This Week in Milwaukee: Nov. 2-8, 2023

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

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Songwriters at Var Gallery, South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center and Anodyne, comedy at Riverside Theater, raptors up close at Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, Amplify Reading Series: Big City Harmony at Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, wine tasting at MARN, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and more—This Week in Milwaukee!

Thursday, Nov. 2

Sarah Morris w/ Michael Gay and Derek Pritzl @Var Gallery, 7 p.m.

Minneapolis based singer-songwriter Sarah Morris “offers a Norah Jones-like approach to Americana, smoothing overs its rough edges with a butter-velvety voice and an intimate songwriting style,” according to Chris Riemenschneider from the Star Tribune. Morris is joined by country-folk storyteller Michael Gay, whose "Long, Cold Winter" is hopefully not a legit forecast: youtube.com/watch?v=WlNphhg2_Bs. Derek Pritzl’s album Great Disaster (shepherdexpress.com/music/local-music/derek-pritzl-and-the-gambles-great-disaster) shed light on one of Milwaukee’s finest song crafters.

Bruce Cockburn O Sun O Moon in Concert @ South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, 7:30 p.m.

With a discography of 35 albums over the last four decades, Bruce Cockburn’s restlessness has guided him to write songs of romance, social activism and spiritual discovery. The Ottawa-born artist has been honored with 12 Juno Awards, an induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award and has been made an Officer of the Order of Canada. But he never rests on his laurels. “I’d rather think about what I’m going to do next,” says Cockburn. “My models for graceful aging are guys like John Lee Hooker and Mississippi John Hurt, who never stop working till they drop, as I fully expect to be doing, and just getting better as musicians and as human beings.”

Friday, Nov. 3

John Cleese @ The Riverside Theater, 7:30 p.m.

“Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” Monty Python and the Holy Grail and “Fawlty Towers” might have never materialized had comedian John Cleese taken an office job when he graduated from England’s prestigious University of Cambridge. Although he demonstrated the ability to make people laugh, Cleese had a backup plan if writing and performing comedy didn’t work out (shepherdexpress.com/culture/comedy/john-cleese-at-the-riverside-theater). “I began writing my own material while still at the university,” Cleese said in a recent interview. “That made me think I could make a living as a comedian, but there were bills to pay. A friend offered Cleese a lucrative job making customer service and training films for his company. It was an unexpected phone call in 1965 that brought him back to show business.

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Lil Rev & Jim Eannelli CD Release Party @ Anodyne, 8 p.m.

This summer Lil Rev issued his 20th album, Unheard: Songs from the Street and it’s unlike anything else by the Milwaukee-Sheboygan folksinger (shepherdexpress.com/music/local-music/lil-rev-showcases-his-new-album-with-jim-eannelli).

For Unheard, Rev collaborated with longtime musical partner Jim Eannelli, a veteran Milwaukee musician whose resume includes the power pop Shivvers and the techno pop Colour Radio as well as bluegrass, folk and stints in just about every genre. “Jim has an open invitation to play any gig he wants with me whenever he likes,” Rev says. Unheard’s songs are all Rev’s, but Eannelli, working out of his home studio and playing guitars, drums, bass and keyboards, adds a sonic dimension that Rev admits is unheard on his previous recordings.

Emmitt James ‘Genre-fi-cation’ w/ KASE, Natural Satellite and MIC @ Cactus Club, 8 p.m.

From the DIY circuit to playing bigger stages like the Roxy and the Novo, Emmitt James is a well celebrated and experienced performer. The Midwest-bred, LA-based emcee-hip-hop artist recalls A Tribe Called Quest, Anderson. Paak and the Internet. KASE is Jamie Breiwick (trumpet), John Christensen on (acoustic bass) and Jordan Lee (turntables and electronics).

KASE invents textural soundscapes—incorporating live beats, turntablism, electronic elements, free improvisation and extended forms into the music that is crafted and created spontaneously. References for this project run the gamut from the contemporary mainstream to the avant-garde to the classic, mixing jazz and hip hop as different branches of the same tree. Menasha duo Natural Satellite imaginatively blend jazz, indie, folk and rock:

Saturday, Nov. 4

Xtreme Raptor Day @ Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, 10 a.m.

Fifteen resident birds of prey headline Schlitz Audubon Nature Center’s Xtreme Raptor Day. The Center’s premier collection of birds of prey emphasizes raptors (hawks, owls, eagles and falcons), but also includes a turkey vulture and an American crow. This will be the first Xtreme Raptor Day for Zari (pictured), a great horned owl who joined Schlitz Audubon late last year. Attendees will receive a passport to participate in a Talon Quest Adventure Hike on the trails, where they will see and learn about our different birds and their species. This event supports the Raptor Program, which educates the community about the importance of wildlife and habitat conservation with the help of our non-releasable birds.

Amplify Reading Series: Big City Harmony @ Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, 7 p.m.

First Stage’s 2023/24 season of the Amplify Reading Series begins with a play reading of Big City Harmony by Ty Defoe. Harmony, a young Anishinaabe girl, moves from the reservation to the big city with her family, learning valuable lessons in her own culture as she navigates adventures while trying to make friends at a new school. Taking place in the future, Harmony shares the ability to shapeshift with her Grandmother Hazel and learns to speak the language of wolves aiming to release her own voice into the wild. Suggested for adults, teens and children ages 7-12.

This series is in support of First Stage’s ongoing commitment to the development of new work, with an intentional focus on lifting voices of diverse playwrights and artists. More info at firststage.org/events-tickets/amplify-reading-series.

Sunday, Nov. 5

Riesling @ MARN, 2 p.m.

MARN and the Milwaukee Wine Academy host a wine tasting at the MARN ART + CULTURE HUB. Discover the world of Riesling; experience the flavors of four distinct Rieslings from renowned wine regions around the globe. From the prestigious vineyards of Germany’s Mosel and Nahe regions, to the magnificent Finger Lakes region in New York, and the breathtaking landscapes of Washington State, this event promises to be an exploration of diverse terroirs and winemaking traditions that define Riesling's uniqueness. More info at marnarts.org/events.

Great Lake Swimmers w/ Oshima Brothers @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.

Doubt, followed by discovery. Demos that ended up as finished tracks. New beginnings, rear-view reflections, and ruminations on the fluidity of time: Uncertain Country the new album by Great Lake Swimmers captures these feelings and so much more.

The long journey from there to here started more than three years ago, when singer-songwriter Tony Dekker took a 10-day trip to one of his favorite places: the north shore of Lake Superior. A pair of friends and collaborators—Adam CK Vollick (who filmed the experience) and Joe Lapinski (who co-produced Uncertain Country)—joined him. On this immersive trip, the songwriter soaked in the beauty of the landscapes and learned the stories of the people who have inhabited them since time immemorial.

Monday, Nov. 6

“Edging” @ Real Tinsel Gallery, through Dec. 3

Real Tinsel gallery director Shane McAdams found inspiration in the 19th century quote by art historian T.J. Clark in his The Painting of Modern Life: “Art seeks out the edges of things, of understanding ... It prefers the unfinished: the syntactically unstable, the semantically malformed.” (shepherdexpress.com/culture/visual-art/real-tinsel-gallery-seeks-out-the-edges-of-things)

Tuesday, Nov. 7

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird @ Marcus Performing Arts Center, through Nov. 12

Perhaps the most successful American play in Broadway history, To Kill a Mockingbird remains one of the most resonant dramas to come out of the 20th century. It’s a simple story with deep connections to an intense complexity. The 1960 novel gets brought to the stage once more this coming fall as Academy Award® winner Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork features Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch.

Wednesday, Nov. 8

Acoustic Open Stage Featuring Owen Goldin @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 8 p.m.

With three decades under its belt, Linneman’s Riverwest Inn boasts a weekly Acoustic Open Stage that continues to serve as a low-key spot for newbies and veterans to get experience on a stage; the sign-up sheet hits the bar at 7 p.m. This week’s featured performer, Owen Goldin, is also as part of J.T. and the Congregants. Here is a chance to catch the guitarist-songwriter solo with a grab bag of songs.