10 best things to do July 31 to Aug. 6: outdoor Caribbean and hemp festivals, plus soul and jazz legends – Hartford Courant

The summer hits a musical crescendo the week of July 31 through Aug. 6 with whole festivals of blues bands, reggae bands, Beatles tribute bands and jazz bands. The fests can be found throughout the state, from Simsbury to Waterbury to North Stonington. The music is a main drawing point, but the events can also focused on food, or 60s memorabilia or cannabis cultivation.

With so many outdoor weekend festivals, this list of The Courants picks of things to do cluster around Saturday, Aug. 6. Plan carefully, as theres a lot to distract and excite you that day.

Indoors, earlier in the week, youll find a surfeit of 60s soul, with Earth, Wind & Fire at Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater and the 5th Dimension at Ridgefield Playhouse. A true Connecticut treasure, experimental jazz guitarist Joe Morris, is playing out with his recent Mess Hall project. In a whole other world, the comic voices of Jeff Dunham convulse Mohegan Sun.

Philip Bailey, left, and Ralph Johnson of Earth, Wind & Fire (Chris Pizzello/Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Thats the Way of the World, After the Love is Gone, Sing a Song, Boogie Wonderland, Shining Star... Those are just some of the hits of the elemental soul/pop group Earth, Wind & Fire. The ensemble still includes three members who have been with Earth, Wind & Fire since the early 70s: lead vocalist/conga player Philip Bailey, bassist Verdine White and percussionist Ralph Johnson. Baileys son is in the group as well, plus five other guys. In Connecticut, various versions of Earth, Wind & Fire have played everywhere from Toads Place to New Haven Green. Now theyre at the states newest arena on Aug. 3 at 8 p.m. at Hartford Healthcare Amphiteater, 500 Broad St., Bridgeport. $39-$149.50. hartfordhealthcareamp.com

Joe Morris is one of the worlds great improvisational guitarists, and his current project Mess Hall finds him exploring shared thematic concepts with drummer Jerome Deupree and keyboardist Steve Lantner on Aug. 3 at 8 p.m. at the musicians living room, Cafe Nine in New Haven. Also on the bill: New Haven Improvisers Collective founder Bob Gorry with his Roundhouse trio of himself on guitar, Conor Perreault on various electronic devices and Michael Larocca on drums/percussion. $8. cafenine.com.

One of the top pop acts of the late 1960s and early 70s, The 5th Dimension got some fresh attention from the Oscar-winning documentary Summer of Soul, which shows the group performing an outdoor concert in Harlem in 1969. In present-day interviews for the film, some of the groups members say they were worried how they would fare against some of the soul acts on the bill, yet you see them win over the crowd. The current line-up visiting the Ridgefield Playhouse features founding 5th Dimension member Florence LaRue. Aug. 5 at 8 p.m. $55-$65. ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

Jeff Dunham

The most successful ventriloquist of his generation, and todays most successful live comedian based on ticket sales whenever he chooses to tour, Jeff Dunham covers all the bases: family friendly material, bad taste jokes, political humor, dumb gags, puppetry. Hes a great straight man at the same time that he orchestrating the laugh-getting puppet on his lap. His new tour is titled Seriously?, returning him to Mohegan Sun Arena Aug. 5 at 7 p.m. $39-$69. mohegansun.com.

Weekly

Our picks for things to do and places to go this weekend

The Fab 4 Music Festival celebrates The Beatles with hours of tribute bands, each of which specializes in a certain era or style of the Liverpudlian legends. While listening, you can browse dozens of vendor booths stocked with fab Beatles gear. There are even acts devoted to Beatles-adjacent bands like Badfinger and The Monkees. The Fab 4 fest has been around for a long fab time, for years in Danbury and then last summer in Wallingford. This is the first time all those Beatlemaniacs will descend on Simsbury Meadows. Aug. 6 from noon to 8 p.m. $30, $25 in advance. simsburymeadowsmusic.com.

Trying to tie the band Khruangbin to a single musical genre is futile. Theyre attracted to sounds from various countries at specific periods of history, like Thailand in the 60s or outer space in the future. Khruangbin is on tour with another eclectic trio, Canadas Men I Trust, who ironically enough named their latest release Untourable Album. Aug. 6 at 7 p.m. at the spacious Westville Music Bowl in New Haven. $25-$126. westvillemusicbowl.com.

The latest in a string of city jazz festivals this summer is the venerable Brass City Jazz Fest Aug. 6 from 2 to 10 p.m. in the Waterburys Library Park. Brass City refers to the metal that used to be milled in Waterbury factories. Here, it could also evoke brass jazz instruments namely trumpeter Willie Bradley though woodwinds seem to be most prominent, with saxophonists Paul Taylor and Doug Jones and flutist Sherry Winston all in the line-up. Also performing: Unit 3 Deep featuring bassist David Dyson, vocalists Lori Williams and Taylor Sorice and the Brass City Jazz Fest Band led by Steve Clarke. Free. gnhcc.com.

Come for the jerk chicken, stay and eat while you gaze at the costumes, dancing and reggae/dub/dancehall/jazz performances from Johnny Osbourne, Elan Trotman, Jabez, Nelson Bello, Annicia Bands, Janice Hart, Amandla, Tribal Legacy and others. Its the 17th annual Taste of the Caribbean and Jerk Festival on Saturday, Aug. 6 from 11 a.,m. to 9 p.m. at Riverfront Recaptures Mortensen Riverfront Plaza. Free. riverfront.org.

Some of the New Englands most reliable Blues/R&B club bands gathers for an earthshaking Stafford Spring Blues Fest Aug. 6 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Stafford Springs Hyde Park. Topflight blues busters include James Montgomery Band, Neal & the Vipers, Carl Ricci & 706 Union Ave, the Willie J Laws Band featuring Roberto Morbioli, the Diane Blue Allstar Band featuring Ricky King Russell and the side stage attraction Six Pack of Blues. WUMB radio Spinning the Blues host Holly Harris is the MC. allevents.in.

The 2nd annual Hempstock Music Festival enlightens and entertains Saturday, Aug. 6 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Better Together Connecticut Farm and Sanctuary in North Stonington. Theres a day of music from the Americana siblings the Rowan Brothers, reggae act Soulshot, multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter Sandy Sandman Allen, jam band HannaHs Field, bluesy Mike Crandall Band, Eastern Pequot tribe shadow dancer Natasha Gambrell, jazz/art instrumentalist Lee Mixashawn Rozie, alt-rockers Dopey Lopes and the Up All Night Band and bluesman Cuppa T. Jones. Hempstock also features guest speakers: cannabis pharmacist Brian Essenter, holistic health writer Mark Braunstein, chemist Robert Rafka speaking on the selection of growing media for potted plants, cannabis farming specialist Matthew DeBacco and representatives of the return-to-the-land organization Haven Earth. hempstockct.com.

Christopher Arnott can be reached at carnott@courant.com.

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10 best things to do July 31 to Aug. 6: outdoor Caribbean and hemp festivals, plus soul and jazz legends - Hartford Courant