As anybody who has eyed these painfully excessive ticket costs is aware of, inflation is a actuality within the dwell live performance enterprise proper now. And it’s not simply megastars like Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé who’ve raised their costs – it’s not unusual to see tickets by mid-level acts in massive golf equipment and theaters going for triple digits, and audiences are pushing again, with some planned tours now canceled.
The excellent news is you can have a summer season stuffed with dwell music without spending a dime, because of the big selection of choices within the Higher Boston space. When you’re not more likely to see a famous person, revered Latin, gospel, hip-hop, jazz and roots music artists are all slated to play free of charge within the coming months, and chances are you’ll simply uncover your new favourite native act.
June 29-30
Yearly, the Boston Artwork & Music Soul Pageant appears to additional increase the vary of Black musical excellence it presents. The 2024 installment options not simply R&B star B.J. the Chicago Child and groundbreaking feminine hip-hop performer Rapsody, but additionally the funk-jazz of Butcher Brown, Mattapan’s Nay Speaks, home music powerhouse Lee Wilson and the Caribbean dance vibes of Sound Worldwide and the Soca Cowboys. Notice that after being fully free final yr, the pageant moved to a pay-what-you-can mannequin with a variety of donation tiers. Way over music, the occasion additionally features a Soul Meals Row of meals vans, all kinds of distributors, and a Beat Ft space the place native Black choreographers train quite a lot of Afro-diasporic dance types.
Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays
Membership Passim isn’t only a storied Harvard Sq. people room. It’s additionally a nonprofit that seeks to create performing alternatives for rising abilities. They usually do precisely that with no fewer than 4 free summer season live performance collection occurring all through Cambridge: Tuesdays at midday at Harvard Northwest Science Constructing, Tuesdays at 6 p.m. at Danehy Park, Wednesdays at midday at City Park Roof Backyard in Kendall Sq. and Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. on the nook of JFK and Palmer Streets. Just some of the highlights: Excessive Tea, whose 2022 Tiny Desk entry made a robust impression (July 16 at Danehy Park), Mozambique-born singer/guitarist Albino Mbie (Aug. 13 at Danehy Park) and the beguiling songwriter/guitarist Folks Individual Puzzle Tree (July 24 at Kendall Sq.).
Thursdays
Whereas free music is normally an al fresco affair, it’s been discovered for the previous few months at Lengthy Dwell Roxbury, a Boston brewery that options jazz on Thursdays at 6 p.m. Usually of the Latin selection, and at all times with top-shelf musicians, the summer season calendar contains free jazz legends The Fringe (July 11), Plural, led by Venezuelan pianist Gonzalo Grau (July 18) and the burning Latin jazz band fronted by Ecuadorian bassist Alex Alvear (July 25).
Tuesdays
A convention that dates again to 1966, this weekly live performance collection is tucked proper in the midst of Franklin Park. The programming, on Tuesdays at 6 p.m., emphasizes basic soul, R&B and funk. Among the many highlights are two of Boston’s most riveting singers: Angelena Hightower and her Unit (July 9) and Safiya, who shall be a part of an Aug. 6 Caribbean night time together with the Roots Alley Band and mates. The collection wraps up on Aug. 13 with a efficiency by the E-Water Band. A raindate is scheduled for Aug. 20.
Thursdays
Boston’s sturdy Latin music scene shines brightly at this annual collection, which is offered by Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción, the Metropolis of Boston and Berklee School of Music (which presents fairly just a few different free summer concert series). The areas vary from the South Finish to Boston Frequent to East Boston. Highlights embrace Colombian accordionist and NPR Tiny Desk concert star Gregorio Uribe (July 25) and the pairing of Boston salsa favourite Edwin Pabon with the son of the collection’ namesake, Tito Puente Jr., shut out the collection (Aug. 15). In addition to nice music the evenings normally characteristic some astonishing salsa dancing by viewers members. The performances begin at 7 p.m.
Wednesdays
The Boston Landmarks Orchestra is an all-star ensemble that presents a daring repertoire of each trendy and classical compositions. As a part of their dedication to accessibility, each live performance the group presents is free. This yr’s lineup ranges from a crowd-pleasing tribute to George Gershwin and John Williams (July 24) to an Arabian Nights program (Aug. 21). The Aug. 3 program contains the first-ever public efficiency of underrecognized Black Twentieth-century composer Julia Perry’s “4 Spirituals.” The Aug. 14 “Mozart & More” program will even be offered without spending a dime at Hibernian Corridor in Nubian Sq. on Aug. 15 with two further Boston neighborhood performances that week to be introduced.
July 20
The opposite main occasion offered by Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción is the long-running Pageant Betances, a celebration of Puerto Rican meals, video games, dance and, after all, music. On faucet this yr are salsa singer, EhShawnee, timbales virtuoso Zayra Pola, singer Luis Matos Burgos, the fashionable Afro-Latin sounds of Pirulo y La Tribu, and salsero Charlie Aponte, greatest recognized for his tenure with the giants of Puerto Rican music El Gran Combo. Plaza Betances is situated at 100 W. Dedham St. within the South Finish.
July 26-28
Maybe essentially the most distinctive music occasion of the summer season and positively one of the crucial enjoyable, the Lowell People Pageant is each a signature attraction for its host metropolis and a celebration of conventional music, meals and crafts from around the globe. This yr’s lineup contains New Orleans’ Cyril Neville, the final actively performing Neville Brother, Kentucky thumb-picked guitar masters Eddie Pennington and Caleb Coots, a really uncommon probability to listen to the Afro-fiddle sounds of the Cayman Islands with the Swanky Kitchen Band, and Yoni Battat, whose ensemble dives into the wealthy heritage of Arabic Jewish music. However for a lot of, the actual draw is the world of meals, almost all of which is bought by native nonprofit teams.
July 27-28
The Cambridge Jazz Pageant could also be a scrappy nonprofit endeavor, but it surely at all times affords a powerful invoice of main abilities. This yr isn’t any exception. Saturday, July 27, is dedicated to Afro-Latin sounds with a invoice that features Jacques Schwarz-Bart and the basic mambo choices of Eguie Castrillo y Su Orquesta. Sunday, July 28, contains the welcome return of former Bostonian vibraphonist Cecilia Smith who shall be joined by pianist Lafayette Harris Jr., drummer and pageant co-founder Ron Savage’s trio with famous company saxophonist Invoice Pierce and guitarist Bobby Broom, and Gabrielle Goodman’s tribute to Roberta Flack.
August
Final yr’s inaugural GLD FSTVL, curated by the groundbreaking band STL GLD, wasn’t only a grand celebration of hip-hop’s fiftieth anniversary. It was additionally a press release of how Boston’s hip-hop scene is a real group, and an instance of how the newly renovated Metropolis Corridor Plaza can nonetheless host high quality occasions. The excellent news is that the pageant is returning, with an August date anticipated to be introduced inside days. And talking of Metropolis of Boston-sponsored occasions: save the date for Boston’s twenty fourth annual Gospel Fest that may happen on Aug. 25 at 5 p.m. on the Chief Financial institution Pavilion with a lineup to be introduced.
