Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival

The 4th annual Riverfront Jazz Fest is upon us, and what a lineup we see! The schedule of music goes like this: At noon, it’s local heroes the Brian Patneaude Quintet (Patneaude has been at the top of area Best Of lists for years now); at 1 PM, check out the J Street Jumpers, a jump blues band who combine “the swing of Count Basie, the beat of Buddy Johnson, the New Orleans lilt of Fats Domino, and the passion of Dinah Washington.”

Then come the stars: At 2:15 PM, the legendary saxophonist David “Fathead” Newman will take the stage (Newman also just came out with a CD called I Remember Brother Ray, a tribute to his friend Ray Charles); at 3:45, Grammy-award nominated Kurt Elling will do his scat-vocalese thing; and at 5:15 PM, Tony Award- and Grammy Award-winner Dee Dee Bridgewater (pictured)—whose new album, J’ai Deux Amours, arrives in stores Tuesday—will round out the day.

Beyond music, the fest will include food and beverages and children’s activities like face painting, a balloon artist and crafts.

The 4th Annual Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival will take place on Saturday (Sept. 10) at the Albany Riverfront Park at the Corning Preserve, Albany, from noon until 6:30 PM. The event is free. For more information, call 434-2032 or visit www.albanyevents.org.

Women’s Work

A new exhibit to celebrate more than half the population (read: women) will open this weekend at Time and Space Limited in Hudson. TSL cofounder Linda Mussman has curated this show to serve as a reminder to the public that women’s rights and equality are not dead issues; as the TSL exhibition statement points out, women still are the minority when it comes to running the government, and still do not receive equal pay for equal work. The show will include works like quilts, notebooks, diaries, dolls, photographs, paintings, installations and more; artists include Mussman and cofounding partner Claudia Bruce, Nora Adelman, Kim Barke, Emma Bardes, Dina Bursztyn (whose Totem to Ward Off Homophobia is pictured), Jane Gennero, Barbars Slate Comics and many more.

The opening reception for Women’s Work will be Saturday (Sept. 10) from 6 to 8 PM at Time and Space Limited (434 Columbia St., Hudson). The show will continue through Oct. 9. For more information, call 822-8448.

 

Sherlock Holmes and the West End Horror

In Sherlock Holmes and the West End Horror, everyone’s favorite deerstalker-bedecked detective is on the trail of the killer of a theater critic. OK, now it’s the cynics turn to quip away: “Why bother?” they might ask sarcastically. “What, to congratulate him?” they might quip. “Encore,” they might jibe.

Ladies and gentlemen, please. Critics are people, too—and some of our best friends are critics, so we’re almost 100 percent certain about that. But if by some cruel twist of character you’re less than enthusiastic about seeing a criticidal maniac brought to justice, there are other things to commend Albany Civic Theater’s current production: In the course of his investigation, Holmes (and, of course, Watson) encounter a number of 19th-century London’s theatrical/literary luminaries: George Bernard Shaw, Gilbert and Sullivan, Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker among them.

Albany Civic Theater (235 Second Ave., Albany) presents Sherlock Holmes and the West End Horror beginning tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 9), and running through Sept. 25. Tickets are $12. For more information, call 462-1297.