Concerts, quilts, art & festivals: 11 top things to do on Cape Cod July 29-August 5

Music-lovers rejoice at this time of year for all the places to hear a variety of genres around the Cape, often with a chance to be outdoors at the same time. On tap this week is a tribute show to James Taylor in South Yarmouth, a jazz duo in Falmouth, a musician couple who has been Grammy Award-nominated for their jazz in Dennis, an internationally recognized folk singer in Harwich, and the start of the annual Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival.

Other top choices this week include the return of the Love Local Fest spotlighting Cape products and businesses in Hyannis, a celebration of Wampanoag Heritage Day at Heritage Museums & Gardens in Sandwich, a giant quilters show in Harwich, a chance to learn the history behind a graveyard in Hyannis, a Zoom talk on a unique sailing career and the opening of a Chatham exhibit featuring our local waters. Take a look:

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Band pays tribute to James Taylor

Cape Cod's Greg Johnson and his band will present a "Shower the People" concert at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod, sharing the story of musician James Taylor's early life and his early music. Johnson, who does lead vocals and plays guitar, has been performing around New England for over four decades and attributes his inspiration to Taylor's music. The show's JT Tribute Band also features Brian Morris (keyboard, mandolin, electric guitar and backup vocals), Derick Bousseier (drums), Janet Leahy (backup vocals) and Julie Sieben (backup vocals).

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 29

Where: The Cultural Center of Cape Cod, 307 Old Main St., South Yarmouth

Admission: $25

Information: www.cultural-center.org

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Wampanoag Heritage Day celebrated in Sandwich

Heritage Museums & Gardens will celebrate the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe with a  Wampanoag Heritage Day featuring hands-on activities, traditional crafts (including corn husk doll-making and beading on a community loom project), a storybook reading and performances by the Wampanoag Singers & Dancers. Participants can learn more about the museum's historic wetu dwelling reproduction, the demonstration garden, and Wampanoag culture. There will be a pop-up market for shopping with local vendors and artisans, and traditional and contemporary Wampanoag cuisine will be available to purchase.

When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 30

Where: Heritage Museums & Gardens, 67 Grove St., Sandwich

Admission: Free with museum admission; non-members: $21, $11 for youth, free for age 2 and under

Information: https://heritagemuseumsandgardens.org

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Tour the historic Oak Grove Cemetery

Historians Rev. Stephen Trimble and Nancy Viall Shoemaker will share stories about the Oak Grove Cemetery in a tour sponsored by the Hyannis and Barnstable historical societies. Participants will get a chance to know more about the stones at the ancient burial ground and the backgrounds of people buried there.

When: 2 p.m. Saturday, July 30

Where: 214 Sea St., Hyannis

Admission: Free will donation

Information: https://hyannishistoricalsociety.org/

Duo plays classic American jazz

Highfield Hall & Gardens will present "Jazz Under the Tent" with acoustic guitarist Guy Van Duser and clarinetist Billy Novick playing an unusual style of classic American Jazz. The two have played around North America and Europe, released 10 recordings as a duo, and made multiple guest appearances on “A Prairie Home Companion Show,” and have been the feature of a 30-minute interview on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

When: 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, July 31

Where: Highfield Hall & Gardens, 56 Highfield Drive, Falmouth

Tickets: $35, $25 for members

Reservations and information: https://highfieldhallandgardens.org/

Outdoor concert series features Kate McGarry and Keith Gantz

The Music & More Outdoor Concert Series at Cape Cod Museum of Art will this week feature Grammy Award-nominated jazz artists and husband-wife duo Kate McGarry and Keith Gantz. Eighteen years of collaboration between vocalist McGarry and guitarist Gantz have produced seven recordings, three Grammy nominations, and multiple live performances.

When: 4:30 p.m. Sunday, July 31

Where: Cape Cod Museum of Art, 60 Hope Lane

Admission: $20, $17 for members

Information: www.ccmoa.org/music

Love Local Fest back in Hyannis

Love Live Local will start its 10th season of the Love Local Fests this week, with over 80 local artists and artisans gathering at Aselton Park. There will be food trucks and a craft beverage garden featuring products from Cape Cod Beer, Devil’s Purse Brewing Company and Truro Vineyards. Local bands Jo & Co. and the Dirty Water Dance Band will play. Love Live Local is dedicated to community advocacy and shopping local. Additional festivals will be held this year on Sept. 25 and Dec. 3.

When: 11 a.m. -5 p.m. Sunday, July 31

Where: Aselton Park, 135 South St., Hyannis.

Admission: Free

Information: https://lovelivelocal.com/love-local-fest/

Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival begins with two string quartets

Celebrating its 43rd year, Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival will present its 2022 season of concerts from Tuesday, Aug. 2 through Aug. 19. Concerts will begin Aug. 2 with the festival debut of the Ariel String Quartet in Cotuit and Aug. 3 with the Verona String Quartet in Chatham. The Ariel program will include Beethoven’s Quartet in C Major, Opus 59 No. 3 (“Razumovsky”), and a new work created for the Ariel Quartet by leading Israeli composer Matan Porat. The Verona group will perform Puccini’s “Crisantemi,” Beethoven’s Quartet No. 1 and Ligeti’s Quartet No. 1. All festival concerts will be 60 to 80 minutes long with no intermission.

When and where: 5 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 2 at Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Falmouth Road; and Wednesday, Aug. 3 at First Congregational Church of Chatham, 650 Main St.

Admission: $40; $15 with student ID; free for 18 and under.

Information: 508-247-9400; https://capecodchambermusic.org/

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Summer lecture series features Captain Bill Pinkney

The summer lecture series for the Cape Cod Maritime Museum will include a virtual lecture by 2021 National Sailing Hall of Fame inductee Captain Bill Pinkney. He will discuss the two greatest achievements of his sailing career. In 1992, he became the first African American to complete a 27,000-mile solo circumnavigation of the globe, along one of the most challenging routes through the southern oceans. In 2000, he was named captain of the Amistad, a replica of the 1839 vessel known for the revolt of its would-be slaves. Pinkney sailed Amistad with a group of teachers as part of a journey to recreate the route of the Middle Passage from Senegal to the Americas. The trip was used to develop a curriculum on the Atlantic slave trade.

When: 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 3

Where: Via Zoom

Admission: Free

Information and Zoom registration: https://www.capecodmaritimemuseum.org/lecture-series

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Bayberry Quilters hold a “Let’s Celebrate” quilt show

The three-day Bayberry Quilters Quilt Show will return for a 39th year, with the theme, “Let’s Celebrate,” featuring more than 200 quilts made by members as well as educational exhibits.  Vendors will offer fabric, notions and other items for sale, and there will be quilts and crafts at the Quilt Bank and Bayberry Boutique tables. There will be activities for children and short demonstrations by members and vendors. Proceeds from Bayberry's "Celebrate the Garden" raffle quilt will help fund scholarships and toolships for local students.

When: 9:30 a.m. to  4 p.m., Thursday and Friday, Aug. 4 and 5; 9:30 a.m.  to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6

Where: Cape Cod Technical High School, 351 Pleasant Lake Ave., Harwich

Admission: $10, free for children under 12; Aug. 6 admission will be “two-for-one,” so $5 each for admission of two people

Information: https://bayberryquiltersofcapecod.com/

Art exhibit focuses on local waterways

Gallery Antonia in Chatham will host a fine art exhibition, “Waterways of Cape Cod and New England,” with an opening reception Aug. 4, that spotlights 20 paintings by William Gotha of regional coasts, marshlands, rivers and lakes. Cape Cod paintings feature Barnstable, Dennis, Orleans, Brewster and Chatham locations. The exhibition will be on display through August..

When: 5 p.m., Thursday, August 4 (opening reception); exhibition on display  11 a.m. – 4 p.m., on Sundays 12 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Where: Gallery Antonia, 1291 Main Street (Upper Level), Chatham.

Admission: Free

Information: www.galleryantonia.com

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Harwich Cranberry Arts & Music Festival

The Harwich Cranberry Arts & Music Festival will feature singer and lyricist Crys Matthews for this week’s concert. Matthews began performing in 2010, and in 2017, she was the grand prize winner in the New Song Music and Performance Competition at Lincoln Center. Her songs focus on social justice, and the title track of her most recent recording, "Changemakers," was recently named Song of the Year by the International Folk Music Awards. Information about the show describes Mathews as "a powerful lyricist whose songs of compassionate dissent reflect her lived experience as what she lightheartedly calls 'the poster-child for intersectionality,'"

When: 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 4 (gates open at 5:45 p.m.)

Where: Harwich Cultural Center (the former Middle School), 204 Sisson Road, Harwich

Admission: $25 per show

Information: https://www.harwichcranberryartsandmusicfestival.org/

To have your event considered for a Best Bet, please contact CapeWeek Editor Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at kdriscoll@capecodonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod to do: concerts, art, quilts, festival, Wampanoag, graves