BEST OF 2017: Richard Brody’s Top 22 Concerts

Story by Richard Brody
Photograph by Andrzej Pilarczyk

It has been a great year for live music in our part of the world. I gave up trying to order them in terms of “best.” That changed every time I went back to the list, so it seemed like ordering them by date made the most (or least) sense.

1. Pat Metheny Band @ The Egg, Albany, January 18
2. Los Lobos @ The Egg, Albany, January 29
3. The Wood Brothers @ College of St Rose’s Massry Center for the Arts, Albany, February 3
4. Beth Hart @ The Egg, Albany, February 26
5. Release the Hounds featuring Julian Lage, Chris Eldridge & Aiofe Donovan @ College of St. Rose’s Massry Center for the Arts, Albany, March 24
6. SFJazz Collective @ The Egg, Albany, March 31
7. Dale Watson & Ray Benson @ The Egg, Albany, April 9
8. Willie Nile @ The Linda, Albany, April 21
9. Lucinda Williams @ The Egg, Albany, May 9
10. Hudson @ Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival at SPAC, Saratoga Springs, June 25
11. Gillian Welch @ The Egg, Albany, July 2
12. Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival @ Walsh Farm, Oak Hill, July 14

13. Robert Earl Keen @ The Egg, Albany, July 18
14. The Stick Men @ The Van Dyck, Schenectady, August 12
15. Yemen Blues featuring Ravid Kahalani with Ahmed AlShaibi @ the Music Haven, Schenectady, August 13
16. Lake George Jazz Weekend @ Shepard Park, Lake George, September 16
17. Sam Bush Band @ The Egg, Albany, October 14
18. Loudon Wainwright III with Suzzy Roche & Lucy Wainwright Roche @ The Egg, Albany, October 28
19. John McLaughlin & 4th Dimension with Jimmy Herring & the Invisible Whip @ The Egg, Albany, November 2
20. King Crimson @ The Egg, Albany, November 8
21. Richard Thompson @ The Egg, Albany, December 1
22. Darlingside with Front Country @ The Egg, Albany, December 8

Best Busking (far away)
1. Sandino Cerrado with Georgia Ollier @ Santa Fe Park – Sandino on resonator guitar with slide and Georgia on washboard with various accoutrements dove deep into the heart of Robert Johnson territory.

MORE BEST OF 2017 LISTS
MICHAEL ECK’S Top 10 Concerts
RUDY LU’S Top 12 Favorite Concerts
FRED RUDOFSKY’S Favorite 50 Albums
ED CONWAY’S Bakers’ Dozen Best Concerts
J HUNTER’S Best Jazz2K Releases (Part Deux)
DON WILCOCK’S Top 8 Blues Albums (And Year-End Rant)
WES SENECA’S Best Third Member of a Duo, Fourth Member of a Trio, Fifth Member of a Quartet…
STANLEY A. JOHNSON’S Top 12 (Or So) Live Music Performances
J HUNTER’S Best Jazz2K Releases (Part I)