This week’s Entertainment spotlights!

The Music

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.

Micranots 

Sat., Mar. 30, 9 pm • First Avenue & 7th St. Entry (in the Entry), 701 N. 1st Ave., Mpls., 612-338-8388 or first-avenue.com • After a 10-year hiatus, I Self Devine and DJ Kool Akiem return to 7th St Entry for a one night only performance. Celebrating the digital release of their 2000 underground classic Obelisk Movements, they will be performing songs exclusively from the album.

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’s 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.

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 U.S. underground hip hop community. He has released a string of online mix tapes that have helped him garner cult underground status.

Rahsaan Patterson

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.

Chick Corea & Bela Fleck, Mon., Apr. 1, 7 pm

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.

Omaur Bliss w/ Big Cats

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.

Toki Wright

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.

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

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, and Christopher Meloni.

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.

Tyler Perry’s Temptation

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

Jackie and Me

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.

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.

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 Bridgforth 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 Bridgforth also appears onstage as she choreographs the words, sounds, movement, and singing live in front of the audience.

The Arts

May Day Parade Workshops

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.