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.
Tomeka Reid Quartet, Thursday, Oct. 31, Arts + Literature Lab, 6:30 & 9 pm: The cellist, composer and arranger brings her exhilarating and sublime jazz to Madison. Perfect for Halloween, Reid’s four-piece arrangements are frenetic and jumpy like a musical horror house. Still, on songs like the title track for the new album Old New, she sneaks in plenty of beauty. The stellar quartet includes guitarist Mary Halvorson (a 2019 MacArthur fellow), bassist Jason Roebke, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara.
Maxine Gordon, Thursday, Oct. 31, Hamel Music Center-Collins Recital Hall, 7:30 pm: As a part of a four-day residency in Madison, Maxine Gordon celebrates her new book on the life of her husband and jazz great Dexter Gordon. On this evening, Gordon will read excerpts from her book, Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon. UW Department of Afro-American Studies professor Ethelene Whitmire will also conduct an interview with Gordon, and the UW Blue Note Ensemble will provide musical accompaniment. Gordon will also be in attendance at a tribute concert, with saxophonists Hanah Jon Taylor, Sharel Cassity and Eric Koppa, Friday, Nov. 1, at Cafe Coda (8 pm).
Freakin’ Halloweekend, Nov. 1-2, High Noon Saloon, 8 pm: With Halloween proper landing on a Thursday this year, the annual happenings have ended up spread over two weekends instead of one. A must-visit is the fete at High Noon, with the always-competitive costume contest parading across the stage at 11 pm each night. A wide range of tribute performances mix players from local bands in rare configurations, this year including members of Damsel Trash, The Gran Fury, German Art Students, Compact Deluxe and many others. Sets on Friday include music from Tool, The Doors, Sarah McLachlan, Animal Collective and The Ventures; Saturday ranges from classic country to Prince (by Don't Mess with Cupid), plus Culture Club, Elton John and Indigo Girls for good measure.
ZZ Top, Friday, Nov. 1, The Sylvee, 8 pm: It seems impossible, but on this tour Texas trio ZZ Top is celebrating 50 years together — and still featuring their original lineup. Since their early days as a rough-and-tumble blues-rock band, they have repeatedly blown up the constraints of the power trio format, particularly during their improbable reinvention as an MTV-dominating synth-rock juggernaut in the 1980s. Opening is St. Louis bluesman Marquise Knox.
Bear Grillz, Friday, Nov. 1, Liquid, 10 pm: The EDM DJ and producer visits Madison with the release of a deluxe version of his Demons LP. Of the 24 tracks on this version, four of them new, the Denver artist showcases his diverse influences, ranging from dubstep all the way to reggae. Songs like the title track move both bodies and minds with its cinematic production and wistful vocals. With Lucii, Somnium Sound, OG Nixin.
La Traviata, Friday, Nov. 1, Overture Hall, 8 pm: La Traviata — literally “The Fallen Woman” — is Giuseppe Verdi’s scandalous masterpiece of love and heartbreak. (Doesn’t that describe all operas?) Madison Opera favorite soprano Cecilia Violetta López returns as Violetta, a Parisian demimondaine — essentially a courtesan in training — who discovers her hedonistic lifestyle stands between her and the man she loves, Afredo (tenor Mackenzie Whitney). We all know where this is headed, don’t we? ALSO: Sunday, Nov. 3, 2:30 pm.
Rhiannon Giddens + Francesco Turrisi, Saturday, Nov. 2, Stoughton Opera House, 7:30 pm: Rhiannon Giddens is no stranger to these parts. She’s a founding member of the old-timey Carolina Chocolate Drops, who tore the roof off the Orton Park Festival in 2010. The native of Greensboro, North Carolina, is an astonishing talent (banjo, fiddle and vocals) who has helped shine a spotlight on African American folk traditions. Now she’s married to Italian percussionist Francesco Turrisi, and they are making beautiful music together. ALSO: Sunday, Nov. 3, 7:30 pm. Sold out.
Festival Choir of Madison: Songs of Fate, Saturday, Nov. 2, Luther Memorial Church, 8 pm: The venerable Festival Choir of Madison offers music with a conscience and a global perspective, but also has tackled esoteric topics like angels and demons. At this concert, the choristers will explore another rarefied subject: fate. What does fate sound like? We’ll get to hear some of the answers as artistic director Sergei Pavlov conducts Brahms’ “Gesang der Parzen” (Song of the Fates) and Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny), Verdi’s “Stabat Mater” and Borodin’s caffeinated “Polovtsian Dances.” The concert also features the robust playing of Romanian pianist Samir Golescu.
Emanuel Ax, Saturday, Nov. 2, UW Memorial Union-Shannon Hall, 8 pm: The multi award-winning pianist Emanuel Ax takes the Union Theater stage for a record eighth time, which is more than several of the musicians who have served as UW artists in residence. This time he is celebrating Beethoven’s 250th birth anniversary with an all-Beethoven program.
Open Mike Eagle, Monday, Nov. 4, High Noon Saloon, 10 pm: The veteran of hip-hop’s underground saunters into Madison with a new song in tow. On all of his releases, the Chicago emcee combines mind-breaking cadences and lyrics with production that references myriad styles. On his recent track, “The Edge of New Clothes,” he claws through paranoia and inequality, rapping lyrically over an infectious beat with an eerie vocal sample and slick snares. With Elucid, Video Dave.
Chastity Belt, Wednesday, Nov. 6, UW Memorial Union-Der Rathskeller, 8 pm: Weaving together iconic Pacific Northwest sounds like the call-and-response harmonies of Sleater-Kinney and the moody melodies of Black Belt Eagle Scout, Chastity Belt’s latest, self-titled LP showcases jangly, droning guitars, dreamy vocals and heartfelt, intelligent lyrics. The result is an album tailor-made for a cloudy autumn day. With fellow Pacfic Northwesterners Strange Ranger.
Joe Bonamassa, Thursday, Nov. 7, Orpheum Theater, 8 pm: This gig is being hailed as “the guitar event of the year,” and that ain’t hyperbole. Over the past two decades, singer and guitarist Joe Bonamassa has reintroduced the entire blues-rock genre to a new and more mainstream audience, and his prolific output is unmatched. Among the 13 studio albums he’s released since 2000 and the 16 live albums since 2002, Bonamassa has notched 21 No. 1 albums on the Billboard blues chart. His playing is rooted in British and Irish influences, but his sound is distinctly American. And in his spare time, Bonamassa spearheads a nonprofit that provides funding for music education to schools in need.
Chris Redd, Thursday, Nov. 7, Comedy On State, 8 pm: One of Saturday Night Live’s most promising cast members (known best for contributions such as the mini-musical homage to Les Miserables, “Diner Lobster”), Redd is an excellent standup comedian in his own right. Mixing impression work with physical comedy gives him another gear for his zany stories and misadventures. ALSO: Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 8-9, 8 & 10:30 pm.
Find the full rundown of this week's Isthmus Picks here.
