Enjoy a compilation of selected tracks by artists playing shows we're excited about in Madison this week. For more information on these shows, read on under the playlist or check out all this week's Isthmus Picks.
Alicia Svigals & Uli Geissendoerfer, Thursday, April 4, UW Humanities Building-Morphy Hall, 7 pm: Svigals, one of the world’s finest klezmer fiddlers, and Geissendoerfer, a jazz pianist, combine their talents to breathe new life into Moshe Beregovski’s revolutionary recordings of ancestral Jewish music. Beregovski, a scholar in the 20th century, set out to record the musical knowledge of Jewish Ukrainians in the face of the Holocaust, preserving thousands of songs on wax cylinders. In the 1990s, many of the cylinders were discovered in Kiev. Today, the musicians revive this rich heritage.
Makaya McCraven, Thursday, April 4, Cafe Coda, 8 pm: Contemporary jazz composer and savant drummer Makaya McCraven blends hip-hop into his experimental approach to the American musical tradition. His band seamlessly shifts focus between tight melodicism and ruminative soloing, while McCraven’s complicated beats and percussion often take center stage. He makes great use of diverse electronic effects and looping, pushing jazz in new directions.
Wild Belle, Thursday, April 4, High Noon Saloon, 8:30 pm: Wild Belle is the Los Angeles-based duo of siblings, singer Natalie Bergman and multi-instrumentalist Elliot Bergman. Their polished blend of dub reggae and modern pop makes for smooth hits like last month’s single, “Mockingbird.” Their message of individualism and positivity shines throughout the just released album, appropriately titled Everybody One of a Kind. With Lex Allen.
Robyn Hitchcock, Thursday, April 4, Stoughton Opera House, 7:30 pm: Whether playing spiky rock or quieter fare, Robyn Hitchcock’s songwriting maintains a consistently excellent standard over what is now four decades worth of work, both as a solo artist or with The Soft Boys, Egyptians and Venus 3. These days he most often plays solo, but if you’re worried he may skip the more raucous material, never fear: Hitchcock is likely to pull out just about any song you can think of at any time during his wide-ranging sets.
Caamp, Thursday, April 4, Majestic, 9 pm: Caamp has a way of burrowing into your soul. Lifelong buddies Taylor Meier and Evan Westfall make a raspy brand of folk-pop that’s intimate and accessible. Their songs are a personal feeling that you can share with scores of other people. And Caamp — who play live as a trio — have a way of maximizing their sound that must be seen to be understood. With West Virginia indie rockers Ona; and former Lazy Sunday member Sam Filiatreau.
Miss Saigon, Tuesday, April 2, Overture Hall, 7:30 pm: Originally by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, this musical tells a story set during the Vietnam War of a young Vietnamese woman and an American G.I. whose encounter changes both of their lives forever. While there has been national and local controversy over the show’s portrayal of Vietnamese life, the musical is an epic tale of love and heartbreak. Don’t miss hit songs like “Last Night of the World.” ALSO: Wednesday-Thursday, April 3-4, 7:30 pm. Through April 7.
Line Breaks Festival, April 3-7, UW Memorial Union-Play Circle: UW-Madison’s First Wave’s annual showcase of its nationally drawn talent returns. During this five-day festival, members of the hip-hop scholarship program will showcase all that they’ve been working on, including plays, poems, visual pieces, dances, songs and more. Concluding the festival’s events on Sunday is a display of the program’s musical talent, including Synovia Alexis. Songs like the titular track of her 2018 EP, Signature, display the singer’s knack for both rapping and melody.
Dave King/Chris Weller Duo, Friday, April 5, Art + Literature Laboratory, 9 pm: Jazz saxophonist Chris Weller is a longtime fan of drummer Dave King — so much that Weller asked King to produce an album for Weller’s experimental jazz trio, Hanging Hearts. The pair struck up a friendship and became musical collaborators. These two world-class musicians play free-form improvisations and interpretations of their favorite songs.
Bad Bad Hats, Friday, April 5, High Noon Saloon, 9:30 pm: The Twin Cities are a hotbed of hooky indie rock, and Bad Bad Hats is one of their latest exports. The trio makes slacker pop anthems straight out of the ‘90s, all fuzz and listless angst. They released an LP, The Wide Right, on March 29. With Jessica Manning, Con Davison.
Lovely Socialite, Friday, April 5, Central Library, 7:30 pm: One of Madison’s most creative and eclectic jazz groups, Lovely Socialite has been creating intricate, maximalist jazz-rock fusion since 2010. The band’s unique instrumentation — double bass, cello, trombone, vibes, percussion and electronics — takes the classic jazz aesthetic to new heights with heavy grooves, jarring dissonance and complex countermelodies.
Assif Tsahar & Tatusya Nakatani, Saturday, April 6, Cafe Coda, 8 pm: Ephemeral and slippery, the music of this saxophone and percussion duo mystifies. On their 2012 album, I Got It Bad, the pair operates like particles on an atomic level, especially on songs like “Deliver.” Across the five-minute track, the sounds emerging from Tsahar’s sax and Nakatani’s drums collide into each other but sometimes bond for moments of fleeting and transcendent coherence.
Madison Bach Musicians, Saturday, April 6, First Congregational Church, 8 pm: The city’s venerable period performance group breaks form with a season finale titled “The Mozart Miracle.” The concert begins with Symphony No. 1, composed by the eight-year-old wunderkind in 1764. UW-Madison professor Marc Vallon conducts an orchestra of period-instrument players, including MBM’s artistic director, Trevor Stephenson, on fortepiano. Canadian soprano Ariadne Lih provides vocal fireworks in “Exsultate Jubilate,” and the show includes a ballet, “Les Petit Riens,” choreographed by Karen McShane Hellenbrand. ALSO: Sunday, April 7, 3:30 pm.
Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers, Saturday, April 6, Majestic, 8 pm: After more than 20 years, Laura Jane Grace is one of punk’s great icons. As the leader of Against Me!, Grace has created some of the genre’s finest, most righteously pissed off albums. But now she’s trying something different. With her band the Devouring Mothers, Grace plays a heavy brand of folky pop-rock that answers the question, “what if Tom Petty grew up listening to Crass?” Her debut album Bought to Rot was released last year. With Mercy Union, Control Top.
The Music of Words, Saturday, April 6, Overture Center, 8 pm: April is National Poetry Month — we’re sure you have that marked on your cal. Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society does. Stephanie Jutt, flutist, and Jeffrey Sykes, pianist, will collaborate with former Wisconsin poet laureate Max Garland, Madison poet Catherine Jagoe and New York poet Mark Belair in this performance that underlines that words are music and music is a language.
Branford Marsalis Quartet, Tuesday, April 9, Overture Center, 7:30 pm: The oldest sibling in the nation’s reigning jazz family, Branford is a prolific and groundbreaking saxophonist who has accompanied some of the greats. He’s accomplished in both classical and jazz, and appears here with his quartet. With Brianna Ware.
Durand Jones & the Indications, Wednesday, April 10, High Noon Saloon, 8:30 pm: Louisiana native Durand Jones and his fellow Indiana University Soul Revue alumni in the Indications emerged in 2016 with a hard-hitting debut that sounded like a lost 1971 classic. Their sophomore album, American Love Call, features a set of thoughtful, meditative songs of social consciousness and romantic questioning, and a much more widescreen musical palette. Bonus: Drummer Aaron Frazer’s emergence as a falsetto-singing foil to Jones’ elastic growl. With Divino Niño.
Ex Hex, Thursday, April 11, High Noon Saloon, 8:30 pm: The latest project from indie powerhouse Mary Timony, Ex Hex reimagines the debaucherous hard rock of the 1980s — and manages to do it in a way that feels fresh. Their sophomore album, It’s Real, builds on the momentum of their acclaimed debut, Rips, delivering delicious, surprisingly nuanced garage-y power pop for the ages. With Moaning, Proud Parents.
Tom Segura, Thursday, April 11, Orpheum Theater, 7 & 10 pm: When Tom Segura isn’t riling up the entirety of the state of Louisiana, he’s riling up audiences with his riotous takes on fatherhood, and maybe farting. Segura may perhaps be better known these days as one of the two “mommies” of the Your Mom’s House podcast, which he co-hosts with wife Christina P., who just breezed through town on her own trip. While this particular tour may be called the “Tear It Down” tour, Segura more accurately tears it up, on stage and off. Bring your mommy to see this mommy.
Find the full rundown of this week's Isthmus Picks here.
