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2025 Summer Arts Guides
14 albums by New England musicians to listen to this summer
With the future of international students at American universities under intense debate, it’s hard not to notice the enormous impact that foreign-born students and faculty members have had on Boston’s musical culture. This summer alone sees releases from artists from China, Brazil and Italy who made Boston their home because of our educational opportunities. There is also music from American-born artists who’ve spent their lives studying and teaching traditions like Celtic music, the blues, hip-hop and jazz made through a social justice lens. It adds up to a rich and eclectic listening experience for anyone sampling locally made music this summer.
Zishi Liu, 'American Anxiety'
June 1
Boston saxophonist Zishi Liu has found an inventive and deeply satisfying way of connecting jazz with the sounds of his native China. While his musical mission involves bridging cultures from around the world, Liu does it in a powerfully personal way through the four compositions on “American Anxiety” that explore his transition from newcomer to American artist. Among his collaborations in improvisation are such jazz notables as co-producer and Boston guitarist Eric Hofbauer and drummer Francisco Mela, as well as Hui Weng, who plays the guzheng, a traditional Chinese stringed instrument.
Salem 66, 'Salt'
June 6
For years, local rock fans and journalists have bemoaned the fact that the music of the influential 1980s band Salem 66 was out of print. Their wishes have now been answered by the tastemaking Don Giovanni label. Salem 66’s origins as an all-female band certainly made them pioneers, but their unique melodic, harmony-driven sound — not quite psychedelic, not quite indie pop — is what has stood the test of time. The compilation includes a mix of tracks from the band’s four LPs and one EP as well as essays by Judy Grunwald and Beth Kaplan, who co-founded the group. [WBUR’s Maddie Browning interviewed Grunwald and Kaplan about the resurrection of their music. Read more here.]
The Gravel Project, 'Find What You Need'
June 13
With his bluesy electric guitar playing and blue-eyed soulful vocals, Andrew Gravel and his band have found plenty of fans in the local jam and roots rock worlds and drawn favorable comparisons to another group with Boston ties: the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Unlike a lot of their peers, the members of The Gravel Project have figured out how to bring the electricity of their live shows into the studio with a clean recording that echoes the best of their classic rock influences. Gravel digs deep to bring out these 10 musical stories that explore the complexities of relationships, with especially inspired playing from organist Jordan Gravel and master percussionist Eugie Castrillo.
The Gravel Project will celebrate the release June 14 at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge.
Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell, 'We Insist 2025!'
June 13
For the follow-up to her Grammy-winning album “New Standards Vol. 1,” Medford drummer, composer and activist Terri Lyne Carrington is honoring "We Insist! Freedom Now Suite,” the recording that has remained a touchstone of socially conscious jazz ever since its release in 1960. Just as the original recording was centered around a drummer and a vocalist — Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln — Carrington is joined by vocalist Christie Dashiell. The record consists of daring and highly creative reworkings of all of Roach and lyricist Oscar Brown Jr.'s original compositions, as well as several new pieces that echo Roach and Lincoln’s musical call for civil and human rights. Released on Candid, the same label that released the original album, “We Insist 2025!” also includes an appearance by trombonist Julian Priester, the only living musician from the original "We Insist!" ensemble. Another special moment comes courtesy of the tap dancing of Ayodele Casel.
Rood Bwoy, 'Tequila Nights Deluxe'
June 20
Rood Bwoy has been making his mark on the Boston hip-hop scene for several years thanks to his talents in rapping, DJing, promoting and fashion. In April, he dropped his biggest project to date, the sensual, island-tinged “Tequila Nights.” Rood Bwoy’s relaxed delivery means his tracks work just as well as the soundtrack to a late night at home as they do in the car or the club. The deluxe version includes new tracks.
Gaia Wilmer & Ra Kalam Bob Moses, 'Dancing with Elephants'
June 20
A decade ago, legendary Boston percussionist Ra Kalam Bob Moses and Brazilian saxophonist Gaia Wilmer met in a New England Conservatory classroom and immediately decided to make a record. Thanks to various moves (Wilmer back to Brazil and, more recently, Moses to Memphis) and a pandemic, it took a long time, but it was well worth the wait for this release on the Sunnyside label. Wilmer wrote the 10 compositions around solo grooves that Moses had recorded. Those compositions were enhanced in the studio during sessions in Boston and New York by the improvisations of eight other musicians, including such New England greats as saxophonist George Garzone and flutist Yulila Musayelyan. The sound they created is both immediate and explosive while maintaining the deeply meditative approach to music and spirituality that has been a part of all of Moses’ musical endeavors.
Zafarán, 'Zafarán'
June 27
For 20 years, the Boston band Newpoli brought the vibrant sounds of Southern Italian folk music to audiences all over the world. Newpoli disbanded in 2022, but two of its key members — the enchanting singer Carmen Marsico and string wizard Björn Wennås — have launched an exciting new group called Zafarán. The quartet, whose name means saffron in Persian-derived Arabic as well as a red pepper in Marisco’s native region of Basilicata in Italy, is rounded out by multi-instrumentalist Dan Meyers and percussionist Davide Roberto. The band’s focus is on exploring how the shared musical traditions of the Mediterranean evolved as they traveled from the Middle East to Italy via Turkey, Greece and the Balkans. Their self-titled debut is an eye-opening musical travelogue that often finds the band rearranging material it discovered in field recordings. For example, the track “Üsküdar/Mi Scuordu/Apo Xeno Topo” is a medley of the same song as heard in Turkey, Sicily and Greece. The album appeared on Spotify and Apple Music in April but will be officially released on Bandcamp and other platforms in June.
Zafarán performs at noon on Saturday, June 21 as part of the Cambridge Arts River Festival.
M-Dot & Confidence, 'Library of Sound'
June 27
“Old-timers once told me great things come with patience,” raps M-Dot on “Rollercoaster,” one of several autobiographical tracks on his collaborative LP with Worcester DJ Confidence. And indeed, M-Dot has patiently been making music for a long time, learning from live and recorded appearances with his mentors and peers in Boston’s true-school hip-hop scene, and holding down a job as a union window glazier while establishing enough of an international reputation that he routinely tours through Europe. He’s headed back there this summer, and this release will be on Holland’s Below System Records. The sonic world deftly produced by Confidence proves to be an ideal setting for M-Dot’s storytelling about a life spent grinding and creating, as well as some well-aimed shots at haters and fakers.
Billy Dodge Moody, 'Ephemera: Part 1'
July 11
Singer-songwriter (and local school teacher) Billy Dodge Moody has an unbelievable knack for writing folk-pop mini-masterpieces. His hooks are so catchy that it can take a few listens to understand how deep his lyrics are. Take “Meaning To Disaster,” the lead track from his next EP, which finds Moody contemplating the untimely passing of a friend during his youth. The rest of the album has everything from dramatic chamber folk to appealing sunshine pop, all of it well worth repeated listenings.
Billy Dodge Moody celebrates the release Nov. 15 at the Fallout Shelter in Norwood.
BT ALC Big Band, 'Live with Fred Wesley'
July 17
Boston’s miraculous BT ALC Big Band plays dazzling large-ensemble funk-jazz, often stuffing themselves into such tiny venues as Somerville’s Sally O’Brien’s, where they perform monthly. Last year, the group unveiled a very special project: Big band arrangements of Fred Wesley’s music by co-leaders Brian Thomas and Alex Lee-Clark, with Wesley himself joining in on trombone. It’s impossible to exaggerate the influence that Wesley has had on popular music thanks to his work playing on and arranging much of James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic’s greatest recorded moments. This recording captures a 2024 concert Wesley played with the big band at Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke. It’s chock-full of arrangements that bring out new colors in such funk standards as “Pass the Peas” and “Gimme Some More,” and shows that Wesley is still a one-of-a-kind musician at the age of 81.
The BT ALC Big Band and Fred Wesley celebrate the release with concerts July 24 at Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke and July 25 at Jimmy’s in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Happy Little Clouds, 'Embers'
July 18
If you’re looking for a crucial addition to any Pride month queer rock playlist, meet Happy Little Clouds. These heirs to the Massachusetts tradition of smart and happy indie rock feature the soaring vocals of guitarist Jac Mestel on top of the urgent rhythm section of bassist Derek Bergstrom and drummer Jess Townsend. On the driving track “Lungs,” Mestel simply proclaims the ultimate Pride message: “We are the way we are.”
Happy Little Clouds celebrates the release July 19 at The Burren in Somerville.
Clifford, 'Golden Caravan'
July 25
Boston rockers Clifford display a remarkable musical range on their sophomore LP, which starts with folky harmonies before going into full rock overdrive that still has plenty of textured nuance from multi-instrumentalists Miles Chandler, Ben Curell, Danny Edlin and Nate Scaringi. And there’s just as much emotional range as the band channels the hope, despair, disgust and wariness that can be felt from living in today’s world. Clifford makes music about a half-empty world in songs like “Exaltation Forms,” where lead singer Chandler tells how “I saw a rainbow today/ In the water that they spray to keep the dust cloud down.”
Clifford appears at Deep Cuts in Medford June 29.
The Carroll Sisters Trio, 'Radiance'
Aug. 1
One of the great strengths of the New England Celtic music scene is how its traditions keep getting passed down to young artists who put their own spin on the music. One exciting example is the Carroll Sisters Trio. The group consists of Connecticut-raised fiddling sisters Emilie and Nora Carroll, along with Boston-based cellist and pianist Sammy Wetstein. On their sophomore release, the three give a range of old Irish, Scottish and Cape Breton tunes some new energy and also offer up their own enlightening compositions.
The Carroll Sisters Trio celebrate the release Aug. 19 at Club Passim.
Ryan Lee Crosby, 'At the Blue Front'
Aug. 20
In recent years, Portsmouth, Rhode Island-based guitarist and songwriter Ryan Lee Crosby has immersed himself in the world of Delta blues. His travels throughout Mississippi have often taken him to the Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi, whose septuagenarian proprietor Jimmy “Duck” Holmes has been keeping the local blues tradition alive. These sessions, several of which are spontaneous collaborations with Holmes, were captured at the Blue Front on a simple mobile recorder and feature master percussionist Grant Smith on the calabash. These musical tales of struggle and perseverance are both a hypnotic link to the blues’ West African origins as well as a reminder of how relevant the art form can be.
