As spring gets ready to segue into summer, the outdoor music scene is beginning to heat up. And in the Valley, there’s no bigger outdoor music event than the Green River Festival, set to take place June 23 through 25.

Now in its 36th season, Green River has weathered some ups and downs in the last several years – from receiving national attention in 2015 in the New York Times and Rolling Stone, to having the pandemic wipe out the 2020 show – and is now settled in its new location at the Franklin County Fairgrounds, after spending years at Greenfield Community College.

Produced by Signature Sounds Presents, the festival’s 2023 edition offers its usual mix of music, from Americana to folk to indie rock, and from soul and blues to Afrobeat, with shows available on three different stages; there are 32 acts all told.

Green River’s opening day, June 23 – the music begins at 4 p.m. on the main stage – is especially designed to get people dancing. Consider Three Sacred Souls, for instance, a southern California group that mixes ’60s soul with the groove of early ’70s R&B and is led by the standout vocals of Josh Lane.

Or consider the more driving soul and funk sound of St. Paul & the Broken Bones, an eight-piece ensemble from the South that’s shared stages with Elton John, The Rolling Stones and other major names. Then there’s LPT, a 10-piece orchestra that delivers high-energy salsa music.

Shows on June 24 are more mixed, from the New Orleans-style jazz of the Soggy Po Boys, to the Americana/folk rock sound of Eileen Jewel and The Felice Brothers, to the mix of rock, folk, funk and soul offered by Sammy Rae & The Friends.

The festival wraps up June 25 with a closing show by the venerable country rockers Little Feat, while Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen will bring more New Orleans jazz and blues flavor to the stage.

Green River, as in past years, will also have plenty of slots for regional musical heroes to shine, from Kimaya Diggs to Winterpills to High Tea.

Tickets for all three days of the 2023 festival were still available as of press time, though you won’t want to wait much longer if you’re thinking of going, as Green River typically sells out every year.

You could also consider attending a warm-up of sorts for the festival June 22 at the Pines Theater at Northampton’s Look Park, when Signature Sounds and DSP Shows bring in singer-songwriter, rapper and activist Michael Franti, one of the headliners at Green River in 2018.

Tank and the Bangas will open the Pines Theater show, which begins at 7 p.m.

 

It hasn’t been running as long as Green River, but Django in June has also become a Valley institution in the last 20 years: an intensive music camp held at Smith College in mid-June for jazz manouche players, followed by concerts by some of the crack musicians who lead the workshops.

Last summer, the music camp returned after being shut down by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, though fewer European players were on the roster because of lingering pandemic-related problems affecting transatlantic travel.

This year, though, brings two top ensembles from France who play the swinging jazz that the great French guitarist Django Reinhardt first popularized in the 1930s.

On June 16 at Northampton’s Academy of Music, the Romain Vuillemin Quartet will headline a show that begins at 7:30 p.m. Festival founder Andrew Lawrence notes that Vullemin first came to Django in June in 2007 as a rhythm guitarist in another ensemble, then formed his own group four years later and “has been rocking the clubs of Paris and beyond ever since.”

The New Orleans-based swing ensemble Russell Welch and Dr. Sick, which includes Welch on fiddle and vocals, opens the show.

And on June 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy, the Paris-based Génération Django will headline the evening; it’s a larger ensemble with multiple guitarists and string players who offer a more modern take on the traditional gypsy jazz repertoire.

American guitarist Jonathan Stout and his ensemble open the show.

 

The Northampton Jazz Festival isn’t set to take place until late September, but there’s a warm-up event next week to get audience members in the mood.

At 7 p.m. on June 15, the Northampton Center for the Arts will screen “Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes,” a new documentary on the legendary percussionist that explores his musical career, his support for the civil rights movement, and his years teaching at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The documentary, produced and directed by Sam Pollard and Ben Shapiro, follows Roach’s evolution from the revolutionary jazz of the 1940s to the civil rights era, followed by his later experiments with solo drumming, hip hop, and multi-media works.

The film also features interviews and appearances by numerous other jazz artists, including Sonny Rollins, Quincy Jones, Abbey Lincoln and Harry Belafonte.

Pollard, whose film work includes directing, editing, producing and screenwriting, will host a Q&A after the film with Tom Reney, host of NEPM’s “Jazz a la Mode.”

Tickets are $15 in advance (plus online fees) or $20 at the door. For more information, visit northamptonjazzfest.org/jazz-film-night or facebook.com/northamptonjazzfest. You can also email info@northamptonjazzfest.org.

More music on tap

Guitarist and expansive singer Chris Goudreau will celebrate the debut of his album “Apocalyptic Love Songs” at Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield June 9 (tonight, Friday) at 8 p.m., and he’ll be joined by Anni Abigail, The Leafies You Gave Me, and Aaron Noble & The Clones.

Veteran guitarist and singer-songwriter June Millington, who runs The Institute for the Musical Arts (IMA) in Goshen, will be joined by musical friends at The Drake in Amherst June 10 at 8 p.m. The gig comes on the heels of the documentary, “Fanny: The Right to Rock,” about the seminal all-women rock band Millington was part of in the early 1970s.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier will play The Parlor Room in Northampton June 10 at 7:30 p.m.

More music at the Pines Theater: Blues legend Buddy Guy comes to Look Park June 13 at 7 p.m. as part of his year-long farewell tour, and a who’s-who of 1990s bands — Gin Blossoms, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Juliana Hatfield, and more — will play a benefit show June 17 at 1 p.m. for One Roof Concerts for the Homeless.

The Young@Heart Chorus will play a free show June 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Florence Civic Center as part of the Florence Summer Concert Series.

As part of the Queer/Trans Valley Emergence Series, singer-songwriters Stefan Alexander, Zoe Lemos, and Lou Marie will perform a special Pride show at The Drake June 21 at 8 p.m.

Steve Pfarrer can be reached at spfarrer@gazettenet.com.

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