These acts are hard to beat

These acts are hard to beat

These acts are hard to beat

By Bob Young / Jazz/World Preview
Friday, September 4, 2009

World music and jazz presenters are clearly counting on an improved economy to loosen wallets this fall. Look no further for proof than this fall’s ambitious lineup.

Always surprising guitarist Charlie Hunter rolls out his new CD, “Baboon Strength,” on Sept. 11 at the Regattabar in Cambridge. That same night, the quintet Agachiko, with Ken Field and Gabrielle Agachiko, digs into the Nina Simone songbook at Inman Square’s Lily Pad in Cambridge.

Among the hot young voices with club showcases are alto-sax man Benny Reid at the Regattabar on Sept. 29, and clarinetist and composer Darryl Harper’s C3 Project features poetry and dance at Scullers on the same day. Look for back-to-back nights of exploratory sounds at Outpost 186 in Inman Square on Sept. 25 with Strange Guitar, which features groups led by Jeff Platz, Kevin Frenette and Chris Welcome. And on Oct. 26 it’s the foursome of Neil Leonard, Jeff Song, Curt Newton and former Ornette Coleman keyboardist Dave Bryant.

The Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival takes place over nine days in various clubs and venues starting Sept. 18, with Berklee Performance Center shows with Branford Marsalis on Sept. 23, and Kickin’ the Blues with David Sanborn, Kevin Mahogany and Amina Claudine Myers on Sept. 25. The free outdoor, six-block-long party on Columbus Avenue on Sept. 26 is always big fun. Jane Bunnett, Donald Harrison and Melvin Sparks are among this year’s acts.

The annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert is a two-parter (Sept. 26-27), with Saturday’s show at Northeastern’s Blackman Theatre featuring the John Coltrane Memorial Ensemble, and Sunday’s show at Hibernian Hall a smaller group of Syd Smart, Stan Strickland, Laszlo Gardony and others.

New England Conservatory is blowing out the candles on the 40th anniversary of its jazz studies program with major shows, including the Wayne Shorter Quartet with NEC’s Philharmonia on Oct. 24 at Jordan Hall, and the NEC Jazz Summit on Oct. 23 with Fred Hersch, Gunther Sculler, Don Byron, Rachael Price and others.

The Caribbean is represented at Cambridge Carnival on Sept. 13, which kicks off in Kendall Square. Brazil gets fresh takes on the bossa nova Sept. 10 at the Beehive with Joao Marcos and Teresa Ines, and psychedelia Oct. 4 at the Somerville Theatre with Os Mutantes. Brazilian legend Milton Nascimento returns to town at Berklee Performance Center Nov. 15.

Cuban drum sensation Dafnis Prieto gets to showcase his pioneering rhythms as bandleader on Oct. 16 at the Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, which will be followed on Nov. 6 by another Rock en Espanol multiband extravaganza.

Other hot shows: the Chicago Afrobeat Project (Johnny D’s, Sept. 30); electro-tango outfit Bajofondo (Paradise, Oct. 1); South African prog rockers BLK JKS (pronounced Black Jacks, T.T. the Bear’s Place, Oct. 4); the Warsaw Village Band (Somerville Theatre, Nov. 6); and Bollywood singer Kailash Kher (Somerville Theatre, Nov. 13).