Live music explosion.....

We tried to figure a way to get to the Green River Festival (with a side of golf at Crumpin Fox) in Greenfield, MA with the Andersons this weekend to hear Lucinda Williams, Jimmy Vaughn, Lou Ann Barton (my fave), Eilen Jewell, Mavis Staples, etal, but it was not to be.

But there are many tasty alternatives:

Plantsville's own Sawtelles will be appearing Friday night at Jitters Coffeehouse in Plainville and on Saturday night at the Funky Monkey in Cheshire.

The 17th annual Hartford Festival of Jazz, free (Fri/Sat/Sun) at Bushnell Park. Included in the festivities is a Sunday jazz mass at Christ Church Cathedral at 10am, which reminds me of the Jazz Fest Mass this past May in New Orleans. Complete schedule

On Saturday at 6pm, the Squirrel Nut Zippers will appear as part of New Haven's Music on the Green series. Per their MySpace page, the Zips ".... feature original and founding members Katherine Whalen, Jimbo Mathis, Chris Phillips, Je Widenhouse and Stuart Cole. On tour the band will be performing material from the entire catalogue.....Since 2002, the members have kept themselves more than busy. Katherine Whalen has released several solo albums, most recently the critical favorite Dirty Little Secret. Jimbo Mathus has also released several acclaimed solo records, all while working as musical director for legendary blues musician and Grammy winner Buddy Guy. Phillips was enlisted as composer for the Comedy Central TV show Lil’ Bush and spent time touring with the Dickies. Widenhouse has performed throughout the country with his traditional jazz combo the Firecracker Jazz Band. Not to be outdone, Cole has written Dancing to Morocco, a travel guide of dark and dusty bars in Northern Africa, and has been performing extensively with Dexter Romweber. The band performed around 50 shows in 2007, and has just begun a series of summer tours. Look out for a new live record late in 2008, and a new studio record in 2009."

And there's always something tasty at the Musicians' Living Room, New Haven's Cafe Nine, where the Soul Merchants play on Friday night. According to my (MySpace) sources, the Merchants are....a mighty 8 piece band hailing from the basements of Central Connecticut. Their sound combines a love of reggae and rocksteady niceness with the respect and nod toward the infectious classic soul sounds of the 1960s. Featuring a full horn section, infectious Farfisa organ riffs, sweet vocal harmonies and a guitar lead that would make Nigel Tufnel blush. Featuring former members of Ska King Crab, Nigel Six, Johnny Too Bad and the Strikeouts, Golgo 13, Natural Funk Selection and Throwing Star of David. They slide on over to Sully's Pub in Hartford on Saturday.