Pictured is Roberts’ After Dark (2007).

Loop Sanctuary IV: Dreaming a New Real opens tomorrow (Friday, Jan. 4) at the Chapel + Cultural Center (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus, 2125 Burdett Ave., Troy) with an artists’ reception from 5 to 7 PM, and continues through Jan. 25. Other events associated with the exhibit include an evening of film and video on Jan. 11; a performance by the Firlefanz Puppets on Jan. 18; and an evening of music and video with the Beige Channel, Twisted Pair and the Axe Iron Suns on Jan. 25. All events are free and open to the public. For more info, call 274-7793.

Gershwin Legacy: Richard Glazer

This Gershwin Legacy series is a pretty fine thing they’re doing at the Egg this month. In a couple of weeks there will be concerts by the Marcus Roberts Trio with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Frank Vignola Quintet with Jane Monheit, and the duo Bill Charlap and Sandy Stewart. But the Empire State Plaza will not be the only location for the kick-off events for this celebration of all things Gershwin.

Pianist and historian Richard Glazier will present Remembrance & Discovery, a combination lecture, performance and multimedia presentation nine times in nine locations over six days. Briefly, he will “weave together history, film clips and music as he explores the Gershwin legacy from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway, to Carnegie Hall and Hollywood.”

And every presentation is free.

Saturday (Jan. 5), Glazer will be at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library (371-8622) at 1 PM, and at Conkling Hall in Rensselaerville (797-3459) at 4:30 PM. Sunday (Jan. 6), he will be at the Schenectady Public Library main branch at 1:30 PM (388-4500), and the Guilderland Public Library (456-2400) at 3:30 PM. On Monday (Jan. 7), he will be at the Charles R. Wood Theater in Glens Falls (792-6508) at 7 PM. On Tuesday (Jan. 8), he’ll be at the Albany Public Library main branch (427-4300) at noon, and the Saratoga Springs Public Library (584-7860) at 7 PM. On Wednesday (Jan. 9), he’ll be at the Egg (473-1845) at noon and 5:30 PM. And on Jan. 10, he’ll be at the Schenectady Jewish Community Center (377-8803) at 5:30 PM. For more info on the series, visit www.theegg.org.

Nellie McKay

Nellie McKay certainly isn’t afraid to go her own way. She sings whatever she wants, “from Tin Pan Alley pop and cabaret, to reggae, rap and jazz” and gets lauded for it. She plays not-so-sweet Polly Peachum in a Broadway revival of The Threepenny Opera, and critics swoon. She has a fight with her label over Pretty Little Head, her second album—like her debut, Get Away From Me, she wanted it to be a double-disc release—and walks away, seemingly unscathed.

Her third album, Obligatory Villagers, released a couple of months ago on her own label, is only 32 minutes long; if you listen hard you can hear, in some far off corporate closet, a Sony BMG executive softly weeping.

In other words, McKay is an interesting character. And she’ll try to prove it this weekend in a two-night stand at Club Helsinki.

Nellie McKay will perform tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday (Jan. 4-5) at 9 PM at Club Helsinki (284 Main St., Great Barrington, Mass.). Tickets are $30. For more info, call (413) 528-3394.