Taj Mahal and Tosh 1 Play Nectar’s

This Sunday night, July 24, Taj Mahal is playing Nectar’s. Taj is huge and Nectar’s is small. Not small in taste or talent, mind you, but small in square footage. This is a very good thing. You will be just footsteps away from guitar greatness, rather than sniffing clouds while seated a football field away as at some arena stadium.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Adam Sandler, no it’s OperaFest. That’s right, this week at various venues around Oak Bluffs the sounds of passionately, tormented love affairs will fill the air. Note, this is not to be confused with recent events: Passionate, but illegal, sounds of tormented love affairs, the result of too much time spent at the Sand Bar.

Robert Pinsky Headlines Reading

This Thursday night at 7 p.m., under the summer tent at Featherstone Center for the Arts, fans of poetry, music, nay fans of feeling deeply the joy that art brings, are in for a treat. There is a double bill featuring poet Robert Pinsky and musician Stan Strickland.

Every Tuesday a group calling itself Grateful Dread plays at Nectar’s. The group is made up of various Island musicians, many of whom can be seen all year long playing in various other bands. But it may be tough to recognize them amidst the trappings of the Dread. They dress like rasta dudes and play a musical mash-up of reggae and Grateful Dead music. It’s not just a brilliant concept. The effect is pure Redemption Song meets Sugaree.

Getting Jazzy With Chamber Music

Sometimes chamber music is just chamber music. Actually, to describe chamber music as just anything is a grave offense. The music always has the potential to elevate the moment by stirring the mind as well as the heart. It is, at the risk of tipping the boat, a chance to sit back with Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, all the old boys, really, and ride the tempo of history. Dare you not to feel smarter and more fulfilled after a night of chamber music.

Singing for the Beauty of the World

When Melanie DeMore comes to the Island she doesn’t just perform. She gets us all to perform. No, this isn’t one of those uncomfortable moments when you attend a performance and are plucked from the crowd to go center stage. Melanie spends the week before her performance hosting singing classes around the Island. And, if so moved after attending a workshop, you are invited to display your chops at her official performance.

“Listen Local” might be the theme of the evening on Monday, July 18. That’s when Jemima James hosts her third annual Variety Show at Featherstone Center for the Arts, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The show is part of Featherstone’s Musical Mondays concert series.

The Chamber Music Society of Martha’s Vineyard is beginning their summer festival with concerts on Monday, July 11 at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown and Tuesday, July 12 at the Chilmark Community Center. Both concerts begin at 8 p.m.

Fifty years ago they rocked. Today they, well, you judge whether they still got the beat.

The Bodes are reuniting and playing the Edgartown Lighthouse from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 6.

And who are the Bodes, you ask? Four Island men who during their high school days back in the 1960’s formed a band. They are Rick Convery on drums and vocals, Charlie Leighton on bass and vocals, Jack Mayhew on guitar, and Peter Valenti on guitar and vocals.

Island Community Chorus

After a day at sea, or at least on the beach, what better way to ring in the Fourth on the Vineyard than a rousing session of sea chanties? On July 3 starting at 8 p.m. the Island Community Chorus will begin their summer concert with a round of chanties guaranteed to take you to the high seas of enjoyment. The program takes place at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs.