PUTNEY — Next Stage Arts Project presents its February Film Series, “Reeling in American Music, From the first Blues to the Last Waltz,” with guest host and curator Louis Erlanger on Thursday nights at 7.
The schedule includes:
• Feb. 7, “The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966 Volume I.” This features performances by Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, T-Bone Walker, Sippie Wallace, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Earl Hooker and more.
• Feb. 14, “Last of the Blue Devils.” This is a 1979 reunion of legendary musicians, featuring performances by Count Basie, Big Joe Turner, pianist Jay McShann, and more, all playing the blues, Kansas City style.
• Feb. 21, “The Last Waltz.” Martin Scorsese's film of the The Band's 1976 farewell concert at Winterland in San Francisco after 16 years on the road. They are joined by guest artists Ronnie Hawkins, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and many more.
Tickets are $5 (suggested donation).
Erlanger is a guitarist best known for his work with the band Mink DeVille. he recorded three albums with the group and also appeared with them on “Live at CBGB's,” an album of bands that pioneered punk rock at the venerable nightclub CBGB in the mid-1970s.
A fan of the blues since his early teens, Erlanger worked as a sideman with blues artists such as John Lee Hooker, R.L. Burnside, Cedell Davis, Otis Rush, Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, and Jimmy Rogers. He also produced a number of award winning recordings by blues musicians such as R.L. Burnside, Muddy Waters' harmonica player Paul Oscher, and Ruth Brown's organist and bandleader Bobby Forrester.
Erlanger is a Brattleboro resident who continues to play music and hosts two radio shows: “Blue Monday” from 6-8 p.m. on Mondays on WVEW-FM, Brattleboro Community Radio; and “After Hours,” from 8-10 p.m. Sundays on WOOL-FM, Bellows Falls Community Radio.
He also runs Glowing Pigs International (www.glowingpigs.com), a consulting company that develops software and provides strategic direction for music, entertainment, and media companies.