This Week in Milwaukee: July 21-27, 2022

Here are the Milwaukee events we are looking forward to coming up this week.

A Blue Note Jazz legend, a rare appearance of The Western Box Turtles, the return of Gallery Night, outdoor music in Granville, Tosa and Thiensville, and more—This Week in Milwaukee!

Thursday July 21

George Braith @ Transfer Pizzeria Café, 7 p.m.

A living legend, saxophonist George Braith is one of the last standing disciples of bop, a Blue Note recording artist from his early 20s and the mad harmonic scientist who developed the Braithophone, a double-mouthpieced Siamese mating of two saxes with conjoined bells. His group will include percussionist Reggie Bordeaux, standup bassist Jim Paolo and pianist Jerry Weitzer.

Friday, July 22

Gallery Night, Various Locations

The Historic Third Ward, East Town, Walker’s Point, and the Menomonee River Valley will be showcasing original and local artwork. Milwaukee’s vast creative culture is proudly on display during Gallery Night MKE. Showcasing art works from photography to sculpture to drawing, painting, and everything in between, the event allows the public to admire and purchase original art by local, regional and international artists.

The newest exhibition at Wisconsin's oldest art gallery, the avid Barnett Gallery, “Qualities of Line: Chagall, Weisbuch, and Steinburg,” brings together works by three 20th-century masters: Marc Chagall, Claude Weisbuch and Saul Steinberg, who brought strikingly different sensibilities to their art. While Chagall used bright color and exaggerated form to explore memory, fantasy and spirituality, Weisbuch satirized the works of the old masters with a subdued color pallet and energetic line work that gave life and movement to his engraved subjects. Steinberg created a tableau of the modern American psyche with stark lines and geometric figures

Also Saturday, more info here https://gallerynightmke.com/

Saturday, July 23

Granville Blues Fest, Noon

The Granville Blues Fest https://shepherdexpress.com/granville-blues-festival kicks off the first of two weekend’s performances. On Saturday, Chicago by-way-of Argentina guitarist Ivan Singh takes the stage at 4:30 p.m. with his four string “Lata de Batata” slide guitar. Milwaukee blues legend Steve Cohen said Singh’s “guitar playing convincingly conveys the part of playing the blues that is impossible to learn, the feeling. You either have it or you don’t. You can’t fake it…” https://shepherdexpress.com/granville-blues-festival/ivan-singh/

Friends of the Shepherd

Help support Milwaukee's locally owned free weekly magazine.

LEARN MORE

The Blues Fest happens July 23-24, July 30-31, Noon - 8:30 p.m. Kids Fest is July 27, noon -7 p.m., with art projects, dance contests, science experiments, animals, food and more. Gospel Fest is Friday, July 29, 4-9 p.m. More info here https://granvillebusiness.org/granville-blues-fest/

Cheelabration 2022 @ Daily Taco & Cantina (105 W. Freistadt Road, Thiensville), 2 p.m.

The 8th annual event features live music and food. The day-long, fully tented, indoor/outdoor, family-friendly, community-wide event will donate a portion of the proceeds to the Wisconsin Humane Society. Music includes: The Mississippi Leg Hounds, Maple Road Blues Band, Reverend Raven and The Chain Smokin' Altar Boys featuring Westside Andy, Ryan Necci and The Buffalo Gospel, DJ Trans Am and set breaks by Candy Cigarette. More info here https://www.facebook.com/thecheel/photos/gm.491325209250915/4878840115505235

The Western Box Turtles @ Kochanski's Concertina Beer Hall, 8 p.m.

For a too-short while, the Western Box Turtles ruled the local western swing roost. Specializing in joie de vivre, lineups included front man-fiddler Danny Smith, bassist Mark Hembree, steel guitarist Eddie Rivers, mandolinist Tom Schwark and drummer Andy Pagel, among other top-tier pickers. Who knows if these shows portend a next chapter for the group or simply a Halley’s Comet? Also Sunday 2 p.m.

Buddy Guy & John Hiatt with special guest The Goners Featuring Sonny Landreth @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.

In 1957 Buddy Guy moved from Louisiana to Chicago where he crossed paths with blues legends Muddy Waters, Ike Turner, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor and harmonica player Junior Wells. His guitar playing was hugely influential on the English guitar players of the ‘60s.

John Hiatt has grown into an elder statesman since his days of writing minor hits for Three Dog Night. While his songs have been covered by everyone form Bonnie Raitt to Bob Dylan, Hiatt’s own soulful renditions are the best. His longtime on-again/off-again backing band The Goners include slide guitar virtuoso Sonny Landreth. Trivia: the late Howie Epstein moved from Milwaukee to Los Angeles to play bass with Hiatt before joining Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Wednesday, July 27

Kat and the Hurricane w/Louie & The Flashbombs @ Tosa Tonight (Hart Park Rotary Performance Pavilion, 68th and State Street, Wauwatosa), 6 p.m.

Madison’s Kat and the Hurricane is an award-winning genre- and gender-bending trio who deliver a unique blend of pop and haunting indie rock they affectionately refer to as “Sad Lesbian Music.” Openers Louie and The Flashbombs are fronted by Louie Lucchesi, whose story is full of twists and turns https://shepherdexpress.com/music/local-music/louie-lucchesi-is-well-and-ready-to-rock/  He is backed by a veteran band that includes guitarist-songwriter Mike Benign. The Flashbombs’ songs blend Lucchesi’s love of 1970s New York City rock with Benign’s knack for hooky alternative pop.