Out & About: Cosby at Merrill, big weekend at One Longfellow Square

A multiple Grammy- and multiple Emmy-winning comedian and several award-winning musicians are the top acts in Portland this weekend.

Portland Ovations hosts comedian Bill Cosby, the much-loved star of television and concert halls, for two shows on Saturday.

It’s a big musical weekend at One Longfellow Square, with three appealing acts slated in a span of three days.

First up on Friday is the Duke Robillard Band. Robillard is recognized as one of the master blues artists of our time, having copped the Blues Music Awards honors for Best Blues Guitarist four times in the past decade.

Saturday and Sunday feature Celtic and Celtic-inspired artists. Irish-born Susan McKeown, a Grammy Award-winning vocalist, will perform on Saturday. She’s got a new CD coming out at the end of this month.

Then on Sunday, harpist-vocalist Maeve Gilchrist is the star of her own CD release party. In addition to Gilchrist’s own performance, she’s invited a host of others to make music with her. These include Darol Anger, a local fiddling phenom, and Naia, a Maine-based Celtic harp-flute duo.

Susan McKeown

Susan McKeown began singing on the streets of her native Dublin as a teenager before moving across the Atlantic to New York on a couple of music scholarships. This month marks her 20th year in this country, and in that time span she’s recorded 10 CDs, including a Grammy Award-winner, gaining a reputation as singer-songwriter who focuses on hard-edged topics: artists struggling with depression, drugs and self-destruction.

With her latest album, McKeown is turning away from those grim subjects and turning to classical poetry for inspiration. Creativity, suffering and passion are the stated themes for “Singing in the Dark,” due for release at the end of this month. McKeown’s rich contralto voice and powerfully inventive lyrics will be showcased at One Longfellow Square at 8 p.m. Oct. 16. Call 761-1757.