The week ahead: music
July 16, 2009
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POP & ROCK
ELTON JOHN & BILLY JOEL The piano men reunite for their popular “Face 2 Face’’ shows. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-ensconced pair team up on each other’s tunes as well as favorite covers. We hear their duet on “Chopsticks’’ is killer. 7:30 p.m. July 18. $54.50-$179.50. Gillette Stadium. 800-745-3000. www.ticketmaster.comJACKSON BROWNE If you haven’t seen the singer-songwriter in a while, now’s a good time to check in as he boasts a strong recent album and a terrific pair of feisty new backup singers. Adding major value to the bill is opener folk-pop chanteuse Shawn Colvin. 7:30 p.m. July 19. $25-$75.
BOB DYLAN & HIS BAND, JOHN MELLENCAMP & WILLIE NELSON Perhaps the most quintessentially American package tour of the summer. If you love great music, it’s hard to beat this trio of hardcore troubadours, all of whom are coming off great recent releases but will play plenty of familiar tunes as well. 5:30 p.m. July 21. $77.50. 401-724-7300. McCoy Stadium. www.pawsox.com/tickets/concert SARAH RODMAN
FOLK, WORLD & COUNTRY
THE 1st ANNUAL HAMPTON BEACH BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL WITH RICKY SKAGGS & DEL McCOURY BAND If this is the kind of talent they’re going to have every year, then we say viva la festival! Two titans of country and bluegrass teaming up for one show should make for a delightfully high lonesome night. Throw in Grammy-nominated Steel Drivers as openers and you’ve got a night of finger-picking goodness. 7:30 p.m. July 16. $27-$39. Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, 169 Ocean Blvd., Hampton Beach, N.H. 617-931-2000. www.ticketmaster.comCJ CHENIER It’s been three years since the crown prince of zydeco music released his contemplative post-Katrina rumination “The Desperate Kingdom of Love.’’ Expect some of that food for thought as well as a sweaty dance party when he brings his accordion and his good humor to Somerville. 8:30 p.m. July 16. $12. Johnny D’s. 617-776-2004. www.brownpapertickets.com
LEANN RIMES The contemporary country star has had to navigate some rocky tabloid terrain of late, but the little lady with the big voice remains a trouper. Rimes touches down for two shows down south this weekend, so no excuses for not getting “Blue’’ if you want to. 8 p.m. July 18. $44.25-$60.25. Cape Cod Melody Tent; 7:30 p.m. July 19. $44.25-$60.25. South Shore Music Circus. Both shows: 800-745-3000. www.ticketmaster.com
CROOKED STILL These homegrown alt-bluegrassers celebrate the release of a hot new live album that showcases all of their picking prowess. 7 and 10 p.m. July 22-23. $25. Club Passim. 617-492-7679. www.clubpassim.com SARAH RODMAN
JAZZ, BLUES & CABARET
CANCELED: KRISANTHI PAPPAS The engaging, husky-voiced cabaret singer and songwriter performs numbers from the Great American Songbook and beyond, as well as her own clever originals such as “A Ma’am or a Gram (Mammogram Song).’’ 7 p.m. Jul 16. Free. Thomas Crane Library Green, Washington St., Quincy. www.thomascranelibrary.org.KATIE THIROUX TRIO The Berklee-sponsored Regattabar Summer Music Series kicks off with the swinging, straight-ahead trio led by up-and-coming 21-year-old Los Angeles native Thiroux, whose agile bass playing and acrobatic singing bring to mind a cross between Ray Brown and Anita O’Day. 5 p.m. July 20. Free. The Charles Hotel Upper Courtyard. www.regattabarjazz.com
BLUE HORIZON JAZZ BAND Named for a signature composition by Sidney Bechet, jazz’s first great soloist, this traditional New Orleans-style jazz ensemble upholds Bechet’s legacy, notably in the mighty, throbbing soprano saxophone and clarinet of leader Stan McDonald, formerly of the New Black Eagle Jazz Band, who has helmed this group since 1981. 7 p.m. July 21. $10. Sherborn Inn, 3 North Main St., Sherborn. 800-552-9742, www.sherborninn.com
DAVID JACOBS-STRAIN The acclaimed young acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter’s music is deeply rooted in the Mississippi Delta country blues but far from confined by it. He’s a soulful vocalist and masterful slide guitar player, yet rather than aping classic performers, he brings the essence of the music into the 21st century. 8:30 p.m. July 21. $10. Johnny D’s, 17 Holland St., Somerville. 617-776-2004, www.johnnyds.com
KEVIN LOWENTHAL
CLASSICAL
TANGLEWOOD Tomorrow night, James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra return to Mahler’s Sixth Symphony and Leon Fleisher is the soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23. On Saturday, John Williams leads the Boston Pops in its annual Film Night, and on Sunday, Levine and the orchestra reprise one program from last season’s survey of Mozart symphonies (Nos. 39, 40, and 41 are on the bill). On Monday, Stefan Asbury leads the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in an intriguing program devoted to works by Strauss, Schoenberg, Ives, and Milhaud. 617-266-1200, www.tanglewood.orgASTON MAGNA For its final performances this summer, the festival presents “Music in the time of Goya (1746-1828),’’ with projections of Goya’s work accompanying performances of music by Fernando Sor, Luigi Boccherini, Rodriguez de Leon, and Francois de Fossa. Richard Savino is the guest director and guitarist, and soprano Jennifer Ellis joins a chamber ensemble led by Daniel Stepner. $35. July 18, Daniel Arts Center, Simon’s Rock College, Great Barrington; July 19, Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, 800-875-7156, www.astonmagna.org
YELLOW BARN The intimate Vermont chamber music festival celebrates its 40th season with a gala dinner and concert on Saturday. The program includes Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 arranged for chamber orchestra and Brahms’s Piano Quintet with pianist Peter Frankl. Tonight Frankl and violinist Donald Weilerstein will be among the performers on a program of works by Saariaho, Mozart, Beethoven, and Fauré. Tuesday’s concert is devoted to the music of this year’s composer-in-residence, Leon Kirchner. Big Barn, Putney, Vt., 800-639-3819, www.yellowbarn.org
BOSTON LANDMARKS ORCHESTRA The ensemble’s series of free outdoor performances on the Esplanade continues this week with Charles Ansbacher leading Brahms’s First Symphony, and the young cellist Jacqueline Choi appearing as soloist in Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1. July 22, 7 p.m., Hatch Shell at the Esplanade, 617-520-2200, www.landmarksorchestra.org
JEREMY EICHLER 
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