Friday, Feb. 8: Fronted by the irresistible singer/songwriter Nee Nee Rushie, the Big Takeover combines a deep reggae groove with a Motown-inspired pop sensibility and subtle and sophisticated horn-powered arrangements.

Thursday, Feb. 14: A love story for our times? Named in a factually-accurate-if-grammatically-inverted way, Me & My Ex are the legally divorced musical duo of Ginny Leitner and Rob Leitner, whose gigging life has really taken off since they got their priorities straight and bagged the whole traditional family thing.

Saturday, Feb. 9: New exhibition takes an unorthodox approach to curation. It’s “community-sourced” by local citizens instead of chosen exclusively by art experts.

Saturday, Feb. 9: Born in Little Rock in 1936 and now a Kingston resident, Pfeifer helped launch the careers of numerous contemporary photographers, including Sally Mann, Peter Hujar and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.

Friday-Sunday, Feb. 1-3: More than just a season concert festival, the Winter Hoot at Ashokan is a celebration of community and purpose. In addition to great music, there will be a screening of Kingston Calling and Building the Democratic Economy, followed by a discussion with filmmaker Laura Flanders, Peter Buffet and Jimmy Buff.

Saturday, Feb. 2: The ensemble, featuring New Paltz native Glen Heroy, uses toys, spoons, tap, electronics and standard jazz instrumentation, playing a weird, musically rich cocktail of standards and original jazz compositions with a vaudeville edge.

Saturday, Feb. 2: Eli Goldstein, of Soul Clap fame, came to prominence in the US rave scene as DJ Elyte, spinning house and jungle tracks and distinguishing himself as one the first supporters of the two-step and grime styles.

Saturday, Feb. 2: The Northern Dutchess Symphony Orchestra celebrates Valentine’s Day early at the Marriott Pavillion at the Culinary Institute of America. To complement this evening of romance, the CIA will open the Caterina de’ Medici restaurant for a special $39 pre-performance dining experience.

Retro soul and rhythm-and-blues come naturally to Kat Wright. The uptown vocal stylist has been described as a cross between Bonnie Raitt and Amy Winehouse. Wright tends to tour with a buttoned-down eight-piece band of slick players that is often reason enough to catch her shows. She performs on Friday, January 25 at Colony in Woodstock. Tickets cost $15 in advance, $20 on the day of the show.

Friday, Jan. 25: Fronted by guitarist/songwriter and Almanac Weekly music critic John Burdick, the Sweet Clementines blend nervy, angular guitar rock and an understated dumpster-cabaret vibe with a huge catalogue of sweet, weird and sad electric pop songs, swarming with harmonies and odd word choices. Music journalist Ron Hart wrote, “That the Sweet Clementines are still not signed to a national record label is just criminal.”