Our Critics Picks
THURSDAY 5/1
Pops at the Pops
A TRIBUTE TO LOUIS ARMSTRONG In Ken Burns’ documentary Jazz,
trumpeter Wynton Marsalis comes off as a cranky purist whose regressive
view of jazz would seek to bury the music in the graveyard of
irrelevance, but he was right about one thing—Louis Armstrong is the
shit. Arguably, no musician in any genre has been so integral to its
development. Armstrong (a.k.a. “Satchmo,” a.k.a. “Pops”) combined
dazzling technique and boundless creativity with that most elusive of
traits: the ability to connect with listeners. Though today he’s most
remembered for his ubiquitous vocal rendering of “What a Wonderful
World” (and understandably so), his instrumental prowess and innovation
have rarely been matched. Byron Stripling, a phenomenal trumpeter who’s played with just about every major pops orchestra—and who was selected to play Armstrong in the musical Satchmo—joins the Nashville Symphony for a tribute to the master. 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday & Saturday at Schermerhorn Symphony Center —JACK SILVERMAN
John Heffron
Comedy
JOHN HEFFRON With the winner of Last Comic Standing
Season 2, you get the best of both worlds. Heffron is a remarkably
seasoned performer, having gotten his start during college and firmly
established himself as both a stand-up and a radio DJ by his mid-20s.
He possesses the ease, insight and stage presence of a veteran, but he
also boasts boyish good looks and an outlook that’s the polar opposite
of often-bitter lifers. His chunks on relationships and growing up are
bolstered by a kinetic naïveté, an attribute that feels authentic as
opposed to merely persona-driven. Such style-and-substance combos don’t
strike often. May 1-4 at Zanies —JULIE SEABAUGH
What’s Brewin’
BOSCOS BREWMASTER’S BEER DINNER
Grab a booth or barstool when craft-beer aficionado Lucy Saunders joins
Boscos brewmasters Chuck Spycheck and Fred Scheer for a five-course
meal with complementary beers. Saunders, a journalist, blogger and
author of five books, including The Best of American Beer & Food: Pairing and Cooking with Craft Beer,
will sign her books from 4 to 6 p.m. Dinner features an appetizer of
Savannah shrimp and grits; salad of blue cheese, arugula celery hearts,
pancetta, apple and hazelnuts; braised halibut, smoked pork chop and
tiramisu made with bittersweet chocolate beer. Saunders and the
brewmasters will also answer questions about pairing food and beer.
Reservations are required for the $50 event. 6:45 p.m. at Boscos —CARRINGTON FOX
Yada Yada Yada
JERRY SEINFELD Yes, Seinfeld
was a phenomenal show—one of the best sitcoms of all time. But before
the kooky characters and sweeping catchphrases, before the promotional
onslaught of last year’s Bee Movie and way before that whole
bizarre plagiarism hoopla over his wife’s cookbook, there was the
stand-up. A workhorse wholly dedicated to the art form, Seinfeld is the master
of observational humor, spawning an entire generation of “What’s the
deal with…?” knockoffs. There’s a reason he landed at No. 12 on Comedy
Central’s list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time, and it has
far more to do with his 2002 documentary Comedian than with nine seasons worth of Puffy Shirts and Soup Nazis. 7 & 9:30 p.m. at TPAC’s Andrew Jackson Hall —JULIE SEABAUGH
Re-Bourne
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
Matt Damon puts a foot upside your head from Morocco to Manhattan in
last year’s slam-bang wrap-up of the Jason Bourne saga. It shows
free and open to the public, projected on DVD, as this month’s “Movies
@ Main” selection at the downtown public library. 5:30 p.m. at
Nashville Public Library —JIM RIDLEY
FRIDAY 5/2
Top-Drawer Comedy
THE UNDERPANTS A
little over two years ago, Actors Bridge Ensemble mounted this Steve
Martin farce with uniform success. Now the Tennessee Rep has a go at the
comedian’s update of Carl Sternheim’s 1910 story about a lady who
accidentally drops her drawers during the king’s procession and wins
unexpected new admirers. Lane Davies directs a promising
cast of six, led by the indefatigable Marin Miller. Other performers
include Patrick Waller, Martha Wilkinson and Bobby Wyckoff. May 1-17 at TPAC’S Polk Theater —MARTIN BRADY
All That Jazz
MAIN STREET JAZZFEST FEAT. NICHOLAS PAYTON
Opportunities to see a jazz artist of Payton’s caliber in the Middle
Tennessee area are few and far between these days. Born and raised in
New Orleans, the Grammy-winning trumpeter weaves elements of bop and
modern jazz with nods to his Crescent City lineage, including Louis
Armstrong, Buddy Bolden and Wynton Marsalis. The festival also features
a smorgasbord of area high school jazz bands, the MTSU Jazz Ensemble,
the U.S. Army Ground Forces Jazz Guardians and several local acts:
saxophonist Joe Johnson, vocalist Jeff Hall and trumpeter Jamey
Simmons’ sextet. On Saturday, Kids’ Alley will feature a climbing wall,
mural painting and a musical instrument “petting zoo.” 6-10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday —JACK SILVERMAN
Music
CHRIS HILLMAN & HERB PEDERSEN
This town’s music community does a good job of honoring country greats,
but it does tend to be pretty insular. That’s the only plausible
explanation for the fact that these guys’ names aren’t regularly
preceded by “legendary,” because they’ve surely earned it. Mandolins,
guitars, banjos, honky-tonk, country-rock, bluegrass,
Bakersfield—Hillman and Pedersen have been playing them all for more
than 40 years. Whether backed by friends or on their own, they put on a
great show—warm, witty and with plenty of improvisation, in and in
between songs. 9 p.m. at Station Inn —JON WEISBERGER
Party Pooper
THE NERD Talented playwright Larry Shue died in a plane crash in 1985 at age 39. He left behind two staples of modern stage comedy: The Foreigner
and this two-acter about a dinner party gone awry. The Community
Players production is directed by J. Spurlock and features a cast of
seven including Owen Sullivan, Rebekah Lyons, Cory Hutcheson and Brad
Oxnam. May 2-16 at Cedar Ridge Community of Christ (3220 Bell Rd.) —MARTIN BRADY
British Sea Power
SATURDAY 5/3
Music
BRITISH SEA POWER’s 2003 debut, The Decline of British Sea Power,
was a bracing, wintry blast, resplendent in raggedy-ass post-punk
guitars and dense lyrics chock-full of eccentric references and
imagery. The English band’s third album on the Rough Trade label, Do You Like Rock Music?,
finds the quartet shambling toward coherence and accessibility, with
anthemic guitars, hooks and a newfound openness. The album starts with
the mantra-like repetition of “We’re all in it and we close our eyes,”
while the celebratory “Waving Flags” is a welcoming song to the “Polish
Plumber,” a phrase some have used to symbolize the ways immigrants from
poorer EU countries are reshaping the economies and cultures of Western
Europe. It’s a change British Sea Power seem keen on: “Are you of legal
drinking age? On minimum wage? Well welcome in.” Plombiers de tous les
pays, unissez-vous! 9 p.m. at Mercy Lounge —AARON JENTZEN
Green Day
GO GREEN AT THE NASHVILLE FARMERS MARKET
To market, to market, to buy a fat…rutabaga? Spring’s restorative
powers have evidently energized the Nashville Farmers Market as well,
and the market celebrates with a day devoted to Middle Tennessee’s
homegrown finest—the legal stuff, that is—focusing on organic growers
and green living. Put your bicycle pedal to the metal with Walk/Bike
Nashville and rendezvous with other bikers from North and East
Nashville and Hillsboro Village, then enjoy live music sponsored by the
Americana Music Association. While you listen, experts from Gardens of
Babylon and Direct Growers will be on hand to show how to build
nutritious soil and foster a bed of perennials not even the brownest
thumb could kill. Make sure to leave ample time to peruse the food
stands and a plethora of herbs, flowers and berry bushes from local
nurseries. Go forth, Nashville, and veg out. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Nashville Farmers Market —JIM RIDLEY
Music
JEFFREY LEWIS Post-folk
troubadour Jeffrey Lewis is a rarity—the self-aware artist. His
rambling, rhapsodic tune “Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror” captures
indie rock self-loathing perfectly. Spotting a man who may or may not
be Will Oldham on the subway inspires a reverie about living five to an
apartment, doing email interviews, feeling artistically inferior (who
doesn’t) and not doing anything to really help the world. Onstage he is
prone to illustrated bard-style narrations of everything from the
history of punk rock on the Lower East Side to a history of communism
in China. His songs have a wonderfully droll tone, and are delivered in
his endearing speak-sing croak. Lewis recently released a whole album
of Crass covers (entitled 13 Crass Songs) that is a fun listen, though not quite as fun as a new Jeffrey Lewis record would have been. Opening for British Sea Power. 9 p.m. at Mercy Lounge —LEE STABERT
Rock & Walk for a Cause
TAKE STEPS W/JORDAN SWEENEY
If you don’t know anything about Crohn’s disease and ulcerative
colitis, just Google either one and you’ll be extremely thankful you’re
not afflicted. Though the diseases are treatable, they aren’t curable,
and their effect on sufferers’ quality of life is devastating. UC
sufferer Jordan Sweeney, a 23-year-old singer-songwriter from
California, will share stories of his struggles and perform material
from his album Road to Recovery at Take Steps, a charity-walk fundraiser to help prevent and find a cure for Crohn’s, UC and other digestive diseases. 4-8 p.m. at Bicentennial Capitol Mall —JACK SILVERMAN
Cumberland River Pedestrian Bridge Grand Opening, Saturday, May 3
Bridge Over Troubled Water
CUMBERLAND RIVER PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE GRAND OPENING Hallelujah!
For those who frequent the Shelby Bottoms Greenway, this day has been
long in coming. Not only are we regaining the tail-end of our five-mile
paved trail, we’re gaining access—via the impressive newly completed
bridge—to a new network of greenways across the river. Advancing the
greenway system is sure to be a long-term boon for the city, and
eventually that urban ideal of businesspeople on commuter bikes and
families with strollers sharing a broad network of beautiful
utilitarian green spaces will no longer be solely the province of
coastal yuppie playgrounds. 10 a.m. on the Two Rivers Park side of the Cumberland River Pedestrian Bridge —LEE STABERT
Music
GEORGE CLINTON & PARLIAMENT/FUNKADELIC
If you’ve spent any time exploring Pedro Bell’s hyper-detailed album
art for P-Funk’s mid-’70s output, 2008’s convergence of technology,
politics and collective psychosis probably seems pretty passé. Dr.
Funkenstein and his entourage have been purveying serious
science-fiction funk for over 40 years, and it seems like society as a
whole is finally catching up. “Funky Dollar Bill” might be 38 years old
but it reads like an NPR report on the dour state of our 21st
century economy, and it’s not much of a stretch to think that the
political ascendancy of Barack Obama was presaged by Clinton’s (Bill)
Clinton-era jam “Paint the White House Black” or that the Iraq quagmire
can be succinctly summed up by the epic “(Not Just) Knee Deep.” But
frankly, we’d rather just become “One Nation Under a Groove” for at
least one Saturday night. 6 p.m. at Wildhorse Saloon —SEAN L. MALONEY
Nashville Cat’s Got Soul
NASHVILLE CATS: REGGIE YOUNG
A handful of instrumentalists can lay claim to defining soul music, and
guitarist Reggie Young is among them. Born in Missouri in 1937, Young
attended the same Memphis high school as future Stax maestro Steve
Cropper. And while Cropper’s minimalist solos demonstrated how much one
could leave out of soul music and make it fly, Young’s round tone and
elegant conception were in part modeled after the playing of fellow
guitarist Bobby Womack. Young would be immortal if only for his
contributions to Womack records such as 1970’s My Prescription, but as part of the studio band at Memphis’ American Studios he played on the epochal Dusty in Memphis.
Since moving to Nashville in 1972, Young has clocked innumerable
sessions backing the likes of Dobie Gray, Merle Haggard and Frank
Black—his solo on Black’s 2005 “My Life Is in Storage” is a typically
understated marvel. 2 p.m. at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum —EDD HURT
Kiddie Klassic
SLEEPING BEAUTY
The Olde Worlde Theatre continues to be Nashville’s leading
community-based ensemble providing stage entertainment for children.
The company always manages to breathe new life into classics, and here we
enter the magical kingdom of the princess Briar Rose, who learns
important lessons about curiosity and patience. Expect the usual comic
spirit, plenty of movement, a colorful set and happy musical
interludes. Ages 3 and up. 10 a.m. May 3, 10 & 17 at The Belcourt Theatre —MARTIN BRADY
ERIKA JOHNSON: CURTAIN In her press release, local artist Erika Johnson introduces Curtain as “an installation, a fearful, playful, hopeful attempt at reclamation, an invitation.” The work explores how technology communicates global information about issues such as world hunger and genocide. Johnson has exhibited at Plowhaus, Vanderbilt and in several group shows, and her installations are often political, though they make their point quietly, enabling you to make your own opinions and discoveries. The show’s three-month stint should encourage multiple visits, allowing the opportunity to gain new perspectives with each viewing. May 3-Aug. 9 at The Parthenon’s West Gallery; opening reception, 6-8 p.m. —AMANDA DILLINGHAM
DIALOGUE 2: PHOTOGRAPHY Zeitgeist Gallery continues its series of group exhibitions and panel discussions with a new show of photography. Even with our ever-growing art scene, photo-fans in Nashville are sometimes hard-pressed to find impressive shows of contemporary work, so they should find this installment of Dialogue to be a welcome shot-in-the-arm. Participating artists include Jimmy Abegg, Caroline Allison, Stephen Alvarez, Todd Baxter, Scene photographer Eric England, John Folsom, David Wright LaGrone, Peter Monroe, Nancy Rhoda, Bjorn Sterri, Simon Roberts and Mark Tucker. Hans Shmitt-Matzen continues to explore the no-man’s-land between photography and painting. His oil-and-alkyd studies are decorated with rows of textual patterns that recall Brion Gysin. Katherine Slingluff’s series of meditative, black-and-white roller coaster photos document a noble geometry more than thrills and chills. May 3-June 14 at Zeitgeist Gallery; opening reception, 6-9 p.m. —JOE NOLAN
PAMELA SUKHUM & THE BEAUTIFUL PROJECT Estel Gallery opens three new shows for May’s First Saturday Gallery Crawl. Painter Pamela Sukhum combines floral elements in patterns of movement and texture. The near-abstract result contrasts the unflinching, brutal reality that is depicted in the drawings and paintings of The Beautiful Project. The Project’s participants are all Sudanese child and young-adult refugees, living in the Gaga and Gonje refugee camps in Chad. Sukhum worked with the young artists to express some of their experiences, and the resulting drawings and paintings are full of dread, doom and a strange beauty that makes them the highlight of the show. Work by the Lost Boys of Nashville will also be featured in the back gallery. Keep your eyes peeled for John Kur’s amazing masks and bird sculptures. May 3-24 at Estel Gallery; opening reception, 6-9 p.m. —JOE NOLAN
SUNDAY 5/4
Music
BRETT DENNEN From the looks of things, people are ready for a fresh-faced heir apparent to Paul Simon, and Brett Dennen is the guy. So Much More was released a year-and-a-half ago, but—as his recent Tonight Show appearance
and spot on an upcoming John Mayer tour show—its warm, socially
conscious folk appeal is still going strong. Maybe it’s the fact that
he has more to say about the world than Jack Johnson, and he does it
with a fractured, sensitive croon and a buoyant acoustic sound
that—like Simon’s Graceland—is often laced with world music
grooves. Even Dennen’s “Ain’t No Reason” video doesn’t just string
together artsy images, but attaches everyday life to issues of global
justice. (A woman doing laundry sees a vision of sweatshop workers.)
Dennen has a way of sewing it all together with appealing melodies and
a light touch. And that’s no small feat. 7 p.m. at City Hall —JEWLY HIGHT
Reach for the Sky, Ya Fur-Bearin’ Varmint!
LOONEY TUNES
Nyeh…what’s up, Doc? A three-weekend series of family fare at the
Belcourt, that’s what. Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig
and Foghorn Leghorn are among the Termite Terrace escapees to grace the
big screen this week, and if the selection’s at all decent—i.e.,
avoiding duds from the long-running series’ sad 1960s decline—you’ll
need an oxygen tank to keep from laughing yourself sick. Coming soon: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (May 9-10) and a rare showing of the 1971 animated classic The Point (May 17-18), with Harry Nilsson’s songs and the original Dustin Hoffman narration. Noon May 2-3 at The Belcourt Theatre —JIM RIDLEY
Kellye Mitchell and Jessica Sparks
Female Trouble
SUNDAY ON THE ROCKS If the name Theresa Rebeck seems familiar, it might be because you watch Law & Order: Criminal Intent,
one of various TV shows to which she has contributed regularly in
recent years. Rebeck is also a screenwriter, a budding novelist and,
most prominently, a prolific playwright, whose Bad Dates was
presented last season by GroundWorks Theatre. The company returns to
Rebeck with this middle-’90s exploration into the lives of four female
housemates, some dealing with critical personal issues but all having
to contend, most of all, with each other and a morally ambiguous modern
world. Director Melissa Bedinger-Hade has established herself in recent
years as one of Music City’s more astute theatrical interpreters, and
she’s assembled a cast of talented young women—Mandy
Butler, Laura Marsh, Kellye Mitchell and Jessica Sparks—whose presence
alone should generate theatergoing interest. May 2-10 at Darkhorse Theatre —MARTIN BRADY
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Holy Fuck
MONDAY 5/5
Music
HOLY FUCK
Tagged as one of the top live acts at the Glastonbury Festival back in
’05, noise-huggers Holy Fuck have since become coveted show-openers for
their caustic yet cuddly performances. Cramming dueling drummers and
twin mix boards—a chaotic tangle of vintage analog equipment and fuzz
box synthesizers to re-create their studio finish—the Toronto outfit
forge swarming instrumentals with spasmodic dance beats. Less in line
with fellow dirty-word lovin’ duo Fuck Buttons, who recently graced
Nashville, this Kanook outfit owe more of a debt to technorati
strongarms Black Dice and Melt Banana. As stage prep for M.I.A.’s
third-world riot starters, Holy Fuck should serve as both a thorough
palate-cleanser and a crash course in some of the best fringe
experimental out there. There’s more than electrical tape holding these
guys together. 8 p.m. at City Hall —DUSTIN ALLEN
TUESDAY 5/6
Music
JOSH RITTER Sometimes
it’s enough just to write excellent songs. Singer-songwriter Josh
Ritter doesn’t have a gimmick, a shtick or even a vibe, he just writes
tunes that are alternately beautiful, heartbreaking, foot-tapping and
always thoughtful. Last year’s wonderful The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
was a ballsy barroom album that still took the time for some
breathtaking slow-burn numbers. Stand-out “The Temptation of Adam” is
the exquisitely melancholy tale of a man who falls for his partner in
an atomic bunker while doing crosswords and singing her songs. He
realizes that the only way to keep her is to keep them down there, to
push that “great big button.” It’s a perfect song, because by the end
you can almost empathize with the protagonists’ twisted, heartsick
logic. 8 p.m. May 6 & 7 at The Belcourt Theatre —LEE STABERT
Music
BUCKY HALKER, BRENT MOYER & HUNTER MOORE
Singer-songwriters with a feel for the struggles of working people,
Bucky Halker, Brent Moyer and Hunter Moore share an interest in
populist music that’s grounded in history. From Wisconsin, Halker is a
folklorist and labor historian who writes literate tunes that mention
photosynthesis and name-check Duke Ellington. Moyer is an idiosyncratic
tunesmith with a rootsy bent. “Butt, Bop, Boogie” takes liberties with
jump blues and country vocalist Gary Allan effectively covered his “Red
Lips, Blue Eyes, Little White Lies.” Moore specializes in spare,
closely observed songs that mix naturalistic detail and nostalgia, as
in “Just Because We Do,” a sweet portrait of an old couple who live in
a “house above the river in the West Kentucky night.” They’ll be joined
in-the-round by Michael Johnson, who is perhaps best known for writing
hits such as “Bluer Than Blue.” 9 p.m. at Bluebird Café —EDD HURT
Rush to Judgment
12 ANGRY MEN
The background story of Reginald Rose’s famous courtroom drama is
almost as interesting as the script, which was first produced in 1954
for television. It was then made into an Oscar-nominated
feature film in 1957—director Sidney Lumet’s first big-screen effort.
It didn’t see the Broadway stage until 2004, when it was
produced by the estimable nonprofit Roundabout Theatre Company (also
behind this national tour). Jurors gather to deliberate in a murder
trial, and their journey to a unanimous verdict proves
elusive—and gets very personal. TV star Richard Thomas enacts the
critical role of Juror #8. The remainder of the cast are lesser-known stage vets, with the exception of Kevin Dobson, former co-star of Kojak. May 6-11 at TPAC’s Andrew Jackson Hall —MARTIN BRADY
Uh Huh Her
WEDNESDAY 5/7
Music
UH HUH HER Actress Leisha Haley is best known for her role as the perky Alice Pieszecki on lady soap The L Word,
where she cheerfully tracks the sexcapades of friends in their tightly
knit Los Angeles lesbian community for The Chart. But before acting she
played in The Murmurs, and Uh Huh Her, her new electro-pop band with
former Mellowdrone bassist/keyboardist Camila Grey, is named after PJ
Harvey’s highest-charting album of the same name. Their first
full-length, Common Reaction, is a batch of sultry, ethereal
pop that rests somewhere between Ladytron’s synthy surges (“Not a Love
Song”) and Annie Lenox’s mournful moans (“Everyone”). Coincidentally,
it’s the kind of sexy, atmospheric music that would fit perfectly on The L Word’s soundtrack. 9 p.m. at Exit/In —TRACY MOORET