Cool jazz to soak up, as well as lots of root beer and regular beer:

— The jazz duo JazzSpring will again play on the patio at Pudge’s Bar on Thursday and Friday nights, but since — can you believe it? — the length of the summer days are already starting to wane, the music can be seen and heard in the sunlight hours, those waning into twilight, and even those in the heat of the night. As one of the members of JazzSpring, Ann Marie McIntire says, there is no favorite time to view their act, as the song selection doesn’t change, but the crowd does tend to mellow a bit as the sun sets. It makes for a cool jazz experience, in more ways than one. The music starts at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and 8 p.m. on Friday.
— Singer Amanda, long a fixture on the local scene, has a new, or at least downsized band. The new duo are called A & W, for Amanda and Will, and their flyers prominently show the root beer logo along with the wording “established in 2012.” In her former band, Smirk Worthy, there were questions about who should share most of the frontman (or frontwoman) and lead vocal assignments, and most fans favored Amanda for those duties, although she tends to shirk the limelight, even with Smirk. In any case, you can catch the new duo’s act at Dick’s Bar and Grill on Wednesday night, July 17.
— New at the Village Inn in North Hudson is the HOPR, a tall glass cylinder shaped like a tall blonde that can be rented, for lack of a better term, and dispenses 96 ounces of your favorite beer, such as Miller Lite or Honey Weiss. A nearly two-foot tube of ice running down the middle keeps it cold, and while it has been around other places in the state, the HOPR is relatively new to the Hudson area.