Concerts of the week

The Primate Fiasco
Perform Sgt. Pepper's
Sat. Feb 16, 7 pm
Iron Horse, Northampton Mass

Down in New Orleans, the jazz bands have been doing a mash up with jazz, funk, rock and whatever for years. The young bands have always understood that the boundaries between musical genres are fragile and breakable. The Primate Fiasco are a Northeastern and white version of their funky brothers in the City that Care Forgot. Boundary breakers they are too. You might hear Satchmo or Jelly Roll, then again, it could be the doors or Sublime. If you've seen them, you'll understand. If not, their concert at the Horse on Saturday should be a convincer. Think four Liverpudlians dropping acid in Treme.

Altan
Sun. Feb. 17, 7 pm Iron Horse,
Northampton Mass

Many years ago I was writing an article about Green Linnet Records for FolkRoots magazine, and as I was leaving after a long interview with label-cofounder Wendy Newton, she handed me a white-label pressing of an LP which she insisted I had to hear. I asked who it was, and she told me Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh (if she passed through Ellis Island, we might call her Mary Mahoney) and Frankie Kennedy, who were just about to form a band called Altan. It was an earshattering experience. I loaned the LP to the late Bill Domler, who left it in his car on a hot summer's day, and well, life is ephemeral. Frankie Kennedy died 14 years ago, but his widow, Mairead, and the band keep making wondrous music.