The Music
Thurs., Apr. 4, 8 pm • Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612-332-1010 or www.dakotacooks.com • With a sound that evokes comparison to Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan and Prince, Rahsaan Patterson has become a force in the R&B/neo-soul world. For over 15 years Patterson has released five albums, toured constantly and has collaborated with a number of soul music luminaries.
Sat., Apr. 6, 9 pm • Mill City Nights, 111 5th St. N., Mpls., 612-333-3422 or millcitynights.com • Toots Hibbert is one of the great voices of Jamaica; a legend whose career spans every development in Jamaican music, from ska through rock-steady to reggae. Toots and the Maytals have helped to chart the course of Jamaican music with unrivaled delivery and dynamism.
Wed., Apr. 10, 9:30 pm • Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Ave. S., Mpls., 612-276-6523 or www.icehousempls.com • Local heavy-weight hip hop artists in one big icy night at the House of Ice. Performing DJ sets and special showcase style performances from each of these local music luminaries. Don’t miss this if you are a fan of Twin Cities hip hop music.
Wed., Apr. 10, 8 pm • Triple Rock Social Club, 629 Cedar Ave., Mpls., 612-333-7399 or www.triplerocksocialclub.com • Being an active presence in the Twin Cities hip hop scene, Wright has been featured on recordings by Atmosphere, P.O.S, and C-Rayz Walz, to name a few.
Fri., Apr. 12, 7 pm • Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls., 612-338-2674 or www.thecedar.org • Catch the Midwest debut by Mali’s new music sensation, who has been wooing critics and lighting up stages around the world with her radiant voice, coolly infectious Afro-pop, and smoking live band.
Shabazz Palaces w/TheeSatisfaction and Malitia Mali Mob
Fri., Apr. 19, 8 pm • Fine Line Music Café, 318 1st Ave. N., Mpls., 612-338-8100 or www.finelinemusic.com • Shabazz Palaces are a Seattle-based hip hop collective, led by Ishmael Butler aka ’Palaceer Lazaro’ (once ’Butterfly’ of jazz-rap group Digable Planets) and multi-instrumentalist Tendai ’Baba’ Maraire, son of Mbira master Dumisani Maraire • TheeSatisfaction produce and perform their own material, funk-psychedelic feminista sci-fi epics with the warmth and depth of Black Jazz and Sunday morning soul, frosted with icy raps that evoke equal parts Elaine Brown, Ursula Rucker and Q-Tip. 18+
The Screen
42
Opens Fri., Apr. 12, various metro-area theaters • 42 tells the story of two men — the great Jackie Robinson and legendary Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey — whose brave stand against prejudice forever changed the world by changing the game of baseball. Starring Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Christopher Meloni.
Various metro-area theaters • In New York City, a crime lord’s right-hand man is seduced by one of his boss’s victims, a woman seeking retribution. Starring Terrance Howard, Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace.
Various metro-area theaters • A marriage counselor’s life becomes complicated after she enters into an increasingly obsessive relationship behind her husband’s back. Starring Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Vanessa Williams, Brandy Norwood, and Eric West.
The Stage
Resisting Oppression: JaMinn with Rastafarian Poet Mutabaruka
Tues., Apr. 9, 6:30 pm • Macalester College (John B. Davis Auditorium), 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, jaminnwithmuta.eventbrite.com/ • Mutabaruka, born in the slums of Kingston, is a dynamic poet, prominent radio host and has become one of Jamaica’s leading voices for cultural liberation and political and economic freedom. He is best known for his lively performances and has been recognized internationally for his dub poetry and unique views on institutionalized racism and religion.
Ensia Live: Global Architect Peter Williams
Thurs., Apr. 11, 7:30 pm • Ted Mann Concert Hall, University of Minnesota West Bank, 2106 4th St. S., Mpls., 612-624-0594 or tedmann.umn.edu • One of the world’s top emerging social entrepreneurs, Peter Williams will offer unique insights into the complex and compelling links between housing design and health on five continents and discuss how a greater appreciation of architecture’s role in human well-being could transform the world. Williams’ talk will be accompanied by a presentation by visual artist Gregory Euclide and musician S. Carey. Ensia Live brings environmental visionaries to the Twin Cities for evenings filled with engaging ideas and entertainment. Encompassing science, arts, design and more, Ensia Live inspires new ways of looking at the world and our place in it.
Through Apr. 14 • Children’s Theatre Company, 2400 3rd Ave. S., Mpls., 612-874-0400 or www.childrenstheatre.org • Joe Stoshack may not be the best baseball player on his Little League team but he does have one unparalleled advantage: with the help of the old baseball cards in his prized collection, Joe has the remarkable ability to time travel! When he’s given an assignment to write a school report about a famous African American, Joe travels back in time to meet one of the greatest baseball players ever — Jackie Robinson — and learns what it was like for the man who endured more than his share of prejudice to break baseball’s color barrier. Joe plans to write a prize-winning report but never expects a temporary change in the color of his skin will forever change his view of history and courage.
Mar. 14 — Apr. 14 various times • Penumbra Theatre, 270 North Kent St., St. Paul, 651-224-3180 or www.penumbratheatre.org • Based on the folklore collected by literary icon Zora Neale Hurston, SPUNK is a sensuous and witty journey through African American life at the dawn of the 20th century. The all-star cast features T. Mychael Rambo, Dennis W. Spears, Jevetta Steele, Austene Van, Keith Jamal Downing and Mikell Sapp.
River See
Apr. 11-21 • Pillsbury House Theatre, 3501 Chicago Ave. S., Mpls., 612-825-0459 or www.pillsburyhousetheatre.org • Set on a juking boat with blues-women, queers, deviants, and seers, River See by Sharon Brigforth uses Black American rural southern tradition and an aesthetic steeped in jazz as the base for bringing people together to witness and create. River See is the prayer before the Great Migration. This production features Sonja Parks, Aimee Bryant, Mankwe Ndosi, Leah Nelson, Kenna Cottman, and Truth Maze. Creator Sharon Brigforth also appears onstage as she choreographs the words, sounds, movement, and singing live in front of the audience.
The Arts
Apr. 6 — May 2 • Heart of the Beast Theatre, 1500 E. Lake St., Mpls., 612-721-2535 or www.hobt.org • Workshops are free and open to everyone; no reservations or experience necessary. Children are welcome but must be supervised by adults at all times. In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre will celebrate the 39th anniversary of the annual May Day Parade and Festival on Sun., May 5. In preparation, during the month of April, our theater will be transformed into a giant community art studio and opened to the public for the building of the parade. Workshop participants will be given an overview of the parade theme and then invited to choose which section of the parade they would like to work on. Participants can come to as many or as few workshops as they want, and their creation will be theirs to keep after the parade. Saturdays: 1 — 3 pm, Tuesdays: 7 — 9 pm, Thursdays: 7 — 9 pm
Laylah Ali: The Greenhead Series
Through May 12 • Weisman Art Museum 333 E. River Pkwy., Mpls. 612-625-5000, www.weisman.umn.edu
The Greenheads Series comprises 43 gouache
paintings by artist Laylah Ali. The Greenheads are enigmatic, round-headed beings of indeterminate sex and race who inhabit a regimented, dystopian world where odd and menacing, though sometimes strangely humorous, encounters prevail.
Gallery hours are Tues., Thurs., Fri., 10 am — 5 pm, Wed., 10 am — 8 pm, Sat., Sun., 11 am — 5 pm. Closed Mon.
Send all Entertainment Spot briefs abuchanan@spokesman-recorder.com, or call 612-827-4021.
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