Musical tributes to country music icon Naomi Judd and local rocker Claudia Chapman Bell take center stage this week in CT arts

It’s a week of tributes to strong, creative women.

There are the recently passed real-life icons Naomi Judd, (whose daughter Wynonna is leading “The Judds’ Final Tour”) and Claudia Chapman Bell, whose friends from the old New Haven rock scene are paying tribute at Cafe Nine. There are also the complex female fictional characters in “Wife/Worker/Whore.”

This week marks the first shows of the year at many area theaters and rock clubs are roaring, too, with a release party for One Time Weekend’s new album at Arch Street.

Here are some of the top things to do and see this week in Connecticut arts.

A Celebration of the Life of Claudia Chapman Bell

Cafe Nine, 250 State St., New Haven

Claudia Chapman Bell was a key member of the New Haven rock scene when it was making a lot of noise in the 1970s and 1980s. She wrote a local music column; she played bass in the band The Plan and Bell System; she photographed bands; and she married one of the scene’s key movers and shakers, Craig Bell (who had moved East and started a record label after playing in the legendary Ohio band Rocket from the Tombs). Claudia Bell died in September from cancer. A celebration of her life is being held at Cafe Nine (which she mostly knew in its previous incarnation, Blubartz) on Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. Her former bandmates and many others will perform. Admission is free. cafenine.com.

Brentano String Quartet

Morse Recital Hall, 470 College St, New Haven

The Brentano String Quartet, has performed around the world and has been the Quartet in Residence at the Yale School of Music since 2014. Their latest program at Yale’s Morse Recital Hall includes works by Antonin Dvorák, William Grant Still, Charles Ives, George Walker and Robert Pete Williams as well as classical arrangements of American spirituals. Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. $33 and $38, $13 for students. music-tickets.yale.edu/events.

Step Afrika

The Shubert, 247 College St., New Haven

The African-American dance troupe Step Afrika! specializes in the dance technique known as stepping, bringing together age-old and modern percussive dance styles with stories, songs and audience participation. Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the Shubert in New Haven. $39-$79. shubert.com

Jimmy Greene Quartet

Side Door Jazz Club, Old Lyme Inn, 85 Lyme St., Old Lyme

The great local saxophonist Jimmy Greene performs on Jan. 27 and 28 at 8:30 p.m. at the Side Door, one of the best jazz rooms in the state. His soaring, uplifting sound is captured on such albums as “Beautiful World” volumes one and two and the recent “While Looking Up.” $25-$45. thesidedoorjazz.com.

The Judds — The Final Tour

Total Mortgage Arena, 600 Main St., Bridgeport

The Judds’ final tour has Wynonna Judd honoring the life of her mother and longtime singing partner Naomi Judd, who died last year. Also on the tour are Ashley McBryde and Martina McBride. Share the legacy of Naomi Judd on Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Bridgeport’s Total Mortgage Arena. $29.50-$639.50. totalmortgagearena.com.

One Time Weekend

Arch Street Tavern, 85 Arch St., Hartford

The local groove band One Time Weekend has a new album, “Fire It Up!,” and is holding a release party for on Jan. 28 at 9 p.m. at Hartford’s Arch Street Tavern. It’s the band’s second album and they describe it as “a head-banging, shred-funk experience.” archstreettavern.com.

‘Wife/Worker/Whore’

Hole in the Wall Theater, 116 Main St., New Britain

The opening show of Hole in the Wall Theater’s 51st season, “Wife/Worker/Whore” is a new play written and directed by Kirsten Easton-Hazzaa transposing the lives of a newlywed, a female police office and a high-class call girl to explore the nature of prostitution. It runs Jan. 28 through Feb. 11 at the Hole in the Wall in New Britain. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. plus a matinee on Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. $25, $20 students and seniors, “pay what you can” on Feb. 3. hitw.org.

Reach reporter Christopher Arnott at carnott@courant.com.