Compiled by Arts Fuse Editor

Our expert critics supply a guide to film, visual art, theater, author readings, television, and music. More offerings will be added as they come in.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Boston area theaters have decided to pretty much ignore what is happening in America and beyond — mounting threats to democracy, the slide toward authoritarianism, the climate crisis, growing economic inequality, ICE’s savage round-up of immigrants, the expansion of internment camps, ongoing genocide in Gaza, transphobia, the grueling war in Ukraine, etc. I have decided in Coming Attractions to point out a production, staged in America or elsewhere, that grapples with today’s alarming realities. Sometimes the stagings will be available via Zoom, sometimes not. It is important to present evidence that theater artists are reflecting, and reflecting on, the world around us.

This event, a call for political engagement, took place on January 31, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the steps of The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St., in NYC. It is such a good idea, one that could be duplicated by arts organizations and companies in Boston and elsewhere, that I wanted to highlight it.

THE PEOPLE’S FILIBUSTER

“We stand in solidarity with our neighbors in Minnesota and across the country who are angry and grieving, protesting state-sanctioned violence and abuses of power, and organizing for the safety, dignity, and human rights of all. In this moment of crisis, our intention is to create a collective interruption that invites reflection, accountability, and recommitment to the values we claim as a nation, protesting and contrasting the abhorrent violence and abuses we are witnessing all around us.

Join The Public Theater along with artists, elected officials, and community leaders, as we read seminal texts from the founding of our nation alongside writings and songs that articulate our shared ideals and democratic aspirations, not as history alone, but as a living call to action.

Artists have always been among the first to name the unspoken, to hear the unheard, and to imagine a more just world. In this moment of crisis, our intention is to create a collective interruption that invites reflection, accountability, and recommitment to the values we claim as a nation, protesting and contrasting the abhorrent violence and abuses we are witnessing all around us.”

— Bill Marx

Film

A scene from The Things We Kill at the Boston Festival of Films from Iran. Photo: MFABoston

Boston Festival of Films from Iran
Though February 22
Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Some of the best global cinema comes from Iran. All titles are linked to descriptions. Arts Fuse review

Cutting Through Rocks
February 1 at 2 p.m.

The Things You Kill
February 5 at 7 p.m.

Black Rabbit, White Rabbit
February 6 at 7 p.m.

The Great Yawn of History
February 7 at 2:30 p.m.

Taste of Cherry
February 8 at 2 p.m.

It Was Just an Accident
February 22, 2026 at 2 p.m.

Some of The Best of 2025
February 1 – 5
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge

In their annual series, the theater provides the opportunity to cath some of last year’s best films. Complete Schedule and Times.

February 1: Eephus, Friendship, Splitsville

February 2: Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, Train Dreams

February 3: The History of Sound, Peter Hujar’s Day

February 4: Caught by the Tides, An Unfinished Film

February 5: Wake Up Deadman. The Mastermind

Opposites Attract
February 2 through 24
Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline

For Valentines month, the theater presents a series of stories about misfit romance:

My Man Godfrey; Woman of the Year; When Harry Met Sally ;What’s Up Doc ; 10 Things I hate About You. Complete Schedule of Dates and Showtimes

A scene from Lav Diaz’s Magellan.

Magellan
February 6 – 12
Brattle Theater

It is the 16th century. Magellan (Gael García Bernal) the young and ambitious Portuguese navigator, rebels against the power of the King, who doesn’t support his dream of discovering the world. He persuades the Spanish Crown to fund his bold expedition to the fabled lands of the East. The voyage is exhausting beyond expectations, with hunger and mutiny pushing the crew members to their limits. Upon reaching the islands of the Malayan Archipelago, Magellan’s mind become unhinged. He becomes obsessed with conquest and conversion, which sparks violent uprisings beyond his control. This is not the popular myth of Magellan, but the truth of his journey in a vast, globe-spanning epic from Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz (Norte, The End Of History). The colonization of the Philippines is seen as a primal, shocking encounter with the unknown, a radical retelling of European narratives of discovery and exploration.

Belmont World Film’s 23rd Family Festival
February 7 at 1 p.m.
Regent Theater, Arlington

Parents with children ages 3–12 won’t want to miss a diverse selection of 4 films from around the world that offer young audiences an immersive and culturally rich cinematic experience.

For young readers and those who struggle with reading, a professional voice-over will read subtitles aloud for films in languages other than English, creating an experience much like story time. Trailer

Partner (1968)
February 7 at 9:00 p.m. and February 22 at 3 p.m.
Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge

Partner is the least often seen of the films from this Bernardo Bertolucci retrospective. Made when he was only 27 with a screenplay by Bertolucci and Gianni Amico, it is freely inspired by Dostoyevsky’s short novel, The Double, about an ineffectual young man who is taken over—and ultimately driven to madness—by his alter ego, who seems to be able to do all the things that he cannot. Other films in the retrospective include Spider’s Stratagem, The Conformist, and The Sheltering Sky. This is part of a larger retrospective linked below. Complete Schedule to the Bertolucci, Antonioni, Olmi Retrospective

Parsley
February 6 -10
Somerville Theatre in Davis Square

From 2022 comes Jose Maria Cabral’s historical drama about the 1937 ‘Parsley massacre’ in the Dominican Republic. This is a well-mounted but harrowing picture of an atrocity. Cabral has spoken explicitly about the decision to tell this particular story as a way of drawing attention to an often-overlooked historical event and highlighting contemporary Dominican-Haitian relations.

Pick of the Week

The Black Power Mixtape, streaming on Amazon Prime

A scene from The Black Power Mixtape.

Welcome Black History Month by watching this informative, entertaining, and critically acclaimed documentary from 2011. From 1967 through 1975, Swedish journalists came to the United States to document the anti-war and Black Power movements of the late ’60s and early ’70s. The Black Power Mixtape draws on original 16mm footage and contemporary audio interviews with leading African American artists, activists, musicians, and scholars. The presence of voices and interviews with icons of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements make this doc more than just an exercise in historical preservation. There are reminisces, exclamations, and jottings of music from moments past and present featuring such Black artists as Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, Kathleen Cleaver, and Harry Belafonte as well as Melvin Van Peebles, Talib Kweli, Erykah Badu, and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.

The passion of these voices should embolden our current political moment. Arts Fuse review

— Tim Jackson

Theater

The Moderate by Ken Urban. Directed by Jared Mezzocchi. A Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production at the Central Square Theatre, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge,  February 5 through March 1.

The grueling job of being a content moderator for a soulless social media company inspired the drama Job (running at the SpeakEasy Stage Company) and this world premiere play by Drama Desk Award-winning dramatist Urban. The plot: “Estranged from his wife and son during the pandemic lockdown, Frank accepts a job as a content moderator for the world’s largest social media company. As he evaluates a never-ending stream of questionable content, the work takes an emotional and psychological toll. However, everything changes when Frank sees an opportunity to help a stranger and save himself in the process.” Note: “The play contains mature themes including images, video, and audio depictions of violence, nudity, and racism.”

Little Women by Kate Hamill. Based on the Novel by Louisa May Alcott. Directed by Shana Gozansky. Staged by the Actors’ Shakespeare Project at the Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St.,Watertown, February 5 through March 1.

Another go round for the Alcott classic: “In the Victorian-era idylls of Concord, Jo March is anything but your classic Victorian heroine. Ambitious and headstrong, her dreams of being a novelist press against the starchy boundaries of societal expectations. But while her country comes of age as the Civil War rages, Jo and her sisters must also come of age – negotiating gender roles, politics, and romance as they define womanhood on their own terms.”

A scene in the SpeakEasy Stage production of Job, starring Dennis Trainor Jr. and Josephine Moshiri Elwood. Photo: Benjamin Rose Photography

Job by Max Wolf Friedlich. Directed by Marianna Bassham. Staged by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, through February 7.

According to the SpeakEasy Stage Company’s website, this “Broadway thriller” tells “the story of Jane, an employee of a big tech company who has been placed on leave after becoming the subject of a viral video. As the play begins, Jane arrives at the office of a crisis therapist, Loyd, determined to be reinstated to the job that gives her life meaning. The session quickly spirals, however, offering a probing look at power, politics, and mental health in an age where identity is performative and everything is on the record.” The cast for this two-hander is Josephine Moshiri Elwood and Dennis Trainor Jr. Arts Fuse review

Penelope, based on writings in The Odyssey by Homer. Book, Music, Lyrics, and Arrangements by Alex Bechtel. Book by Grace McLean and Eva Steinmetz. Directed by Courtney O’Connor. Staged by Lyric Stage Company, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, February 6 through March 1.

A one-woman musical version of the Odyssey — reflecting Penelope’s point of view. The plot: “A generous glass of bourbon, a five-piece band, and ninety minutes is all Penelope needs to tell her side of the story as she embraces her heartache, loneliness, and resolve during the wait for her husband Odysseus to return from a seemingly endless war. Her son has disappeared. Relentless suitors prance before her. Days drone on as she is left to wonder who she is if she is alone. From jazz to folk to indie rock, Penelope dishes the dirt …” Starring Aimee Doherty.

The Roommate by Jen Silverman. Directed by Curt Columbus. Staged by Trinity Repertory Company in the Dowling Theater, Lederer Theater Center, 201 Washington Street, Providence, R.I.,  through March 19.

Here is the Wikipedia summary of this 2015 script: “Sharon is recently divorced and lives in Iowa and invites Robyn, relocating from New York City, to be her roommate. As the two get to know each other better, secrets are revealed and they learn more about themselves in the process.” This will be the final show Curt Columbus directs at Trinity Rep’s Lederer Theater Center as the company’s Artistic Director.

Nathan Salstone, Garrett McNally, and members of the A.R.T. cast of Wonder. Photo: Hawver and Hall

Wonder Music and Lyrics by A Great Big World (Ian Axel & Chad King). Book by Sarah Ruhl. Music Supervision by Nadia DiGiallonardo. Choreography by Katie Spelman. Directed by Taibi Magar. Based on the novel Wonder by R.J. Palacio and the Lionsgate and Mandeville film Wonder. Staged by the American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge, through February 15.

The American Repertory Theater website on this world premiere production: “Based on R.J. Palacio’s novel and Lionsgate & Mandeville Films’ hit feature film, this uplifting new musical follows the Pullman family as they navigate change, identity, and what it means to belong. Auggie Pullman has been homeschooled his entire life, often retreating to outer space in his imagination. But when his family decides it’s time for him to start going to school, Auggie must take off the space helmet he has used to hide his facial difference. As Auggie navigates a world filled with kindness and cruelty, his parents and sister go on their own journeys of transformation and discovery. Featuring a driving, pop-inspired score, Wonder celebrates empathy, resilience, and the power of choosing kindness.” Arts Fuse review

Small Mouth Sounds by Beth Wohl. Directed by Tanya Martin. Staged by the Wilbury Theatre Group at the WaterFire Arts Center, 475 Valley Street, Providence, Rhode Island, through February 15.

The Rhode Island premiere of this critically-admired script. According to the WTG website: “In the overwhelming quiet of the woods, six runaways from city life embark on a silent retreat. As these strangers confront internal demons both profound and absurd, their vows of silence collide with the achingly human need to connect.” Here is my mixed-to-negative review of the 2019 production of the play at Boston’s SpeakEasy Stage Company.

The cast of the Huntington Theatre Company production of We Had a World. L to R: Will Conard, Amy Resnick, and Eva Kaminsky. Photo: Nile Hawver

We Had a World by Joshua Harmon. Directed by Keira Fromm.  Staged by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, February 12 through March 15

This script by the author of Prayer for the French Republic  was inspired by “thirty years of family fights, monstrous behavior, enduring love, and unexpected dishes of home-cooked spaetzle.” More about the inspiration for the drama on the HTC website: “A dying woman calls her grandson and asks him to write a play about their family. ‘But I want you to promise me something,’  she says. ‘Make it as bitter and vitriolic as possible.’”

— Bill Marx

Visual Art

The expatriate artists’ community in Rome, vividly described in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1860 romance, The Marble Faun, is an important but largely forgotten early chapter in American art.  The American artists of Rome were attracted to the Eternal City by its rich history, abundant classical art, famous monuments, cosmopolitan inhabitants, and low cost of living—according to Hawthorne, artists were able to rent vast studios in the former palaces of Italian nobility. Living a Bohemian life in Rome, these Americans abroad sent most of their highly fashionable Neoclassical works back to the United States, for exhibition and sale to wealthy American patrons, who devoted entire rooms in their homes to displaying them.

One of the most important artists in this unusual American community was the sculptor Edmonia Lewis (Ojibwe name “Wildfire”), born near Albany, a woman of mixed African and indigenous descent and the first professional African-American artist of either gender to achieve international fame. Both the beginning and end of her life are mysterious. Two African-American men named Lewis have been described as her father, she gave at least three different years for her birth, and her last years are largely unknown, and theories about the place of her death have included Rome, London, and Marin County, California. Her recently restored grave is in St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Cemetery, London.

Facing serious prejudice and persecution at home, despite her success as a sculptor, Lewis moved to Rome in 1866, partly “to find a social atmosphere where I was not constantly reminded of my color. The land of liberty had no room for a colored sculptor.” At the peak of her success, near the time of the Civil War, Lewis received lucrative commissions and sculpted portraits of prominent abolitionists. By the time of her death, Neoclassical work was so deeply out of fashion that Lewis was herself well on her way to being entirely forgotten.

Edmonia Lewis, Hagar, 1875. Carved marble. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Photo: courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum

Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone, opening at Salem’s Peabody Essex Museum on February 14, is the first-ever retrospective exhibition of Lewis’ work. It arrives after a long, slow process of reconstructing her career and tracking down and restoring her major works, many of which had been “misplaced” and sometimes vandalized  in lonely warehouses and private collections. Other documented pieces are still missing.

The white marble Neoclassical style of the early 19th century, born when Americans were enamored with their political origins in democratic Greece and republican Rome, has never really come back into fashion. Its melodramatic ethos and tendency to dress prominent Americans, including George Washington, as Greek gods, makes it seem dated and peculiar to contemporary American audiences, perhaps a formidable barrier to appreciating Lewis’ work. The PEM show will be, among other things, an interesting test case in resuscitating a lost reputation.

Rina Banerjee, Take me, take me, take me . . . to the Palace of love, 2003, plastic, antique Anglo-Indian Bombay dark wood chair, steel and copper framework, floral picks, foam balls, cowrie shells, quilting pins, red colored moss, antique stone globe, glass, synthetic fabric, shells, fake birds. Photo: courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia.

The Yale Center for British Art opens Rina Banerjee: Take me, take me, take me… to the Palace of Love on February 7. Banergee’s point of reference is the Taj Mahal (actually a tomb, not a palace) but in place of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, she uses a steel and copper frame wrapped in transparent pink cellophane. The construction is suspended over the floor of a vast space containing relics of the British Raj colonialism, including an antique Anglo-Indian chair and a chandelier composed of pink foam balls, plastic beads, other synthetic materials, and fake birds.

Born in 1963, Banerjee graduated from the Yale School of Art in 1995. The Center acquired her fantasy installation in 2023. This will be its first its first exhibition at the museum.

When the Center for British Art opened fifty years ago, much of its collection consisted of classic 18th- and 19th-century painting and works on paper assembled by its founder, Paul Mellon. But, unlike others who created personal museums, Mellon also made plans for the collection to grow and evolve after he left its care to Yale. Drawn from the Center’s permanent collection, Going Modern, British Art, 1900-1960, opening February 12, shows some of the results of this foresight. The show focuses on one of the most eventful periods of British history, and features work by such prominent 20th-century artists as Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Lucien Freud, and Francis Bacon.

Yinka Shonibare, CBE, Sanctuary City, 2024. An installation of 18 miniature buildings. Photo: courtesy of Rose Art Museum

The Nigerian-British artist Yinka Shonibare was born in London in 1962. His work embraces many of the contemporary global art world’s preoccupations: colonial history, ethnic identity, migration, and “cultural hybridity.” His exhibition, Yinka Shonibare: Sanctuary, opening February 11 at Brandeis University’s Rose Art Museum, features the U.S. premiere of his ambitious installation, Sanctuary City. Consisting of 18 miniature buildings, painted textiles, and LED lights, the work “reflects,” the museum says, “on the fragility of protection in a time of global displacement, rising nationalism, and humanitarian crisis.”

Richard Yarde, The Parlor, 1980, watercolor on paper. Photo: Laura Shea

Established almost as long as the Center for British Art, the African American Master Artists-in-Residence Program (AAMARP) at Northeastern University is one of the few long-running residency programs for African-American artists in the United States. The program has encouraged a highly diverse range of exhibitions, poetry readings, dance performances, lectures, films, workshops, and public gatherings. Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now, opening at the ICA on February 12, is a chronological survey of AAMARP-affiliated artists over the last five decades. The exhibition, says the museum, “illuminates a living archive of creative resistance, cultural memory, and Black artistic excellence.”

Opening February 7 in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States, the Farnsworth Art Museum’s Maine: A Force Within American Art (1890-2026) “asserts Maine’s enduring imprint on American Art.” Organized chronologically, the exhibition begins with radical early 20th-century innovators who loved and worked in Maine— Marsden Hartley, John Marin, and Charles Demuth— and extends to the present, when numerous galleries show the work of Maine-inspired artists on the main streets of Rockland, just outside the museum.

— Peter Walsh

Classical Music

Soprano Axelle Fanyo will be performing at Pickman Hall in Cambridge this week. Photo: Mademoiselle Kriss

Axelle Fanyo in recital
Presented by Vivo Performing Arts
February 3, 7:30 p.m.
Pickman Hall, Cambridge

The French soprano makes her VPA debut in a program of songs by Vaughan Williams, Ravel, Bolcom, and Messiaen. She’s accompanied by the excellent pianist Julius Drake.

Anna Handler conducts Smith, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky
Presented by Boston Symphony Orchestra
February 5 at 7:30 p.m., 6 at 1:30 p.m., and 7 at 2 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

BSO assistant conductor Anna Handler leads a program of favorites by Mozart (the Sinfonia concertante, with soloists Nathan Cole and Steven Ansell) and Tchaikovsky (the Suite from Swan Lake), plus Gabriella Smith’s Bioluminescence Chaconne.

Les Noces
Presented by Cantata Singers
February 7, 7 p.m.
Houghton Memorial Chapel, Wellesley

Noah Horn and the Cantata Singers give a rare performance of Stravinsky’s wedding cantata, in which they’re joined by The Percussion Collective. Additional selections by Garth Neustadter fill out the program.

Iván Fischer conducting the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Photo: courtesy of Vivo Performing Arts

Budapest Festival Orchestra
Presented by Vivo Performing Arts
February 10, 7:30 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

Iván Fischer and the BFO come to Boston to perform Mahler’s gargantuan Symphony No. 3. They’re joined by the Boston Lyric Opera Chorus, Boys of St. Paul’s Choir School, and mezzo-soprano Gerhild Romberger.

Salonen conducts Salonen
Presented by Boston Symphony Orchestra
February 12 at 7:30 p.m., 13 at 1:30 p.m., and 14 at 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to Symphony Hall for the first time since 2012 to lead the local premiere of his Horn Concerto, featuring soloist Stefan Dohr. The new piece is framed by Luciano Berio’s riotous arrangement of Luigi Boccherini’s Ritirata notturna di Madrid and Bruckner’s magisterial Symphony No. 4.

Pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout will perform with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. Photo: harmonia mundi

Bezuidenhout plays Mozart
Presented by Boston Philharmonic Orchestra
February 13, 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

Keyboardist Kristian Bezuidenhout joins the BPO for a performance of Mozart’s stormy Piano Concerto No. 20. For the night’s second half, Benjamin Zander conducts one of his specialities, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7.

In the Fiddler’s House
Presented by Vivo Performing Arts
February 15, 7 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

Itzhak Perlman and Friends marks the 30^th anniversary of the Emmy-winning PBS special, In the Fiddler’s House, with a night of klezmer music at Symphony Hall.

— Jonathan Blumhofer

The Semiosis Quarter in action. Photo: Jeremy Flower

Semiosis Quartet + Rane Moore
February 8 at 7 p.m.
Gallery 263, Cambridge, Mass.

The ever-adventurous Semiosis Quartet (specializing in the work of living composers and, sometimes, the recently dead) in their previous outing took on Lee Hyla’s epic setting of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” — to stunning effect. For this show they are joined by clarinetist Rane Moore for pieces by Juri Seo, Emma O’Halloran, John Zorn, and Matthew Jaskot.

— Jon Garelick

Jazz

Vocalist Gregory Porter will perform at the Groton Music Center this week. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Gregory Porter
February 4 at 8 p.m.
Groton Music Center, Groton, Mass.

The wonderous baritone plies his gospel-inflected jazz singing with side-roads into Nat “King” Cole and some tasty original songwriting.

Ian Coury & Catherine Bent
February 5 at 6 p.m.
Long Live Roxbury Brewery & Taproom, Boston
FREE

The young Brasilia-born 10-string bandolim virtuoso Ian Coury and the distinguished genre-crossing cellist Catherine Bent continue their ongoing exploration of the Brazilian choro tradition in the free Thursday-night series at the Long Live Roxbury Brewery.

Tim Ray Trio + Edmar Colon
February 6 at 7 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston

Pianist and composer Tim Ray has been cherished by Boston jazz fans since way before he nabbed his longtime gig as Tony Bennett’s pianist and musical director (among many other high-profile sideman gigs over the years). We assume he’ll be playing a lot of his own music in this show with bassist John Lockwood, drummer Mark Walker, and the exciting young saxophonist Edmar Colón.

Alex Minasian Quartet feat. Eric Alexander
February 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge, Mass.

Recorded output by the pianist Alex Minasian is hard to come by, but his CV includes performing with singer Little Jimmy Scott and his band the Jazz Expressions as well as being musical director for singer Mark Murphy. He comes to the Regattabar with saxophonist Eric Alexander, bassist Vince Dupont, and drummer Jonathan Barber.

Singer, guitarist, and composer Teresa Inês. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Teresa Inês Quartet
February 6 at 8 p.m.
Mee & Thee Music, Marblehead, Mass.

The accomplished singer, guitarist, and composer Teresa Inês’s emotionally direct, unaffected vocals are of a piece with her personal conception of Brazilian jazz. She leads a superb band in Marblehead, all experts in the genre: flutist Fernando Brandão, pianist Maxim Lubarsky, bassist Fernando Huergo, and drummer Steve Langone.;

Dianne Reeves
February 6 at 8 p.m.
Berklee Performance Center

The commanding vocalist Dianne Reeves returns to Boston with a band that includes pianist John Beasley, guitarist Romero Lubambo, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Terreon Gully.

Aaron Parks Trio
February 7 at p.m. and 9 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge, Mass.

Before embarking on his ticklishly exciting jazz-rock, etc., Little Big project, pianist Aaron Parks made an acoustic trio album for ECM with bassist Ben Street and drummer Billy Hart. Last year the trio released the sublimely satisfying By All Means (Blue Note) with the addition of tenor saxophonist Ben Solomon. This R-bar gig is Parks, Street, and Hart. As of this writing, the first show was sold out.

Jeremy Pelt
February 7 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston

Accomplished post-bop trumpeter Jeremy Pelt comes to Scullers with a stellar band: pianist Orrin Evans, venerable bass master Buster Williams, and drummer Lenny White.

Singer and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello. Photo: Charlie Gross

Meshell Ndegeocello
February 7 at 8 p.m.
Berklee Performance Center, Boston

By this point, says Meshell Ndegeocello, she expected to be done with the music from her extraordinary 2024 album No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin. But, clearly, the need is still there. She gives Boston audiences another shot at a live performance of that material with band members Christopher Bruce (guitars), Jake Sherman (organ), and Justin Hicks (vocals), and Ndegeocello playing bass and singing.

Point 01 Percent
February 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Lilypad, Cambridge, Mass.

Can’t beat the mix-and-match lineup from the Point 01 Percent crew. For the first set (7:30) the exciting saxophonist and composer Anna Webber joins Point 01 organizers Jorrit Dijkstra (alto sax) and Pandelis Karayorgis (piano) with drummer Noah Marks. At 8:30 it will be Stephen Haynes (trumpet/cornet), Steve Lantner (piano), Jerome Deupree drums, and Joe Morris playing bass, something he does as often these days as playing guitar.

The fusiony/proggy trio Amphitro. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Amphitrio
February 10 at 11 p.m.
Lilypad, Cambridge, Mass.

In what’s billed as its “US debut,”Amphitrio, from Bucharest, hit the Lily. Their kinetic fusiony/proggy trio is led by pianist and composer Andrei Petrache, with bassist Mike Alex and percussionist Philip Goron. The band describes their music as a combination of “Nordic lyricism, Balkan rhythms, and modern jazz forms, enriched by subtle electronic textures.” Say what you will, they’ve got the skills.

Felipe Salles Quartet
February 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Peabody Hall, Parish of All Saints, Dorchester, Mass.

Last year’s Camera Obscura, from the Sāo Paulo-born saxophonist/flutist and composer Felipe Salles combined surface beauty with deep undercurrents that unfolded in flowing musical narratives. The longtime UMass Amherst professor will play music from that album with a quartet that includes pianist Nando Michelin, bassist Keala Kaumeheiwa, and drummer Bertrem Lehmann. This Dot Jazz Series concert is co-produced by Mandorla Music and Greater Ashmont Main Street.

Hellbender + Agent Lockhart
February 12 at 8 p.m.
Lizard Lounge, Cambridge, Mass.

Saxophonist and composer Jared Sims juggles several projects and styles. Last year he released a duet record with his mentor Ran Blake, which leaned the Blakean noirish-jazz way. He also has a fine Latin jazz band. Hellbender he describes, in part, as “the raw electricity of classic fusion records like Bitches Brew,” channeling “that brand of chaos through a sharper, more intentional compositional lens.” The conservatory-trained players in the band include guitarist Andrew Stern, keyboardist James Rohr, bassist Marc Friedman, and drummer Randy Wooten. Guitarist Jeffrey Lockhart, who opens with his band Agent Lockhart, will probably also be joining Hellbender for a number or two.

Guitarist and composer Stephane Wrembel in performance. Photo: Casey Ryan Vock

Stephane Wrembel’s Django New Orleans
February 13 at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge, Mass.

Guitarist and composer Stephane Wrembel has been expanding on the Roma jazz tradition of Django Rheinhardt and the Hot Club of France for decades, with stunning success — using Hot Clulb’s core instrumentation and special approach to swing while stretching the form and content. His latest foray into a fusion of the “Manouche” and New Orleans traditions, Django New Orleans II: Hors Série, offers yet new variations on the theme, with pieces by Jobim, Astor Piazzolla, and Serge Gainsbourg part of a mix that also includes sharp Wrembel originals. Joining fleet-fingered guitarist Wremble are several of the players from the album, including guitarist Josh Kaye, violinist Adrien Chevalier, tubist Steven Duffy, reedman Nick Driscoll, trumpeter Joe Boga, drummer Scott Kettner, and singer Sarah King.

— Jon Garelick

Roots and World Music

Marley Legacy Experience (Hurricane Melissa Relief Event)
Feb. 6, Warehouse IX, Somerville
10 Ft. Ganja Plant Presents: Unified with Jamaica
Feb. 10, The Sinclair, Cambridge

Jamaica is still in great need after the devastation of Hurricane Melissa last fall, and Boston’s reggae and Caribbean music community continues to hear the call. First up is a tribute to Bob Marley’s musical legacy during his birth month by the Riddem4Relief collective. Four nights later the extraordinary dub collective 10 Ft. Ganja Plant make a rare hometown appearance along with Flying Vipers and a surprise guest act.

Saha Gnawa will perform at the Crystal Ballroom at the Somerville Theatre. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Saha Gnawa
Feb. 7
Crystal Ballroom at the Somerville Theatre

Music fans with good memories might recall that, back in 2107, a fantastic traditional Moroccan music outfit called Innov Gnawa performed at the Lowell Folk Festival and for what has now become Global Arts Live. The founders of that outfit have started a new and even more forward-looking group devoted to the trance-inducing gnawa sound, and it is making its local debut with this Global Arts Live concert.

Mdou Moctar
Feb. 7
Brighton Music Hall

Mdou Moctar is one of the great desert rock acts, known for fusing Saharian sounds with psychedelia. But his most recent record, Funeral for Justice was an acoustic album. That side of Moctar’s musical personality will be on display as he plays a rare solo acoustic date.

Joe Val Bluegrass Festival
Feb. 12-15
Renaissance Framingham

It’s been six years since there was a full Joe Val Bluegrass Festival. In that time its host hotel changed branding from the Sheraton to Renaissance. The Boston Bluegrass Union-produced event remains laser-focused on traditional bluegrass, and they’ve brought in the absolute cream of that crop: The Del McCoury Band, Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass, Alice Gerrard singing the music of Hazel and Alice with Boston’s Hazel Project, and a memorial for the beloved Boston banjo player Gabe Hirshfeld who recently passed away. Some new features include music history panels and the Joe Val All-Stars: Alison Brown, Stuart Duncan, Missy Raines, Matt Flinner, and Michael Daves. Still, despite the formidable main stage talent, plenty of attendees will happily spend time their time in the nooks and crannies of the hotel, jamming with their bluegrass friends.

— Noah Schaffer

Author Events

Rescheduled! WBUR CitySpace: Diane Kochilas – Brookline Booksmith
Athens: Food, Stories, Love: A Cookbook
February 2 at 6:30 p.m.
WBUR CitySpace, 890 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215
Tickets are $20, $15 for BU faculty/staff, $10 for students

“Greek food has come a long way since the days of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The modern metropolis is flush with global influences and ingredients dancing alongside traditional Greek staples. Greek chef and television personality Diane Kochilas, an Athenian for over three decades, has written a new cookbook that dives deep into the savory twists and turns of cuisine in the Greek capital.

In Athens: Food, Stories, Love: A Cookbook, she offers a cipher to the changing Mediterranean mecca and also fresh takes on Greek classics. Join us for a conversation and live cooking demonstration with Kochilas moderated by WBUR senior correspondent and host Deborah Becker.”

Inspired by Ice – Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
February 2 at 1 p.m.
Harvard University, 10 Garden St, Cambridge MA
Free

“Drawings and prints, as well as sound and music, convey complicated interpretations of ice, environmental history, glaciology, and cultural survival. This event explores the evocative power of art to help us understand the multifaceted impacts of climate change on Arctic communities worldwide. As climate change remakes the planet, icescapes constitute crucial sites of examination. This program is the second in a two-part series of one-hour webinars offered by Harvard Radcliffe Institute focused on “Ice Humanities.”

Our paired programs explore the cultural, creative, and social dimensions of environmental ice in a time of rapid change and decay. Speakers will connect science and geography with art, music, photography, and history to help us better understand and contextualize the climate crisis.”

George Scialabba at Harvard Book Store

The Sealed Envelope: Toward an Intelligent Utopia
February 3 at 7 p.m.
Free

“This incisive collection of essays investigates the moral imagination of modernism and our intellectual and political inheritance. George Scialabba offers a series of portraits of, and arguments with, American and European thinkers of the past hundred years, ranging from conservatives such as John Gray, William Buckley, and Jonathan Haidt to radicals such as Dwight Macdonald, Christopher Hitchens, and Bill McKibben.

In our moment of democracy under siege, with intellectual work popularly derided as only for “elites,” Scialabba champions such thinkers as Richard Rorty, Barbara Ehrenreich, and Christopher Lasch, with their emphasis on democratic political culture and their faith in the capacities of ordinary people and the importance of intellectual work. This collection passes on these values “in a sealed envelope,” as Rilke says of love between selfish lovers, for future generations to use in crafting their own ‘intelligent utopia.'”

Writers’ Open Mic: February – Porter Square Books
February 5 from 7- 8:30 p.m.
Free

“Writers’ Open Mic is a monthly open mic event featuring all literary genres. Come share your work in a low-key, supportive atmosphere! Dying to share the first few lines of your slice-of-life novel set in the South End or your epic blank verse poem about T delays? Curious what other local creatives are working on?

Writers’ Open Mic is the home for works in progress from all literary genres. Prose, poetry, flash fiction, pages from your graphic novel, a haiku about Market Basket; whatever you’re working on, come and dazzle a live audience in a low-key, supportive atmosphere.

Connect with a literary community, have a drink or two, hear inspiring features from established and emerging writers, and be the first to know what’s new and next in Boston’s lit scene.

Doors open at 6:30 to sign up for one of the coveted slots to read. Readings start at 7pm, with features at 8 p.m. Writers’ Open Mic is free to attend, 18+, and registration is requested. Alcohol will be for sale for 21+ attendees.”

Beronda L. Montgomery at Harvard Book Store
When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy
February 6 at 7 p.m.
Free

“The histories of trees in America are also the histories of Black Americans. Pecan trees were domesticated by an enslaved African named Antoine; sycamore trees were both havens and signposts for people trying to escape enslavement; poplar trees are historically associated with lynching; and willow bark has offered the gift of medicine. These trees, and others, testify not only to the complexity of the Black American narrative but also to a heritage of Black botanical expertise that, like Native American traditions, predates the United States entirely.

In When Trees Testify, award-winning plant biologist Beronda L. Montgomery explores the ways seven trees—as well as the cotton shrub—are intertwined with Black history and culture. She reveals how knowledge surrounding these trees has shaped America since the very beginning. As Montgomery shows, trees are material witnesses to the lives of enslaved Africans and their descendants.

Combining the wisdom of science and history with stories from her own path to botany, Montgomery talks to majestic trees, and in this unique and compelling narrative, they answer.”

John Sayles – Porter Square Books
Crucible: A Novel
February 10 at 7 p.m.
Free

“From the Oscar-nominated filmmaker comes a complex and sweeping historical novel about Henry Ford — the Elon Musk of his day — and his attempt to rule not only an automotive empire but the rambunctious city of Detroit. It is an epic tale ranging from the 1920s through the second World War, featuring violent labor disputes, misbegotten jungle expeditions, a tragic race riot, and the gestapo tactics of Ford’s private army . . .”

Dorothy Roberts at Harvard Book Store
The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family
February 13 at 7 p.m.
Harvard Book Store, Cambridge MA
Free

“Dorothy Roberts grew up in a deeply segregated Chicago of the 1960s where relationships barely crossed the “colorline.” Yet inside her own home, where her father was white and her mother a Black Jamaican immigrant, interracial marriage wasn’t just a part of her upbringing, it was a shared mission. Her father, an anthropologist, spent her entire childhood working on a book about Black-white marriages—a project he never finished but shaped every aspect of their family life.

As a 21-year-old graduate student, Dorothy’s father dedicated himself to the study of interracial marriage and her mother soon became his full-time partner in that work. Together over the years they interviewed over 500 couples and assembled stunning stories about interracial marriages that took place as early as the 1880s—studying, but also living, championing, and believing in their power to advance social equality.

Decades later, while sorting through her father’s papers, Roberts uncovers a truth that upends everything she thought she knew about her family: her father’s research didn’t begin with her parents’ love story—it came long before it. This discovery forces her to wrestle with her father’s intentions, her own views about interracial relationships, and where she fits in that story. Rather than finish the book her father never published, Roberts immerses herself in their archive of interviews to trace the story of her parents and to better understand her own.”

Dan Chiasson in conversation with Sam Huber — Brookline Booksmith
Bernie for Burlington: The Rise of the People’s Politician
February 16 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are Free or $41.64

“The early days and inexorable rise of the young Bernie Sanders, the one-of-a-kind visionary who changed American politics forever, told by a son of the People’s Republic of Burlington, Vermont

In this symphonic origin story of an era-defining politician, Dan Chiasson, a Burlington native who had a ringside seat to Bernie Sanders’s development, reconstructs the rise of an American icon. With in-depth reporting and remarkable remembered scenes, Chiasson tracks a faint political signal that traveled from the Vermont communes, hard luck neighborhoods, traditional businesses, and county fairs to the town meetings and ballot boxes of his home state, and finally to Washington, D.C., to transform our national political landscape.”

Namwali Serpell
On Morrison
Feb 16 at 6 p.m.
First Parish Church, Cambridge MA
Tickets are free or $36 with book

“An illuminating, electrifying exploration of the work of Toni Morrison by an award-winning novelist and Harvard professor. Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate and one of our most beloved writers, has inspired generations of readers. But her artistic genius is often overshadowed by her monumental public persona, perhaps because, as Namwali Serpell puts it, “she is our only truly canonical black, female writer—and her work is highly complex.” In On Morrison, Serpell brings her unique experience as both an award-winning writer and professor who teaches a course on Morrison to illuminate her masterful experiments with literary form.

This is Morrison as you’ve never encountered her before, a journey through her oeuvre—her fiction and criticism, as well as her lesser-known dramatic works and poetry—with contextual guidance and original close readings. At once accessible and uncompromisingly rigorous, On Morrison is a primer not only on how to read one of the most significant American authors of all time, but also on how to read great works of literature in general. This dialogue on the page between two black women artist-readers is stylish, edifying, and thrilling in its scope and intelligence.”

— Matt Hanson