Enjoy a compilation of selected tracks by artists playing shows we're excited about in Madison during the week of Aug. 10-17, 2017. For more information on these shows, read on under the Spotify playlist!
Oh My Love, Thursday, Aug. 10, High Noon Saloon, 9:30 pm: Electronic duo Oh My Love returns home to Madison from Austin, Texas, stopping at High Noon before playing Summer Set Festival in Somerset. The band mixes indie sensibilities with danceable and spacey electronic compositions. Ukulele and guitar blend with eclectic synths and Hannah Luree’s ethereal vocals, with driving bass lines enlivening a tight rhythm section. A trio of Midwestern hip-hop support comes from Zed Kenzo, CRASHprez and DJ Dudley Noon.
La Sesión Superior: Septeto Santiaguero, Thursday, Aug. 10, Central Park, 5 pm: The Caribbean has a long, rich tradition of great music, and Septeto Santiaguero is one of Cuba’s finest exports. For decades, the seven-piece salsa band has kept audiences on their feet, racking up countless awards and preserving and updating the sounds of the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Cuba. Dust off your dancing shoes, folks, and head to this Central Park Session. These players will have you on your feet all night long. With Mexico City’s Centavrvs, Golpe Tierra.
Joe Zimmerman, Thursday, Aug. 10, Comedy Club on State, 8:30 pm: He may look like just another white guy in plaid, but Joe Zimmerman’s comedy, recently featured on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, is anything but plain. An anxious wreck, he makes observations more even-tempered folks may never notice. His bad eyesight led him to consider worst-case scenarios of Lasik surgery, and his trip down a dark hole was much funnier than such a scenario ever should be. With Earl Elliot, Adam McShane. ALSO: Friday-Saturday, Aug. 11-12, 8 & 10:30 pm.
Sharón Clark Quartet, Friday, Aug. 11, Cafe Coda, 8 pm: Cafe Coda closes out its run at 113 W. Dayton St. with a stunner of a final show featuring renowned Washington, D.C., vocalist Sharón Clark, joined by Kirk Brown on piano, Hanah Jon Taylor on reeds, John Christensen on bass and Rick Flowers on percussion. Clark, a jazz and blues powerhouse who has gained international acclaim, evokes Ella Fitzgerald and Shirley Horn. All proceeds from the cover charge go toward opening the new Cafe Coda on Willy Street.
Good Morning Bedlam, Friday, Aug. 11, Brink Lounge, 9 pm: Furiously fast bluegrass riffs, soulful folk melodies, swinging jazz rhythms — this Minneapolis quartet does it all. Inspired by artists such asthe Avett Brothers, Itzhak Perlman and Adele, its musical stylings are as eclectic as its tastes. Good Morning Bedlam is winding down a national tour before recording its sophomore album at Last Triumph studios this fall.
Sweet Spirit, Saturday, Aug. 12, The Frequency, 9 pm: Following the April release of St. Mojo, Sweet Spirit glides into Madison on a cloud of melodic, molasses-y glam rock. Collaborators with indie icon Spoon, Sweet Spirit sources its influences from the past, weaving together a sound that’s both fresh and forward-thinking. The Austin-based band will be joined by Madison’s own indie psych-rockers, His & Her Vanities, and garage poppers Proud Parents.
The Quickies, Sunday, Aug 13, High Noon Saloon, 6 pm: ‘ 90s Madison rockers The Quickies disbanded at decade’s end when guitarist Blain Kennedy moved to New York City; since then, drummer and man-about-town Peter Kaesberg has also decamped from Mad City. Both will return to join vocalist Anna Purnell (Reptile Palace Orchestra) and bassist Lisa Marine (Tiny Band) for this reunion show. They will share the bill with another quartet of Madison power-poppers formed in the ‘90s: German Art Students, who reissued their raucous debut album, What Did You Expect? Heartland Rock? in July.
Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires, Monday, Aug. 14, The Frequency, 8 pm: Need some energy on a Monday? The aptly named Alabama quartet Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires amps up intense garage punk with an intensity influenced by Southern soul shouters. The new double LP, Youth Detention, is a tour de force, kicking against forms of injustice both personal and political. The intensity remains high all evening with opening sets from a duo of dynamic Milwaukee bands: garage warriors Static Eyes (ex-Gut Reactions) and punk provocateurs Sex Scenes.
Cold Mountain Child + Tin Can Diamonds, Tuesday, Aug. 15, The Frequency, 8:30 pm: Breezy and deeply melodic, the nature-besotted folk of Cold Mountain Child (pictured) is the aural equivalent of walking through an awakening forest on a warm spring day. Visiting Madison in the middle of a summer Midwest tour, the group is currently working on its second album. Be sure to get there on time for Madison folk rockers Tin Can Diamonds, as catching the band again any time soon may not be in the cards: Lead singer Aarushi Agni is moving to Brooklyn to work on a master’s degree.
Chuchito Valdés, Wednesday, Aug. 16, top of State Street, 4 pm: Chuchito Valdés is Cuban musical royalty. The descendant of virtuosic Cuban jazz pianists Chucho and Bebo Valdés, Chuchito performed his first professional gig at 16. In the years since, he’s worked extensively both as a member of Cuban Afro-Jazz combo Sonido Contemporaneo and as a solo artist, perfecting a fiery, upbeat and slightly tropical brand of music that’s tailor-made for the dance floor. The Jazz at Five crowd will already be warmed up: Local jazzers from Madison Memorial High hit the stage at 4, followed by 11-piece Kinfolk.
Jon Cleary, Wednesday, Aug. 16, Central Park, 5:30 pm: Pianist/guitarist Jon Cleary grew up in England, but has long been a New Orleans resident — and leading exponent of the city’s musical brew of R&B, jazz and funk with the band the Absolute Monster Gentlemen and as a player on many recordings. He’ll play two solo sets at Central Park Sessions, importing his standing gig at Big Easy club Chickie Wah Wah to the Mad City. Openers the Chicago Yestet will be joined by local emcee Rob Dz.
Find the full rundown of this week's Isthmus Picks here.
