Gregory Crewdson’s visual dialogue with Edward Hopper at the Williams College Museum of Art, and “Ahistoric Occasion: Artists Making History,” MASS MoCA’s sprawling, vivid, and engaging look at contemporary artists who exploit the material of history to reflect on the present. Also closing soon is “Adam Cvijanovic and Peter Garfield: Unhinged” in the Drawings & Paintings Gallery. And while you’re at MoCA, check out the new sprawling, vivid, and engaging exhibition, “The Believers.” We were at the opening reception this weekend, and I have a feeling we’ll be back a few more times so that we can fully take in this lively, intriguing show. Maybe we’ll make a day of it, staying late for the Hipmotism dance party.