The Music

 

 

Herschel & The Detainees Present… BOOMBASTIC!

Sat., Mar. 23, 8 pm • Fine Line Music Café

318 1st Ave. N., Mpls., 612-338-8100 or www.finelinemusic.com

Herschel & The Detainees will be rocking the house along with their brothers and sisters of RJ & The Soul, Devine Collection, and Ceewhy!

The Cool: Live Performances w/B-Down, A. Bradshaw and King Sandman

Sun., Mar. 24, 6 pm • Capri Theater

2027 W. Broadway Ave., Mpls., 612-643-2000 or www.thecapritheater.org

Spoken word, hip-hop, and r & b from a Christian perspective

Masta Killa of the Wu-Tang Clan

Fri., Mar. 29, 9 pm • Amsterdam Bar & Hall

6 W. 6th St., St. Paul, 612-285-3112 or www.amsterdambarandhall.com

Masta Killa has made appearances on every Wu-Tang Clan album, many solo Wu projects, as well as projects by Afu-Ra, Bounty Killer and Public Enemy.

Redman

Fri., Mar. 29, 9 pm • Cabooze

 917 Cedar Ave., Mpls., 612-338-6425 or www.cabooze.com

Def Jam recording artist Redman, helped shape a generation of hip-hop artists. One-half of the rap duo Method Man & Redman, he is unofficially the 11th member of the Wu-Tang Clan. He blends reggae and funk, along with his unique commentary to make a joking, tough and satirical style.

Big Sean  

Sun., Mar. 31, 10;30 pm • Epic

110 N. 5th St., Mpls., 612-332-3742 or epicmpls.com

Named one of MTV’s “Hottest MC In The Game”, Big Sean signed with Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music in 2007 and then signed to Island Def Jam in 2008. Mod Sun and DJ Enferno open.

Lianne La Havas 

Sun., Mar. 31, 7 pm • Varsity Theater

1308 4th St. SE, Mpls., 612-604-0222 or www.varsitytheater.org

London-born Lianne La Havas is the daughter of a Jamaican mother and Greek father and plays a mostly acoustic and hushed hybrid of alternative folk and soul.

 

Chick Corea & Bela Fleck

Mon., Apr. 1, 7 pm • Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant

1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612-332-1010 or www.dakotacooks.com

SpaceGhostPurpp

Tues., Apr. 2, 8 pm • First Avenue & 7th St. Entry (in the Entry)

701 N. 1st Ave.,  Mpls., 612-338-8388 or first-avenue.com, 18+

Underground rapper and producer from Miami, SpaceGhostPurpp leads the mysterious collective Raider Klan Mafia and an integral part of the US underground hip-hop community. He has released a string of online mixtapes that have helped him garner cult underground status.

Toots and the Maytals 

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.

Fatoumata Diawara 

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.

The Screen

 

 

180 Days: A Year Inside An American High School

Premieres Mon.–Tues., Mar. 25-26, 9-11 pm ET on PBS

180 Days: A Year Inside An American Hgh School is an intimate portrait of life for the first graduating class of Washington Metropolitan High School (DC Met), a public school in Washington, D.C, where only seven percent of students are deemed “proficient” in math and only 19 percent in reading.

Produced by the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC).

AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange

Twin Cities Public Television and PBS World (check local listings)

This documentary series features a wide variety of independent films by and about people of the

African Diaspora.

To view full AfroPoP documentaries online, go to blackpublicmedia.org.

Dead Man Down

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.

The Stage

Wits with John Moe: w/Kamau Bell and Brendan Benson

Fri., Mar. 29, 8 pm • Fitzgerald Theater

10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul, 651-290-1200 or fitzgeraldtheater.publicradio.org

W. Kamau Bell is the host of “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell,” which is produced by Chris Rock and airs at 11pm on Thursdays on FX. Kamau has been praised by Punchline Magazine as “one of America’s most adept racial commentators”.

Porgy and Bess

Mar. 25-30 • Ordway Center

345 Washington St., St. Paul, 651-224-4222 or www.ordway.org

 

Spunk

Mar. 14 — Apr. 7, 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.

 

 

The Arts

 

 

Home Sweet Home Again: An Exhibition of Art & Poetry

Featuring visual artwork and poetry by local artists and poets on homelessness, affordable housing, and the meaning of home.

Through Mar. 30 • Intermedia Arts 

2822 Lyndale Ave. S., Mpls. • Gallery hours: 10 am — 6 pm Mon.-Fri.; 12-5 pm Sat.

Selling Kenya: Traditional & Contemporary Arts of East Africa

Through Mar. 30 • UROC Univeristy of Minnesota

2001 Plymouth Avenue N., Mpls. 612-626-8762, uroc.umn.edu

Kenya native Hellen Keraka takes us on a tour of the arts and crafts of her homeland. The collection is the result of Keraka’s two-year odyssey to find fine examples of Kenyan-made jewelry, baskets, textiles and paintings and bring them to the U. S. Experience Kenyan culture, arts and music. This event is free and open to the public with Kenyan crafts and jewelry available for purchase.

Gallery hours: 8:30 am — 5 pm Mon.-Fri.

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 forty-three 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.